Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity
Chronology and other information

1880
July 18: Elizabeth Catez's birth at the camp of Avor in the district of Farges-en-Septain (Cher).
July 22: Baptism at the camp chapel.

1881
Around May 10: family settles in Auxonne.

1882
May 9: death of her grandmother, Mme. Rolland, at Saint- Hilaire.
Around November 1: another move; the Catez family goes to live in Dijon, on rue Lamartine.

1883
February 20: birth of her sister Marguerite.

1885
June 2: Captain Catez retires.

1887
January 24: death of her grandfather, M. Rolland, who was living in their home.
October 2: death of her father.
Shortly after: move to rue Prieur-de-la-Côte-d'Or, near the Carmel.
During this year: first confession.
During this year: first French lessons from Mlle. Grémaux.

1888
During this year or the preceding one: while on a trip in the south of France, Elizabeth confides her religious vocation to Abbé Angles.
October: first enrollment at the Conservatory of Dijon.

1891
April 19: First Communion at Saint-Michel.
June 8: Confirmation at Notre-Dame.

1893
July 18: first prize in higher undamentals of music at the Conservatory.
July 25: first prize at the piano.
August beginning of October: vacation at Gemeaux (Côte- d'Or) in the Vosges and the Jura.

1894
Spring-Summer: private vow of perpetual virginity. Interior call to Carmel.
July: at the Conservatory, the prize for excellence was taken away from her unjustly (cf. L 7).
Vacation: in the south of France.
August 11: "My first poems."

1895
January 11: certificate of merit for harmony at the Conservatory.
Vacation: in the Vosges, and at length in the Jura.

1896
Vacation: in the south of France.
October: visit to Lourdes.

1897
Vacation: in the Vosges (and perhaps elsewhere).

1898
Vacation: in the south of France. Visit to Lourdes. Return by way of Marseille, Grenoble, Annecy, and Geneva.

1899
January 24 - 28: retreat preached by Père Chesnay, S.J.
January 30: begins the part of her Diary still preserved.
March 4: beginning of the mission preached in Dijon.
March 26: Mme. Catez agrees to let her daughter enter Carmel when she reaches the age of 21.
April 2 (Easter): end of the mission preached in Dijon.
June 20: first visit to the parlor of the Carmel (after her mother's consent).
Vacation: in the Jura, three weeks in Switzerland (Fleurier), then in the Vosges.
During the year: reads [St. Thérèse of Lisieux's] Histoire d'une Ame (Story of a Soul)

1900
January 23 - 27: retreat preached by Père Hoppenot, S.J.
First half of the year: first meeting with Père Vallée, O.P.
Vacation: in the south of France: Tarbes, Biarritz, Lourdes, Carlipa. Then in Charentes and in Paris.

1901
August 2: enters Carmel.
October 9: Sister Germaine of Jesus is elected Prioress of the Carmel; she is also Mistress of Novices.
November: eight-day community retreat preached by Père Vergne, S.J.
December 5 - 7: three day retreat in preparation for her clothing.
December 8: clothing; Bishop Le Nordez presides over the ceremony; sermon by Père Vallée.

1902
May 9 - 17: "Cenacle" retreat: annual days of silence between Ascension and Pentecost.
October 7 - 14: community retreat preached by Père Vallée.
October 15: marriage of her sister Marguerite to Georges Chevignard.
December 22: canonical examination. Elizabeth spends several hours outside the enclosure with her mother and sister.

1903
January 1 -10: personal retreat in preparation for her profession.
January 11 (Epiphany Sunday): profession.
January 21: veiling.
Shortly after her profession: second portress (inside enclosure).
May 22 - 30: "Cenacle" days of silence.

1904
March 11: birth of her first niece, Elizabeth Chevignard.
May 13 21: "Cenacle" days of silence.
September 26 October 5: personal retreat.
October 10: re-election of Mother Germaine as Prioress; she remains Mistress of Novices.
November 12 - 20: community retreat preached by Père Fages, O.P.
November 21: Elizabeth writes her prayer, "O My God, Trinity Whom I Adore"

1905
Lent (March 8 April 22): first symptoms of illness; dispensations from observance of the Rule.
April 19: birth of her second niece, Odette Chevignard.
June 2 - 10: "Cenacle" days of silence.
Mid-August: Elizabeth, weakened, is dispensed from her office as second portress.
October 9 - 18: personal retreat.

1906
January 15 - 23: community retreat preached by Père Rollin, S.J.
Before the end of March: Elizabeth enters the infirmary.
April 8: dying. Extreme Unction.
April 14: sudden improvement.
May 13: new, serious attack.
May 25 June 2: "Cenacle" days of silence.
July 8 or 9: after having invoked Thérèse of Lisieux, Elizabeth can again stand.
First half of August: Elizabeth writes Heaven in Faith.
August 16 - 31: personal retreat. She writes her Last Retreat.
Evening of October 30: she is confined to bed.
October 31: receives Extreme Unction for the second time.
November 1: last Communion.
November 9: death.
November 12: burial.

A Brief History of the Carmel of Dijon

The Carmel of Dijon was founded on September 21, 1605. It was the third foundation in France after Paris (1604) and Pontoise (1605). The foundress and first Prioress for fifteen months (until her departure for the foundation in Brussels) was Venerable Mother Anne of Jesus, companion of Saint Teresa of Avila and spiritual daughter of Saint John of the Cross, who wrote the commentary on his Spiritual Canticle for her. It was at Dijon, on November 1, 1605, that the first French professed nun, Marie of the Trinity, pronounced her vows.
Since the house, on rue Charbonnerie (now rue de la Préfec-ture) was soon too small, the Carmelites built a new monastery, on rue Sainte-Anne, which they occupied in 1613. The Sisters were dispersed into public life by the revolutionary laws of 1790.
In January 1866, however, the Carmelites returned to Dijon, after an unsuccessful attempt in Strasbourg. The foundress was then Mother Marie of the Trinity, Sub-Prioress of the Carmel of rue de Messine in Paris. They lived first in a little house, and then built a new monastery on the adjoining property. The blessing of the foundation-stone took place on July 25, 1868. It was this monastery, 4 boulevard Carnot, that Elizabeth entered more than thirty years later.
For reasons of the greatest importance, the Sisters moved again on March 17, 1979, in order to settle into their new monastery of Flavignerot, some eight miles southwest of Dijon.


(Copyright of the English translation Washington Province of Discalced Carmelites, ICS Publications. Permission is hereby granted for any non-commercial use, if this copyright notice is included.)