Sophie-Thérèse de Soubiran

In 1864, desiring to discern the divine will for her foundation, Marie-Thérèse made a thirty-day retreat according to the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola in Toulouse. There, she understood that God was calling her to transform the béguinage into a true religious congregation. Thus was born the Congregation of the Sisters of Marie-Auxiliatrice, placed under the patronage of the Virgin Mary and adopting Ignatian spirituality. The work was structured around a dual dimension: contemplative (with perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament) and apostolic. Faced with the upheavals of the Industrial Revolution and rural exodus, Marie-Thérèse perceived the distress of young girls leaving the countryside to work in the workshops and factories of large cities. She founded "Family Houses" (homes for young working women) for them in order to offer them dignified housing, human accompaniment, and spiritual formation. The motherhouse was established in Toulouse, and the congregation quickly spread to Amiens, Lyon, Paris, and then to London (England) after the war of 1870. In 1868, the congregation welcomed Julie Richer (in religion Sister Marie-François de Borgia), an ambitious woman who falsely presented herself as a widow. Appointed assistant general in 1871, Julie Richer managed the institute's finances disastrously. At the end of 1873, she falsified the accounts to accuse the foundress of mismanagement and bankruptcy. Through her intrigues and influence, she pushed Marie-Thérèse to resign and excluded her from her own congregation in 1874, thereby seizing control of the work.

Driven from her congregation and rejected by other communities due to accusations of financial bankruptcy weighing upon her, Marie-Thérèse de Soubiran experienced a painful exile. On September 20, 1874, she was finally welcomed by the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity (rue Saint-Jacques in Paris). She entered the postulancy there on December 24, 1874, received the habit on April 20, 1875, and pronounced her perpetual vows on June 29, 1877, under the name Sister Marie du Sacré-Cœur. For fifteen years, she lived in total obscurity, accepting the humblest tasks (assistant doorkeeper, catechist) and sometimes enduring contempt or misunderstanding. She saw in this extreme stripping away an intimate union with the suffering Christ. Afflicted with tuberculosis (phthisis), her health slowly declined. She passed away on June 7, 1889, in Paris, uttering these final words: "Come, Lord Jesus, come!". The truth emerged shortly after her death. In 1890, it was discovered that Julie Richer's husband was still alive and that the latter was an impostor. Julie Richer fled, and the investigation brought to light the accounting falsifications intended to oust the foundress. Marie-Thérèse de Soubiran was officially rehabilitated posthumously as early as 1891. Her body was then exhumed to be transferred to the congregation's house in Villepinte.

The beatification process for Marie-Thérèse de Soubiran opened in Paris on May 9, 1934, under the pontificate of Pope Pius XI. She was solemnly proclaimed Blessed on October 20, 1946, by Pope Pius XII in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, following the recognition of two miracles attributed to her intercession. During the reception of pilgrims on October 22, 1946, the Sovereign Pontiff delivered a memorable speech on the "paradoxical path" of the Blessed, highlighting her heroic humility and citing her favorite verse: "He brought me forth into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me" (Ps 18:19). Her relics currently rest in the chapel of the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Marie-Auxiliatrice, located at 25 C rue de Maubeuge, in the 9th arrondissement of Paris.

The spirituality of Sophie-Thérèse de Soubiran is deeply Eucharistic, Marian, and Ignatian. It rests on a total abandonment to Divine Providence ("to rely only on God") and on the joyful acceptance of dispossession to unite with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She wrote: "He who places his trust in God is strong with the very strength of God." Her legacy is perpetuated through the Congregation of the Sisters of Marie-Auxiliatrice, present in Europe and Africa (notably in Cameroon since 1991). The social and health action initiated by the congregation also continues today via the association Vivre et devenir – Villepinte – Saint-Michel (formerly Association de Villepinte), which supports vulnerable people, children, and adults in situations of disability or precariousness.