The Secret Diary of Elisabeth Leseur

By Elisabeth LaSeur

Elisabeth Leseur had two great loves: God and her husband, Felix. Felix loved Elisabeth as well; yet to their mutual sorrow, he couldn’t share the life of the Spirit that Elisabeth cherished. Occasionally the happiness of their life together in upper-class Parisian society was shattered by Felix’s frustration and impatience. How could such an intelligent woman waste her time, as he saw it, with ignorant superstitions? Sometimes he and his friends would even ridicule and mock her faith. But Elisabeth loved Felix too much to allow their home to degenerate into an emotional war zone. She realized that confrontations and arguments were useless; she chose instead to keep quiet and pray for Felix. In her secret diary, she recorded how she used his efforts to destroy her faith as means to grow in love for him and for God.

Throughout their life together, it grieved Elisabeth to think that Felix might be separated from her for all eternity because of his rejection of God. For her, life in Heaven wouldn’t be happy without him. Yet when she died prematurely, Felix was still an unbeliever. When he found this diary, he discovered how Elisabeth’s whole life bore witness to the truth of the God she loved. In time, Felix was transformed by the diary and his memories of Elisabeth. He became a Christian and, later, a priest. Elisabeth’s diary and spiritual writings included in this single volume map out a path to marital harmony, perseverence and greater love for God.