Source: A double-page from Father Terme’s Constitutions. MM, FE 3.

Through the teachers, Father Terme hoped to spread spiritual good.

Father Terme’s work as a founder began when a small group of teachers placed themselves under his spiritual direction, and he first organized a congregation of teachers. It was only after he became a missionary at the Lalouvesc pilgrimage site and discovered the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius that he gave the congregation a new direction.

Through the education of children, Father Terme sought above all to bring about a spiritual renewal at a time when France had been secularized by the Revolution. This is what he explained in the Constitutions he wrote for the Sisters:

“On the teaching of children:

Above all, the religious who are called to contribute to the instruction of young people must be deeply imbued with the importance of this work for the restoration of good morals and true, solid piety.

They should bear in mind that most of their pupils are destined to become wives and mothers. And what good can a deeply virtuous wife, a truly Christian mother, and one devoted to all her duties through religion, not bring about?”

In reality, it was religious instruction “that must be the foundation and the essence of their teaching. The rest is mere accessory.”