Supernatural Virtues
Sister Elizabeth's spirit of prayer — Her degree of prayer — Her influence — O crux^ ave^ spes unica! — Her intercourse with Carmel — Her last retreat while in the world.
It is not to be surprised at that so generous a soul was overwhelmed with graces. " Thy measure will \ be My measure," said our Lord to St. Catherine of Siena. Elizabeth's measure must have been full to overflowing.
Her first grace was a spirit of prayer, which led her to spend hours at a time in church. One of her mother's friends asked her what she could be saying to God for so long together. a O madam e," she replied, " we love one another !" An answer worthy of a daughter of St. Teresa ; for did not the seraphic Mother teach that prayer consisted less in thinking much than in loving much ? * While still very young Elizabeth instinctively practised prayer. At thirteen years of age the Last Supper was her favourite subject for meditation. How did this privileged soul spend these cherished hours? We can imagine her as resting on the Heart of the Divine Master, like the virgin Apostle, reposing peacefully in the1 confidence that characterized her. Then the mystery that was to absorb her life began to be revealed tc her in the secrets of divine love. The Agony in the Garden also attracted her. We mentioned a period of trial which followed her first Communion. Perhaps her own sufferings made her dwell upon those of the Divine Sufferer of Gethsemani. Were they the cause of her long watches beside the Saviour, " sorrowful unto death "? However it may have been, the generous young girl sought to console Him by a compassion the sincerity of which was proved by her offering to share His bitter chalice.
Elizabeth's soul gained in fortitude by her office of angel of consolation. The longing to suffer in her turn, produced by her loving contemplation, upheld her in her difficulties, for in her case the movements of grace always bore practical results.
At about this epoch, feeling that she was called to the mystic nuptials, she forestalled them by a vow of virginity, which was followed by a genuine grace of recollection ; henceforth nothing distracted her attention from God. Penetrated by the Divine presence and overcome by the effects she experienced, she said to herself: "When I see my confessor I shall ask him what is passing in my soul." The prudent confessor endeavoured less to enlighten her about her state of contemplation than to teach her to make the necessary efforts to conform her life to the good pleasure of Him Who already took such delight in her soul. God revealed to her His dwelling within her soul ; it was there she was to enter into herself, like St. Teresa and the virgin of Siena. " Since I cannot break with the world and live in solitude," she writes, "at least give me solitude of heart, that I may live with Thee in intimate union from which nothing can distract me. ... Thou knowest well, my Divine Master, that when I mix with the world I find my consolation in retiring into myself to enjoy Thy presence which I realize so clearly within me. No one thinks of Thee amidst such gaieties, and it seems as if Thou wert glad that one heart, even though as miserable as mine, should remember Thee."
Prayer was her delight. Her love for it was insatiable, and she rose before daybreak even in the coldest wintry weather to obtain an extra hour for it. Fear of missing the trysting-place made her wakeful. " How many matches I was obliged to hide," she said, " to avoid inconvenient questions !"
Prayer was for Elizabeth — as for all sincere souls — the school of sanctity. " O Christ, crucified upon the cross," she wrote, " as I gaze on Thee I realize all the malice of sin ! While Thy tormentors pierced Thy feet and hands, while Thou didst endure a thousand torments on the cross, my countless faults and infidelities were before Thine eyes. Ah ! how dear they cost Thee ! Yet Thou didst also foresee the love that I should bear Thee, and how, in return for Thy love for me, I should be ready to yield Thee my life a thousand times. O my Jesus ! forgive me all the anguish I have caused Thy Divine Heart! Grant me pardon, and look solely on my love. . . .
