Stephanie Gayat 1840-1918
good and sweet
Lady of Good Counsel
“Fifty-four years old, 1st door. Wise and prudent Virgin with the lamp overflowing with the oil of charity; true daughter of our Father Saint Elijah, devoured by the glory of God and the salvation of souls, and lady of Good Counsel! Beloved soul of Saint Anthony of Padua with whom she does what she wants... Is an object lost? Have recourse to my sister Saint-Raphaël, she will set out and bring it back to you soon”.
It is to the pen of Sister Marie des Anges, as we have guessed, that this charming portrait is due, in May 1893. The previous year, Father Delatroëtte named this “wise and prudent virgin” sub-prioress, replacing Sister Fébronie, kidnapped by influenza. In February 1893, the community elected her third councillor; no doubt satisfied with her “Lady of Good Counsel”, she retained her in this post in the March 1896 elections. (see red notebook and his testimonies at the Trial). Be that as it may, Thérèse had to display treasures of patience in the office of second doorwoman, from the summer of 1893 to March 1896. do it in a certain way and don't rush, put the broom down like this, a piece of paper like that, a box like this on the side, the other one always flat” (Mother Agnès). Thérèse simply obeyed, without trying to understand, the only way to keep her inner peace.
But to top it off, Sister Saint-Raphaël was “good and gentle” (Céline says, we can believe her!) and full of attention for Thérèse. Thus, filled with compassion on seeing his hands covered with chilblains and cracks, she undertook, three winters in a row, to wrap them in linen and cotton wool. One year, she spent hours there every day. It is the same sister who warns “that we were losing the health of this child by not serving her enough in the refectory. But, oh irony, at the same time, she innocently takes the little bottle of cider - "barely two glasses", says Marie du Sacré-Coeur - placed between her and Thérèse. This one deprives herself of drinking so as not to sadden the poor diabetic sister.
The patent of patience awarded by Sister Saint-Raphaël, posthumously, to her young companion, is all the more flavorful: "What I found most remarkable in her was her possession of herself- even, so much so that I thought she was phlegmatic. I was far from thinking that he was such an ardent soul. “In her usual dealings with the Community I have always found her to be very charitable. » (Memorandum of December 16, 1907) On license days, the nun, very pious, speaks only of the Good God. Which horrifies a Mary of the Trinity. Sister Saint-Raphaël worries near Thérèse: “I'm afraid of tiring you by talking about the Good Lord? She will keep the answer: "You can talk about it with me as much as you want, you will never tire me." Thérèse revealed her secret to the impatient novice: “You have to be careful not to get annoyed inside, to soften your soul with charitable thoughts; after that we practice patience as naturally. And to add candidly: "What I do, you can do, it's not very difficult..."
Sister Saint-Raphaël had no obituary, so that almost everything about her childhood and youth is unknown. His father, François Gayat, originally from Honfleur, was a wood turner then a cooper; his mother, Marie-Lucile Lavalée, a chair mender, was from Ingouville, a town then independent of Le Havre and overlooking the port, surrounded by its ramparts. The marriage takes place in Ingouville on November 6, 1828. A daughter, Francine, arrives soon, followed or not by other children, we do not know. And here is our heroine, Arsène (sic) Laure-Stéphanie, born on February 18, 1840, “Perrey district, Parmentier house”, by the sea. Unsanitary district, inhabited by poor people. At the time, the square of the current City Hall of Le Havre was bathed in a backwater. The witnesses, both at the wedding and at the birth of Stéphanie, are of modest professions: carpenter, loader, wood turner, carpenter, wheelbarrow. The child was baptized on February 23, 1840 in the church of Saint-Michel d'Ingouville, on the wooded hill: the former "church of the Penitents", which became the parish church in 1822 (destroyed in September 1), replacing the old Saint-Michel chapel, too small. Complete obscurity over Stephanie's first twenty-eight years, with the exception of an old photo which restores her Second Empire figure.
Fifty years of Carmel (1868-1918)
The aspirant was probably introduced by the parish priest of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul in Le Havre, Abbé Beaupel, who would remain a great benefactor of the Lexovian monastery until his death (1885). Miss Gayat entered Carmel on February 24, 1868, received by Mother Marie-Baptiste, a prioress, still new to her office. He is given the habit on June 26. Bishop Hugonin, consecrated the previous year, presides. Father Bénigne de Janville, Recollet, gives the sermon. In the novitiate: Sister Marie des Anges and Sister Marie-Thérèse (English, who would later return to England), young professed sisters and Sister Saint-Pierre, novice. That summer, the rustic building called du Heart of Mary. Sister Saint-Raphaël's dowry partly pays for the construction (“imprudence”, admits the columnist, because the sister has not yet made profession).
The ace! This is the drama, October 19, 1868. The prioress abandons her flock without warning, to go and found the Carmel of Caen, with two sisters. The chapter elects Mother Geneviève as prioress: her gentleness restores peace in the disturbed convent. Sister Saint-Raphaël took her vows on July 6, 1869 and received the black veil on the 16th. A Dominican (from Le Havre?), Father Ledié, preached. The ordeals continued: seven sisters suffered from typhoid or smallpox during the winter of 1869-1870. The superior, M. Cagniard, died in cure in Vichy (20-7-1870). An exceptional drought causes "pestilential diseases on the cattle", which die by the thousands. A psychosis of divine retribution wins step by step. And here comes the war! The specter of the Prussian spreads terror. Mr. Gayat gave the signal for the exodus by dispatching his daughter Francine to bring the young Carmelite back to Le Havre (September 16-20, 1870). Back home for the feast of Saint Joseph, March 19, 1871.
Regular life resumes its austere and monotonous course. “Be very gentle with her, she is ill,” Thérèse recommended one day to a novice. Frequent attacks of "gravel" and severe diabetes afflict Sister Saint-Raphaël. Very soon after Thérèse's death, a mental weakening began which brought her back to her early childhood. A kind of paralysis of the legs slows down her activity more and more, whereas she was already walking with measured steps, in Thérèse's time. On August 16, 1918, a more serious crisis forced him to take to his bed. She receives the sacrament of the sick the same day. And the Community is moved to see her immediately regain her full lucidity! She lives this last stage with courage, offering her sufferings, above all her terrible thirst, “for the glory of God and the salvation of souls”, when a comatose sleep leaves her free. We hear him repeat with conviction: “My God, you will have mercy on me because I have always trusted in you”; or else: “Lord, Father, remember that you promised to grant us everything we would ask of you through the Holy Face of Jesus. »
She also counted on Little Thérèse, whose power of intercession she had felt, even during her lifetime. “Being in the choir I had the thought that there was a soul who obtained particular graces and I always looked for it on the side where this dear little sister was, but I did not guess it, it was such a hidden soul! On August 27, around 23 p.m., "without shaking, like a lamp going out," Sister Saint-Raphaël entered her eternity. No more inextinguishable thirst: she quenches her thirst at the springs of living water. No more walking so slowly: "She is very happy today to run in the gardens of Heaven", writes Marie of the Sacred Heart to Léonie (24 September 1918).
Sr Cecile ocd
