Luis Arostegui, OCD
Father Luis Arostegui is Superior General of the Discalced Carmelite Order. In November of 2006, we were priviledged to welcome him on his pastoral visitation of our Western Province. One of the highlights of that visitation was celebrating the centenary Mass of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity at the Carmelite nuns’ monastery in Santa Clara, California, in the presence of the nuns, friars, and seculars. Father Luis gave us the text of a conference on Blessed Elizabeth that he had given to commemorate the centenary of the death of the Carmelite of Dijon.
In this [article], after a brief introduction, I will present the framework of Elizabeth’s life, her writings, and some typical thoughts on which I would like to comment briefly. The following are the first and last lines of the famous prayer to the Holy Trinity that Elizabeth composed in 1904 when she was twenty-four years old.
O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me to forget myself entirely that I may be established in you as still and as peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity.
O my Three, my All, my Beatitude, infinite Solitude, Immensity in which I lose myself, I surrender myself to you as your prey (Elizabeth of the Trinity, The Complete Works, Vol. I, pp. 183-184).
We can take this prayer as a summing up of her life. We can perceive here in these words a reflection of her artistic nature, her psychology, and her spirituality (that is to say: her way of living the mystery of her Christian faith). Elizabeth of the Trinity, the name she received in Carmel, addresses her prayer, the aspiration of her soul, to the Triune-God. It is a prayer of adoration, which was probably her deepest and constant attitude.
- Help me to "forget myself" are words that Elizabeth used frequently. It is a negative expression of that other positive reality: in order that "I may be established in you." The forgetting of self means "that I may be established in you."
- Still and as peaceful, like a "fixed" gaze, a gaze of adoration and love, producing peace, the fruit of her self-giving.
- "As if my soul were already in eternity": In fact, for her eternity began on earth, thanks to the presence of the Trinity in us.
- "My All, my Beatitude": Christian faith is a source of joy.
- "Infinite solitude": a surprising expression because God is Trinity, communion, and relationship. In fact, "Solitude" means the same thing as the expression "My All." "Solitude" because "My All," "Infinite solitude" is the "All"—the infinity of God is fullness.
This prayer, and others written by Elizabeth, has rightly made the image of Elizabeth into one of a lofty contemplative and at times a sublime one. Yet we should see and understand her doctrine and her life of prayer within the sphere of her personality and the life she lived.
Biographical Outline
Elizabeth Catez was born on July 18, 1880, in the Avord military camp near Bourges in the center of France into a very Christian family. Her father, Joseph, was a captain in the army, which meant that the family was constantly moving, following his different assignments. In 1882, they moved to Dijon. Elizabeth was only seven when her father died. This was shortly before her maternal grandfather, who used to live with them, died. The mother, Marie Rolland, was left alone to look after her two daughters, Elizabeth and Marguerite (the latter was called Guite). Elizabeth was a very lively child, even quick-tempered; she went into rages that were quite terrible. "She was a real little devil," said her sister. Her mother spoke of her "furious eyes"; and one of her friends, Marie-Louise Hallo, remembered her "flashing eyes." But there was another side: attracted to whomever was great and beautiful, she was a generous heart, especially towards Jesus for whom she wanted to conquer her "terrible character."
At nearly ten years of age, according to witnesses, she had a kind of "conversion." In fact, her mother had prepared her for her first holy Communion and told her that it would only be fitting if she corrected her character. Therefore, she bit her lips so as to suppress her angry words and violent reactions. In April of 1891, she made her first Communion at St. Michael’s parish church in Dijon. Seven years later, she will write about this event:
On the anniversary of this day
Where Jesus makes in me his home,
Where God takes possession of my heart,
So much so and so well that since that hour,
Since that mysterious colloquy,
That heavenly, delightful conversation,
I want nothing more than to give my life,
To give back something of his great love
To the most loved in the Eucharist (P 47).
And even before this event, we can guess what was in her. "I loved prayer very much and God so much that, even before my first Communion, I did not understand that one could give one’s heart to another [besides God]" (Souvenirs, Ch. 11).
She received an all-around education with private lessons but one that was quite incomplete. Her artistic gifts were discovered early. She was enrolled in the Conservatoire de Musique at ten years of age—at first theory and piano; afterwards, instrumental ensemble and harmony. At home, she had to practice between four and five hours a day. At thirteen, she won first prize for the piano at the Dijon Conservatory. She had an artist’s nature and a musical vocation. When Elizabeth played music, it was for her a prayer. She said: "When I can no longer pray, I play; it is for God" (told by Alice Confévron). Her musical and artistic talents are seen in her writings as is her literary taste.
At fourteen, Elizabeth felt an interior impulse to consecrate her life to the Lord and replied spontaneously with a vow of perpetual virginity. At fifteen, she decided to enter Carmel (located 200 meters from her house). Her widowed mother, no longer young, wanted to keep her elder daughter at home. She found it difficult to accept her vocation and, putting it to the test, told Elizabeth to wait until she was older.
Elizabeth suffered in silence and yet lived a normal life. Her mother liked to travel and had many friends. Her daughters were often invited on trips, to dances, to tennis games, and to piano recitals. Elizabeth was "always at the head of the group" (according to Canon Angles).
In her letters, she wrote of her enthusiasm before the beauty of the mountains and the sea, her joy at meeting friends, and her interest in games of tennis and musical evenings. She was loved everywhere. But she was also passionate for her work in the parish, her visits to the sick and housebound, Catechism, looking after children and, above all, prayer.
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