" Who can describe how sweet it is when heart speaks to heart ; when one no longer seems to belong to this world, but sees and listens to nothing but God ? God, Who speaks tenderly to the heart, asking it to suffer for Him, and to console Jesus, Who longs for a little love. How eagerly do I beg
Jesus for the cross at such times — that cross which is my stay, my hope ; the cross I long to share with the Master Who deigns to choose me as the confidante and consoler of His Heart. I strive by my love, my interest, my sacrifices, and my prayers, to make Him forget His sorrows ! I desire to love Him for those who love Him not/'
She seems, to a certain extent, to have experienced a higher state of prayer described by St. Teresa. u How much I like the way the Saint, while speaking of contemplation, speaks of the degree of prayer in which God works more than the soul, uniting it to Himself so intimately that it is no longer we who live, but He Who lives in us . . . which I recognize in the hours of supreme happiness that the Divine Master deigned to grant me during this retreat (i 899), as well as since then. What return can I make Him for His benefits ? . . ." After these short ecstasies, during which the soul forgets self, and sees nothing but its God, how hard and painful ordinary prayer appears, how laborious it is to struggle to control all the powers, how much it costs, and how difficult it seems !
The spirit of prayer lit in her heart the living flame of love which was so swiftly to consume her. Already her gentle influence was felt by others. Elizabeth showed the signs of a soul that holds within it heavenly treasures. She began to benefit those around her, for the flowers of this garden gave forth so fragrant and so sweet a perfume that people longed to draw near her.*
From very early youth her influence attracted others. One of her friends, now a nun, writes : * " Catechisme de sainte Ter£se," chap, xxxviii.
"She was twelve years old when we first became acquainted. Her fervour and generosity attracted me at once, and I foresaw that she would do me much good. While preparing for my first Communion, I loved to talk to her of the great day and its deep joys, for I guessed what her own dispositions must have been."
Another correspondent writes: "I shall never forget how Mademoiselle Catez edified me during a retreat we made together. The touching fervour with which she made the Stations of the Cross so impressed me that my devotion was more roused by watching her than by making them myself. I was irresistibly compelled to remain in my place, uniting my soul to hers, and making her feelings my own, that I might offer them to our Lord.
" I saw her once more, kneeling near the confessional of the Redemptorist Fathers, during the mission of 1899. During the long delay I had leisure to observe her. She was so deeply recollected that I never saw her move for an hour and a half; she seemed surrounded by a kind of atmosphere that isolated her from all around. Great graces were evidently being reserved for her, and she would, no doubt, give herself with a rare generosity, as the later events of her life proved."
Elizabeth gave a very good example in the parish choir of young girls. She always showed herself ready to help others. Yet so modest was she that, in spite of her talent, she never permitted herself to offer the slightest criticism.
She devoted herself with great fervour to the catechism class which offered her an occasion of proving her love for the Divine Master and of exercising the zeal that consumed her. The undisciplined pupils of the secular schools were subdued by the hidden charm of her goodness, and their love for her made the most rebellious obey her joyfully.
A little girl, aged fourteen, who had not yet made her first Communion, was confided to her. She devoted herself to the charge, and spared neither her prayers nor her sacrifices. "The good God gave me this chosen soul to prepare me for my first Communion and to complete the very rudimentary religious teaching I had received," writes the girl. " Her angelic face won my heart immediately, and my veneration and affection for her increased every time I visited her. Nothing could equal her patience and sweetness. How lovingly she spoke to me of the great Sacrament I was about to receive ! How she urged me to pray to our Lady, implanting in my heart the germs of a filial devotion to her ! Her zeal redoubled during the retreat made in preparation for the great day. I remember particularly her piety as she prayed with and for me ; and 1 was struck by her recollection as we walked to church together. I understand now how deeply she realized that she was the tabernacle of Jesus, She told me that this was what I was about to become, and that I must be very pure, and carefully prepare my general confession for which she helped me to examine myself. I had but a very short list of sins of which to accuse myself. c My dear,' said Mademoiselle Catez, c you are happy enough to have committed few sins ; I was not like you, I cannot say how many I could remember,' which was her delicate and humble manner of telling me to examine my conscience more carefully."
