Élise Days 2022 in Trucy-sur-Yonne
On May 14 and 15, Élise Days, centered on the theme of friendship, took place in Trucy-sur-Yonne, birthplace of Élise Bisschop. Before coming back to this day, we warmly thank Mrs. Isabelle and Mr. Frédéric Prost for the friendly welcome offered in their castle.
Under a bright and particularly hot sun, the day of Saturday began at three o'clock with activities offered to children. While the boys played a whole range of games offered by Marion Prost, the girls – wiser – made a few bracelets and necklaces.
At 5:30 p.m., a lecture on Élise's secular friendships was given by Raphaëlle Taccone. This conference was an opportunity to highlight the particularly fraternal, even supernatural, bonds between Élise and her good friends. Élise considered each friendship as the will of the Lord; many of you were touched to know that this child from Trucy-sur-Yonne perceived each friend as a little sister to be loved.
“Dear little Sister, to you too, I feel so united... you too, you protect me. I like to think of you when I'm sad. That night, I slept badly. I told Jesus, and the Blessed Virgin, that I took refuge in their arms, in their Heart. I'll meet you there. I pray for you, very hard... at least on the days when I pray hard. I `m kissing you with all my heart." Letter from Élise Bisschop to Victoria G., June 27, 1957
After the conference, we went to the village church to attend a lyrical concert given by Émilie Tafoiry, a talented soprano, and her husband Nicolas Tafoiry, an experienced musician. The concert, interspersed with sung and played tunes, was a resounding success and aroused the enthusiasm of the public.
Around 7:30 p.m., we met in the castle park to enjoy an aperitif dinner and some good wines from our region. A big thank you to Catherine and Michel Poinsard for the good bottles offered during the festivities. Taking advantage of the mildness of the evening, the discussions continued until around nine o'clock. During these moments of shared friendship, interrupted by the laughing cries of the children, Élise's smile shone above our heads like a shining star in the falling night.
The next day, at nine-thirty, Father Dominique-Marie Morstad presented a conference on the ecclesial friendships of Élise. He evoked the particularly strong filial and spiritual ties that Élise had with her good parish priests of Mailly-le-Château, but also Father Pierre Van Ede of Châtel-Censoir and the Dominican Father Jourdain Bochin of Dijon. By way of anecdote, he insisted on the almost miraculous preservation of Élise's letters to her spiritual father, Father André Générat.
An hour later, everyone present was invited to come to the church for a mass in suffrage of Élise. Father Dominique-Marie recalled that on this day, when the beatification of Blessed Charles de Foucauld was celebrated in Rome, Élise had particularly loved him. She had read his biography when she was still a schoolgirl before becoming interested, many years later, in the religious life of the Little Brothers of the Poor of Jesus by reading "In the heart of the mountains" by Father René Voillaume.
During these two days, visitors were again able to discover an exhibition on the life of Elise Bisschop, a big thank you to Vanessa Taccone for the precious help during the installation. This exhibition was in fact the reduced version of the one proposed at the last Heritage Days.
At the end of the morning on Sunday, the Journées d'Élise ended with a beautiful sunny aperitif in the courtyard of the château.
Thanks again to those who worked for the success of these days, in particular Father Dominique-Marie, Isabelle and Frédéric, Marion and Vanessa.