Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Life story

Élisabeth Catez was born on 18 July 1880 at the Avor military camp near Bourges, France, to a family in which her father was an army officer. Her father died in 1887, and her mother moved the two sisters to Dijon. She studied piano at the Dijon conservatoire, won praise from her teachers and took part in competitions and concerts. According to her biography she had a fiery temper as a child but learned self-control.

She wished to enter Carmel from a young age, but her mother withheld consent until she came of age. On 2 August 1901 she entered the Carmel of Dijon and took the name Elizabeth of the Trinity. She left letters and short writings on the life of prayer, among them a prayer to the Trinity that is often quoted.

From 1905 she was seriously ill with Addison's disease, a failure of the adrenal glands, and spent her last months in the convent infirmary. She died on 9 November 1906, aged twenty-six. She was beatified in 1984 and canonised by Pope Francis on 16 October 2016.

During her years at Dijon she followed the daily rhythm of a Carmelite nun: common prayer, manual work and hours of silence. Her manuscripts and letters were published after her death and translated into many languages, becoming a source for many readers across Europe and beyond. The Carmelites keep her feast on 8 November.

Works and witness

• Studied piano at the Dijon conservatoire
• Entered the Carmel of Dijon on 2 August 1901
• Left letters and short writings, including a well-known prayer to the Trinity
• Died of Addison's disease in 1906; canonised in 2016

Saints from the same country

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Saint Louis IX of France, Saint Joan of Arc, Saint Francis de Sales

References

• Martyrologium Romanum
• Dicastery for the Causes of Saints – biographical profile
• Élisabeth de la Trinité, Souvenirs and letters

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.