Venerated in Roman Catholic Church Attributes Nun's habit | Feast 7 June Beatified 20 October 1946 | |
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Born 16 May 1834
Castelnaudary, Aude, France ( 1834-05-16 ) Died 7 June 1889, Paris, France Patronage Sisters of Marie-Auxiliatrice | ||
Blessed Marie-Thérèse de Soubiran La Louvière (16 May 1834 - 7 June 1893) was a French Roman Catholic nun who established the Sisters of Marie-Auxiliatrice. She adopted the name of Marie of the Sacred Heart in 1877 after she had become a nun.
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Pope Pius XII beatified her on 20 October 1946 after the recognition of two miracles found to have been attributed to her intercession.
Life
Marie-Thérèse de Soubiran La Louvière was born in 1834 in France to Joseph Paul Comte de Soubiran and Noemi de Gélis. She received her First Communion on 29 June 1845.
At the age of 20 she renounced her plans to become a Carmelite nun in order to achieve the aims that her priest uncle Louis de Soubiran had set out for his parish. She attended a retreat under the Jesuit Paul Ginhac and decided to establish her own religious institution in 1864 with a focus on girls. Pope Pius IX - on 19 December 1868 - issued a Decree of Praise for the new order.
In 1870 she fled to London due to the Franco-Prussian War and returned home after the Treaty of Frankfurt in May 1871.
She was accused of mismanagement and left her congregation and joined another order in 1874 with a new name. She joined in December 1874 and after four months took the name of "Marie of the Sacred Heart". She took her vows in mid 1877.
Her health began to take a steep decline after 1881 and taught at various places in France. Despite the pain she endured she continued to teach catechism to people. She died on 7 June 1889 with her last words being: "Come, Lord Jesus, come!"
Sainthood
The beatification process started in Paris on 9 May 1934 under Pope Pius XI which granted her the title of Servant of God. The two processes that ensured were ratified in a decree on 22 March 1938. Pope Pius XII conferred upon her the title of Venerable on 7 August 1940 after the recognition of her life of heroic virtue.
Two miracles attributed to her were approved in 1945 and Pius XII beatified her on 20 October 1946.