Marie-Thérèse Charlotte de Lamourous

After the Revolution, Marie-Thérèse de Lamourous returned to Bordeaux. In 1800, her friend Jeanne Pichon de Longueville sought her help to care for a refuge intended to welcome former prostitutes wishing to change their lives. Initially, Marie-Thérèse felt a deep repugnance toward these marginalized women, to the point of taking long detours to avoid crossing paths with them. However, overcoming her reluctance through spiritual obedience, she agreed to visit them. From her first contact with them, her repugnance vanished, giving way to a deep peace. On January 1, 1801, after discerning her vocation, she decided to settle permanently among these women. She arrived at the shelter (then located at the home of a lady named Mme Laplante) and, as she was seeing her friends to the door, she spoke these simple words: "Good evening, I am staying!". She thus locked herself in with fifteen "penitents" to share their daily life. This was the founding act of the work of "La Miséricorde" (The Mercy). Under her energetic and maternal leadership, the work developed rapidly despite immense material and financial difficulties. On May 14, 1801, the day of the Ascension, Father Chaminade, appointed superior of the work, gave a rule and a habit to the 35 residents of the community. In 1808, thanks to the help of Emperor Napoleon I (whom she audaciously solicited during his visit to Bordeaux), the work acquired the former Annonciades convent to house the community. Marie-Thérèse decided to structure this work into a true religious congregation. Starting in 1814, she herself wrote the constitutions of the Sisters of Mercy of Bordeaux. The first religious sisters pronounced their vows in 1823. At the same time, she actively collaborated in the development of the Marianist Family alongside Father Chaminade, notably by guiding the first steps of the congregation of the Daughters of Mary Immaculate, founded by Adèle de Batz de Trenquelléon in Agen in 1816.

Marie-Thérèse de Lamourous dedicated the rest of her life to the direction of the House of Mercy, welcoming and rehabilitating hundreds of marginalized women. Her life was marked by an absolute trust in Divine Providence, profound humility, and boundless charity. She passed away on September 14, 1836, in Bordeaux, in her room at the House of Mercy, surrounded by her protégées, on the feast day of the Glorious Cross, at the age of 81. Father Chaminade, informed of the gravity of her condition while he was in exile in Agen, rushed to Bordeaux and arrived on the very day of her death. The reputation for holiness of the "Good Mother" de Lamourous spread rapidly after her death, both in Bordeaux and throughout the region. The faithful and the members of her congregation continue to seek her intercession.

The informative process for her canonization was officially opened in the Archdiocese of Bordeaux in 1911. The decree on her writings was published on January 14, 1920, and her cause was formally introduced in Rome on November 14, 1923. After a meticulous examination of her life, virtues, and writings by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Pope John Paul II promulgated the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues on December 21, 1989. By this act, she was officially declared Venerable.

The spirituality of Marie-Thérèse de Lamourous is deeply rooted in the mystery of Divine Mercy and Redemption. She chose the feast of Our Lady of the Snows (August 5) as the patronal feast for her congregation, under the title of "Mary, Mother of Mercy." For her, Mary is the perfect model of welcoming God's mercy and compassion toward sinners. Her pedagogy with the women she welcomed was based on absolute respect for their dignity, freedom, and a family spirit, seeking to "restore to love its creative force." The legacy of Marie-Thérèse de Lamourous has been perpetuated through the centuries. On March 1, 1971, responding to the orientations of the Second Vatican Council, the congregation of the Sisters of Mercy of Bordeaux merged with that of the Sisters of Marie-Joseph of Le Dorat (founded in 1841 by Anne-Marie Quinon for the apostolate among incarcerated women). This union gave birth to the congregation of the Sisters of Marie-Joseph and of Mercy, which still continues its mission of compassion and reintegration for incarcerated or marginalized persons today. The Domaine de Lamourous in Le Pian-Médoc, housing the Lamourous Hermitage and the "Shepherd's House," remains a place of memory, welcome, and spiritual renewal.