Ève Lavallière was a popular French stage actress who reached the height of her fame in 1916.
She was the talk of Paris and the most celebrated comedienne of her day. She was beautiful- artists begged to paint her. She was dressed by the fashion designer, Paul Poiret. She was admired and exalated by fellow actresses. She lived in a lavishly decorated home in Paris. As she performed before packed and adoring audiences, some of whom were kings, she seemed to have the world at her feet.
"Gold ran through my hands, I had everything the world could offer, everything I could desire." said Eve. "Nevertheless, I regarded myself as the unhappiest of souls."
Eve was plagued by a terrible darkness within her. "As a child, I knew not what the love and care of a mother was. My life was tears and suffering from the time I reached the age of reason."
At her birth, she has been sent away to live with a family of peasants, until she reached school age at which point her parents enrolled her in a private school. Her father was an alcoholic who flew into fits of rage. One day, Eve witnessed her father murder her mother with a gun. He pointed the gun at Eve, but did not shoot. Then he shot himself right in front of her. All the fame and riches in the world couldn't erase the darkness within her. Despite her rise to fame and excessive riches, her life spiraled out of control. She was depressed, suicidal, and dabbled in the occult. She fell into a life of sin, becoming the mistress of a local marquis. She had opportunistic sexual liaisons with a variety of men who rewarded her sexual favors. Yet deep down, she was miserable.
In 1917, Eve was resting in the French countryside, away from the agitation of the world, and preparing for a performance in the United States. She was renting a house in Chanceux, near Tours, the landlord of which was a Catholic priest, Fr. Chasteigner. Leonia was with her-- a Belgian refugee that she had met in Paris two years earlier and who was her lifelong friend and confidant.
When the priest noticed Eve was absent from Sunday Mass, he went to talk to her. She promised not to miss Mass again and attended the following Sunday. But Fr. Chasteigner recognized in her a lack of devotion because he said to her, "What a pity that you have no faith."
Eve confessed to the priest that she had experiences in spiritism in which she conversed with and gave her soul to the devil in return for "what she most desired." She said, however, that he failed to fulfill his promise, and Eve denounced him as an imposter and a cheat. She concluded that spiritism was a lie and the devil didn't exist.
"I assure you that he does exist," said the priest, and he went away without further comment.
This was enough for Eve to begin pondering the devil and God. If the devil does exist, then God exists. And if God exists, what am I doing with my life? She began to think hard about her life.
The priest returned and said that he had spent the night in prayer regarding her and even offered a Mass for the intention of being inspired of what to do in her regard. He decided to bring her a book. It was The Life of Saint Mary Magdalene by Fr. Henri Lacordaire, O.P. "Read the book on your knees," the priest instructed her. "And you will see what God can do with a soul such as yours."
According to Leonia, Eve situated herself in the kitchen, with the doors open so the servants could hear, and read aloud in a clear voice. Remember: Eve was a talented and professional performer, her voice was exceptional and she could use it to command every emotion. We can imagine with what emotion she must have read this book aloud and the effect it had on those who heard her. "Enthusiasm seized her," said Leonia. "Never had I heard her read with such conviction. Sitting at her feet, I began to cry." She said Eve's voice was broken by sobs as she read.
The next Sunday, Eve attended Mass again, but according to Leonia, her disposition was completely changed.
Leonia said she told Eve that day that she desired to make her first communion because, despite being 23 years of age, she never had. Eve was supportive of her friend and said she would arrange it -- and that she would receive Holy Communion with her!
Eve was repentant of her sins and eager to make a confession. For an entire week, the two girls prepared themselves to receive the Sacraments. Leonia recounts that they memorized catechism lessons, learned to pray the Rosary, and Eve was insistent on writing down all her past sins for her general confession, to ensure she didn't forget anything.
Confessing her sins and receiving Communion was a joyful and radiant moment for Eve. "My resolution is made," she wrote, "from now on, only Jesus has a right to my life, for He alone gave me happiness and peace."
In that church at Chanceaux, there can still be seen an engraved stone: "In this church Ève Lavallière converted and received Communion on 19 June 1917, brought back to God by Fr. Chesteigner."
Eve left Paris, distributed her immense fortune to the poor, and went to live a remote place. She became a penitent soul, taking to prayer and mortification to make reparation for her previous life. She asked God to send her much suffering in order to atone for her past sins and to ascend to the height of virtue and sanctity. On a pilgrimage to Lourdes, she was seen praying the Stations of the Cross barefoot in the pouring rain.
She tried to join a convent but was repeatedly rejected. Instead, she became a third order Franciscan and for a time was a medical missionary in Tunisia, until poor health and periods of depression forced her to give up her work. She and Leonia led secluded life of prayer, meditation, and suffering in France.
At the end of her life, her once beautiful features became the means of expiation for sins. That she suffered a terrible illness is certain, but what it was, I don't know. One account I read said that, for medical reasons, her eyes were sewn closed, and that she endured this painful operation without an anesthetic and without complaint. However, a newspaper article written in 1921 says "her blue eyes are more lovely than ever," so perhaps this claim is not true. Whatever pain she endured, she offered it all up in expiation, even rendering thanks to God: "I have sinned through these faculties, good Lord. I thank Thee for permitting me to expiate my sins through this suffering."
In 1929, a Parisian newspaper published the following interview with Eve:
"Do you suffer a lot?"
"Yes, horribly."
"Have you any hope of being cured?"
"None. But I am so happy! You cannot imagine how great is my happiness."
"Even with so much suffering?"
"Yes, and because of it. I am in God's hands. Tell my friends of days gone by that I am the happiest person on earth."
Eve was one of the best-known actresses in the world; now she was living as a hermit. She once sang in theatres, now she only sings at Mass in the village church. She used to be dressed by the best fashion designers, now she wore black frocks and coarse sackcloth garments. No one was allowed an audience in the house. "This house is not an ordinary house," said the maid. "It is a cloister." Since her poor health prevented her from joining a convent, she secluded herself in a house, only receiving the village poor who came to her for help.
In her last letter, she wrote: "All my being and all my will are turned toward this last end: to love God, Who loves me so much in spite of my past and present miseries."
Eve died on July 10th, 1929, at the age of 63. Upon her tomb were engraved these words at her request: "I have left all for God; He alone is enough. O Thou Who didst create me, have pity on me."
Comments