Elizabeth did not forget that suffering is the sole way of rendering our zeal active and fruitful. She wrote : <c My God, in union with Jesus crucified, I offer myself as victim. I desire the cross as my strength and support, and wish to live with it, that it may be my treasure, since Jesus chose it for my sake. I thank Him for this mark of predestination. 1 O crux, ave, spes unica !' Yes, Thou shalt ever be my support, my strength, my hope. Holy cross, supreme treasure that Jesus reserves for those His heart elects, I wish to live with Thee, to die with Thee, like the Bridegroom Whom I love ! I wish to live and die on the cross.
" My Saviour, I desire to return Thee love for love, blood for blood. Thou didst die for me, therefore I will daily endure fresh sufferings for Thee ; every day shall bring me some fresh martyrdom because of my deep love for Thee."
The passion for suffering grew in her as the fitting expression of her love, and the generous girl courageously imposed severe penances upon herself. In her longing to resemble her Master she went so far as to ask Him for the impression of His crown of thorns, and her request was heard. She was continually tortured by unaccustomed and severe headaches, although her expression remained joyful and happy. Her secret, which for long she closely kept, was at last discovered. She was told to pray that her trial might be ended ; it ceased under the grace of obedience after having lasted two years.
To her great delight she became the possessor of a hair shirt, which she wore at night, as she could not do so during the day. Her health soon became affected, although the reason was unsuspected. She confided in the Mother Prioress of Carmel, who traced her illness to the imprudent penance, and her health was restored by the sleep required by a girl of twenty.
It is evident from this that she was no longer forbidden to visit her longed-for convent. It greatly comforted her, during her last two years of exile, to open her mind to one who sympathized with her, and to receive Teresian counsel. Elizabeth joined a small group of young girls connected with Carmel who delighted in helping the out-sisters to decorate the chapel on the eves of festivals, as they had read of their predecessors doing in the old chronicle of the Carmel of Dijon. People still remember Elizabeth's energy as she dusted the choir grating for the ceremony of a clothing, how happy she looked during the short time she spent in the shadow of the convent she loved, and how wistfully she gazed at its closed door.
" It was a real trial to me," she confided to us, lC to be taken during the holidays far from my Carmel, from Dijon and its churches, that I loved so well. Fond as I was of my friends, I felt a void while in their company ; and though I appeared to live, yet I felt lifeless."
No one suspected anything of the sort ; the brave girl knew how to hide her feelings for the sake of those dear to her, so that she was as popular as ever, and as charming in society.
Elizabeth spent the summer of 1899 in travelling, as usual — first in France, and then in Switzerland, which enchanted her by its beauty. Her enthusiasm was easily aroused by the beauties of nature, and she became absorbed in the contemplation of the works of the Creator.
iC Enjoy those beautiful landscapes," she writes from her little cell in Carmel. " Nature leads us to the good God. I used to love the mountains which spoke to me of Him." In a letter to her sister, staying in the Pyrenees, she says : " One never gets tired of watching the sea. Do you remember the last time we saw it together at the rocker de la Vierge at Biarritz ? What happy hours I spent there ! How lovely it was to see the ground-swell covering the rocks! The sight used to thrill me with its grandeur. Enjoy it thoroughly. As for me, 1 discover all these vast horizons in God now that I am at Carmel.' '
The balls commenced again in the winter, and Elizabeth accompanied her young sister to them in order to please her mother.
" Now the parties have begun again ; you know how little I care for them. However, I offer them to the good God, and nothing seems able to distract my mind from Him. When all one's actions are done for Him, in His holy presence, beneath the Divine gaze which penetrates the soul, one hears Him still in the silence of a heart which longs to be His alone."
Elizabeth's diary ends with her last retreat made in the world.
" Tuesday^ January 23. — O my God, what graces hast Thou bestowed upon Thy poor little creature since last year's retreat ! Thou, Who knowest all things, dost know, at all events, that I love Thee ! I wish to become a saint for Thy sake. I have one more tedious year to pass in the world ; let it be spent in doing much good ! Make me a true Carmelite, for in soul I can and will be one !
