Recognition as founders and saints

Belated recognition

Father Terme: a superior of an unfinished work

In her memoirs, Mother Joséphine Grégoire wrote about Father Terme’s death in this way: “in him the sisters […] had lost not only their Founder, but a father and the best of fathers”. This sentiment certainly reflects that of the community, Mother Thérèse included. However, in the letters that she wrote right after to the bishop and to Father Renault, S.J., Mother Thérèse referred to him rather as a “Father” and a “respected Superior”. Moreover, in 1836, in a reply to an episcopal vicar, she insisted on the fact that the work of Father Terme was still evolving and that he himself, in his will, had entrusted the Jesuits with the task of completing it. It is only fair to acknowledge that Father Terme played a primary and indispensable, but not definitive role. The Annals written in 1876 express it in this way: “a Founder had passed away before his work was complete”.

Competition for the title of foundress

Mother Thérèse, for her part, after being dismissed from her position as superior in 1938 and relegated to the most humble position, withdrew into a hidden life so discreet that no one thought to treat her as the “foundress”. Then in the years that followed, this title was used for and by persons who were unworthy to bear it:

Mother Contenet, elected as her successor, did not declare herself foundress. But she appeared as such in the eyes of all by reason of her taking over the Congregation, her desire to erase its origins and the deliberate withdrawal of Mother Thérèse.

In October 1838, Madame de Lavilleurnoy, a very wealthy young widow, was appointed by Father Renault as the superior of the community and given the title of “founding superior”, even though she was only a recent novice, having benefitted from a postulancy that had been accelerated to last only two weeks. Less than a year later, Father Renault was forced to dismiss her from her duties. In both temporal and spiritual matters, she had nearly driven the Congregation to its ruin.

At the death of Mother Contenet in 1852, the Jesuit Father Fouillot had attempted to establish himself as founder with Mother Anaïs de Saint-Privat as co-foundress (along with the late Mother Contenet). This crisis, which ended with the departure of Mother Anaïs, led Father Renault to recommend abandoning the terms “founder” and “foundress”, which had become too misused.

A gradual acknowledgment of Mother Thérèse

For her part, Mother Thérèse, ever discreet, tasted the joy of a true spiritual friendship with the newly-elected superior general, Mother de Larochenégly. The latter already held Mother Thérèse in a kind of veneration, while understanding and respecting her desire for humility. Thus, during the 25 years of Mother de Larochenégly’s generalate (1852-1877), Mother Thérèse gradually gained recognition for her initial role in the Congregation and became surrounded by affection. On October 15, 1862, the feast of St. Teresa of Avila, Mother Zoé de Chamon noted in the house journal of the Montpellier community that they celebrated “our good Mother Thérèse, our first and venerated superior and foundress”. Mother de Chamon could have obtained this information only from the superior general or her assistant Mother Dambuent, both of whom had entered at Lalouvesc in 1840, a time when Mother Thérèse was still there. Apart from them, few sisters were aware of the role that their humble elder had played in the early days.

The unawareness was such that when the superior of the community at Fourvière, Mother Berthier, during a visit in 1876 from the new archbishop of Lyon heard him express his delight at having known the foundress of the Cenacle, Mother Contenet, and the founder, Father Fouillot, Mother Berthier respectfully corrected him, pointing out that Mother Contenet, the first superior general, almost deserved this title given of her dedication to the Congregation. She also recalled that the founder was Father Terme, who had entrusted the Congregation to Father Renault upon his death, who in turn passed it on to Father Fouillot. Not a word was said about Mother Thérèse, nor, out of prudence, was there anything mentioned about the crisis in the 1850s and the negative role played by Father Fouillot.

The time of recognition

1876 marked a turning point. During that year of the Congregation’s 50th anniversary, the first Annals were written at the request of Mother de Larochenégly. They were based on the recollections of the oldest members, including those of Mother Thérèse. From the very first pages she is described as the “living cornerstone” of the Institute. Her role in safeguarding its future is highlighted, although without much detail.

Beginning in 1877, during the generalate of Mother Marie-Aimée Lautier, things changed or at least accelerated. She had not lived through the crisis of the 1850s, whose protagonists were no longer there. With Mother Thérèse approaching the age of 73, it was time to establish the truth of the origins of the Congregation and to acknowledge the role of its founders, even their sanctity. Thus began a vast collection of memories and relics.