Treasures
from the Archives
Our Lady of the Cenacle
Treasures
from the Archives
Our Lady of the Cenacle
Treasures
from the Archives
Our Lady of the Cenacle
Treasures
from the Archives
Our Lady of the Cenacle
Keen to provide a religious framework for the teachers under his direction, Father Terme understood the need for a Rule so that they could become true Religious. Initially, they observed the Rules of the Congregation of the Presentation of Mary, brought by Sister Claire when she left that institute to join Father Terme.
Subsequently, wishing to give them Constitutions more in line with their apostolate, he adapted those of the Religious of the Sacred Heart. Then, his association with the Jesuits led him to give his text a more Ignatian flavour. This set, known as the ‘Rules of Father Terme’, is in fact composed of several notebooks with diverse contents.
The Abridged Plan summarises the spirit of the Congregation, while the Constitutions detail the organisation of community life and the functioning of the apostolic mission.
Both parts are imbued with a constant invitation to imitate the Heart of Jesus (mentioned 83 times), thus fully reflecting the spirituality of the time. These texts also exhort the Sisters to remain in ‘union of minds and hearts’ (16 occurrences). This disposition echoes the Unanimiter lived by the disciples in the Cenacle (Acts 1:14) and foreshadows an image that will be developed later.
The last lines of the Constitutions summarise these exhortations:
A first section is devoted to the Sisters exercising functions within the General Government, while another is for those who are involved in initial formation. A third is addressed to the Coadjutor Sisters — also known as lay sisters — and yet another contains the “Rules for the Classes.”
The other rules define the specific duties of each position held within the houses, namely: the local Superior, the temporal administration, the Assistant, the Admonitrice, (Assistant to Novice Directress) the counsellors, the sacristan, the librarian, the Sister in charge of waking sisters in the morning, the Sister in charge of evening visits (for bedtime), as well as the Prefect of Health, the Nurse, the Bursar, the Sister in change of the pantry, the Cook, the sisters in change of refectory, the linen and the doorkeeper.
The writing of the Constitutions and Rules was not the work of a moment, but the result of a slow and gradual process. Far from being fixed from the outset, these texts were developed through a process of back-and-forth discussion between Father Terme and the Sisters. An empirical method was used: the Sisters were invited to live and experience the Rules, and then share their observations with Father Terme, who modified them accordingly.
Mother Thérèse summarises this pragmatic approach in a letter dated July 1836 addressed to the Vicar General of Viviers. In it, she points out that the founder does not consider his early writings to be untouchable:
"…our Father Terme did not consider the Constitutions he had given us so perfect and so suited to our needs that he never intended to touch them again; nor was his plan so fixed and settled that it was never to receive any modification, since he had already taken them from us for the purpose of altering them. Our Father was trying to learn from experience; and it was from experience alone, as well as from divine providence, that he expected the light and counsel that would direct him concerning the aim he should definitively establish for his Congregation, as well as the choice of means to be employed to attain it."
However, this openness to constructive criticism had its limits. Father Terme ensured that the Sisters’ judgement did not turn into systematic protest, as evidenced by a letter dated 1 January 1833 in which he reprimands a Sister guilty of having overly criticised the rules submitted for her assessment.
Beyond their normative aspect, these writings call for a profound spiritual appropriation. For Father Terme, the Rule should not be read as a simple legal code, but meditated on “before Jesus Christ”. As early as December 1831, he insisted on this dimension:
"Let them study it well, it contains all the principles and all the means of the highest perfection, but Jesus Christ alone gives the knowledge of this; it is near Him, it is before Him, that we must study this more than in the book."
Letter to Sister Thérèse, December 26, 1831
This need for interiorization was reaffirmed in 1834: “One must meditate on the rule and by meditating on it, one must practice it” (letter to Sr. X, [September 1834]).
The task of writing the Rules was taken over by a Jesuit Father. The Sisters found Father Terme’s text difficult to follow and not very suitable for women. It was now a religious priest, Father Rigaud, who was in charge of the final drafting of the Constitutions. From Lalouvesc, Mother Thérèse followed this stage with fervour. In a letter to Sister Agnès dated January 14, 1836, she expressed her joy at learning that the work was progressing and her impatience to receive what she called the “book of life”. She saw it as an expression of the divine will, the indispensable tool for becoming “brides after the heart of Jesus”, inviting us to pray to the Holy Spirit to enlighten those who are working on its completion.