" Help me, my God, during this retreat, for I long not only to save my own soul, but to bring others back to Thee ; I am consumed by this longing- Thou Who canst read my heart knowest that if I desire to suffer and to leave all for Thee, it is not to be freed from purgatory, but only to console Thee, O my Beloved ! Were it Thy will, I should be ready to live in hell, so that the prayer of a heart that loved Thee might ceaselessly rise to Thee from the depths of the infernal regions I recommend to Thee, my God, all the souls that are about to follow this retreat. If it be Thy will, I renounce for their sake all the consolations that Thou mightest bestow on me. But I am weak ; do Thou uphold me I Let me live during this time of blessing in a closer union
*., with Thee ; let me remain in that hidden recess of my being where I see and feel Thee so clearly. Alas !
After the instruction on death she exclaims : " O my God, may I die with Thee ! May I die bearing Thee within my heart ! When I appear before Thee, my Jesus, mayest Thou recognize Thy bride who left all for Thee ! Let me not give Thee cause to feel ashamed of me, nor let me see Thee look on me with anger. No, 1 trust in Thee ! Then at length, my Beloved, I shall see Thee, I shall possess Thee without fear of losing Thee, and shall be inebriated with Thy love. The thought transports me with happiness. Perhaps, O my Jesus, Thou wilt call me to Thee soon ; may Thy will be done ! I only wish for what Thou dost will. Thou knowest I have
SUPERNATURAL VIRTUES2 given Thee all, and that I would have no desires but Thine ! But, if ever I am to offend Thee mortally, I beg, as I have done so many times before, that Thou wilt take me to Thyself. Take me, I beseech Thee, I conjure Thee, while I am still wholly Thine !"
After the sermon on the last judgment, she writes : "O Master! I know that I have offended Thee deeply, yet I love Thee dearly ! I go to Thee in perfect confidence as to a loving Friend. Thou seemest to be pleased by this loving familiarity ; therefore I await with perfect self-surrender the moment when I shall for ever be united to Thee . . . and I hope at least that I shall still be able to labour \ for Thy glory.
" Let me, as long as I remain on earth, do some good ; I am Thy little victim ; make use of me, do with me what Thou pleasest. I abandon all to Thee — my soul, my body, will, and desires — I yield them all to Thee !
" I have given myself to the good Master," she cried on the last day ; " I have surrendered all to Him, even my dearest wish. I only will what He wills ; let Him take me when He chooses !
"After these days spent in recollection, I cannot say how sad I feel at the thought that I must go back to my ordinary life. I offer Thee this suffering, O Master ; I am ready for all Thou askest, to follow the path Thou settest me !
" I have made the same resolutions again this year : humility and self-renunciation, which include all the rest, and I beg Thee, my Jesus, to help me to keep them faithfully. Yes, I promise Thee, my Beloved, to humble and renounce myself whenever occasion offers ! . . .
" I saw the Prioress of Carmel at the end of my retreat. How much the long interview with her did for me ! On leaving the parlour, I visited the chapel and consecrated myself anew at Mary's altar to my dear Mother ; may she keep me pure and preserve my heart, which is wholly yielded to Jesus, free from the slightest stain !
" O my Divine Master, let my life be one continued prayer ; let nothing, nothing, distract me from Thee — neither work, nor pleasures, nor sufferings ! Let me be immersed in Thee !
" In five days M is to leave all for Thee ; I yield her to Thee, thanking Thee for having chosen us both for Thy brides. I wish that I, too, could respond to Thy call, but the hour has not yet come. May the holy will of God be always mine. . . . Yes, Lord, may Thy will be done ! I can belong to Thee even in the world. Then take my whole being ;
; let Elizabeth disappear, and nothing remain but
I Jesus ! . . ."
Footnotes
Chapter 5 of 19