Varden, Erik

Elisabeth-Paule Labat (1897-1975) was born in Tarbes, France. After the Great War, she moved to Paris and studied at the Schola Cantorum. A brilliant pianist and composer, Labat also studied Gregorian chant. In 1922 she entered the Benedictine abbey of Saint-Michel de Kergonan in Brittany, and took Elisabeth as her religious name. Labat is also author of "Presence of God" (Paulist Press, 1980).