'A Soul full of Harmonies'
Elizabeth of the Trinity (1880 – 1906)
As a child growing up in 19th Century France, Elizabeth Catez was renowned
for her tempestuous nature and exceptional musical talent. At the age of eight
she began her studies at the Dijon Conservatory of Music and performed in public
for the first time that same year to rapturous applause from the critics.
She was particularly drawn to the darkly passionate music of Franz Liszt and
other composers of the popular Romantic movement of the time. Their music seemed
to capture the longings and passions within her own heart.
But at the age of twenty one, she joined the enclosed, silent Carmelite convent in Dijon in her search for 'Divine Harmonies'. She left her piano behind and never touched a keyboard again. The journey from sound to silence and the loss of such a powerful tool for emotional expression led her through times of great darkness.
She died at the age of twenty six but her life and writings have had a profound
influence over the past hundred years. Pope Paul II referred to her as one of
the great spiritual writers of the twentieth century and openly acknowledged
her influence on his own life.