Rather conventionally religious in her younger years, Élisabeth Leseur was prompted by the attacks of her husband against Christianity and religion to probe deeper into her faith.

In 1907 her health deteriorated to the extent that she was forced to lead a primarily sedentary life, receiving visitors and directing her household from a chaise longue.

[2] From the beginning, she organized her spiritual life around a disciplined pattern of prayer, meditation, reading, sacramental practice, and writing.

In her approach to mortification, she followed Saint Francis de Sales who recommended moderation and internal, hidden strategies instead of external practices.

In order to get rid of such "superstition", Félix left for the Marian shrine of Lourdes, wanting to expose the reports of the healings there as fake.