THERESE COUDERC

SISTERS OF THE CENACLE

It was the spring of 1837, and religious life was again flourishing in France after the bloody and terrifying days of the Revolution. The Sisters of the Cenacle, the congregation of nuns which Mother Therese Couderc had founded, was nine years old. Therese had taken her inspiration for the congregation’s name and apostolate from the time which the Blessed Virgin spent with the apostles in the upper room, or cenacle, awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit.

The sisters’ work of giving retreats was thriving and the community continued to grow, especially under the guidance of Jesuit priests who had been close to the congregation from the beginning. Soon it became necessary for the sisters to build a new convent and chapel. The work began well, but suddenly the funding for this new project evaporated. The congregation was saddled with enormous debts and little hope to pay them.

Rumors began to circulate. "They say that Therese is incompetent and has no business ability whatsoever. How can we count on her to raise funds for the congregation if she is going to fail like this? And her health is reported to be failing badly; perhaps she is no longer capable of governing. It is possible that she has mental problems." The bishop of Viviers lost his trust in her, reinforcing Mother Therese’s own humble but mistaken conviction that she was to blame for the debacle. At last, she resigned her office of superior. She was thirty-three years old, having guided her sisters for the first ten years of the congregation’s existence.

The Trials Begin

Her successor, chosen by the Jesuit provincial, was Mademoiselle Gallet, a wealthy widow only 20 years old, who had been a novice for only 15 days. When she died later that year, she left her fortune to the congregation. However, her relatives contested her will, and the Cenacle’s financial situation was once more thrown into disarray. The bishop of Viviers named Countess de la Villeurnoy the new superior general. Soon, she even began to call herself "mother founder."

Although the Countess had good intentions, she lacked not only Mother Therese’s vision, but also a solid conception of religious life. She relaxed Mother Therese’s rule of strict observance of silence and poverty, which had been at the heart of the congregation’s spirituality.

Countess de la Villeurnoy was uncomfortable with evangelical poverty. She even went so far as to place the community still further in debt by borrowing money to purchase fine furnishings for the house.

Mother Therese’s greatest suffering in all of this was to see her beloved community so roughly handled. The laity were scandalized, the community suffered, and rumors of this state of affairs reached Fr François Renault, the local provincial of the Jesuits. When the provincial visited the convent, he summoned Mother Therese.

"It seems that no one can govern this congregation," he began. "You yourself resigned your office in disgrace, and this Countess has led you all to the brink of disaster. Now it falls to me to pick up the pieces. Tell me: should I assign a new superior? Would it help this congregation function better?"

Mother Therese remained silent for a moment. "Fr Renault," she said carefully, "You know that I am a professed religious, and that I have taken a vow of obedience to my superiors for life. To me, that obedience means that I must respect every action of my superiors, whether it appeals to me or not. God has placed Mother de la Villeurnoy in a position of authority over me; you seek testimony which I cannot give nor do I wish to give."

The provincial was dumbfounded. "But this woman calls herself the founder! She has stolen the respect that is rightfully yours!" he burst out.

"Perhaps," Mother Therese said quietly. "But more important than any title is the vow which I have made to my Creator and Redeemer."

Nevertheless, the provincial did not need her testimony; there was more than enough evidence against the Countess. After causing eleven months of havoc, the Countess was removed from office.

Mother Contenet, her replacement, did much good for the congregation. Eager to attract members of the higher social classes for the congregation, she expelled ten of the original twelve members of the congregation. Convinced of the ineptitude of the true founder, she did everything in her power to keep Mother Therese away from the other sisters. Therese was exiled from her chosen work of giving retreats to spend thirteen years at the most difficult manual labor in the congregation, working in the gardens and the cellar. Conditions were so poor that her eyesight was permanently impaired. Her food was only the worst of the vegetables and the unwanted remnants of black bread which the gardener threw alongside the convent wall.

Mother Therese dropped into increasing obscurity. "After all," she reflected, "the religious life is a sufficiently great grace even though one purchase it at the price of the most difficult of sacrifices." Despite the great mortification of her state, she told the young religious that "We should never allow even one thought of sadness to enter the soul. Have we not within us him who is the joy of Heaven!"

Mother Therese’s exile ended with the death of Mother Contenet in 1852, but dissension and instability once more returned to the Cenacle. Mother Anaïs was elected the new superior general, but left the congregation three years later. Not until 1856 did Therese return to an active role in the congregation.

During a time of crisis, Mother Therese was sent briefly to serve as temporary superior of the convent in Paris and then at Tournon, where her governance was remembered for its firmness but genuine goodness. Again, however, she disappeared into the background.

One day, while visiting one of the convents of the Religious of the Cenacle, Cardinal Lavigerie noticed Mother Therese praying in the chapel. He turned to the superior of the house and asked, "Anyone can see how holy the face of this sister is. What is her name?"

"Sister Therese Couderc," was the reply.

"She seems such a saint," he mused. "What is her place in the history of the congregation?"

The superior was embarrassed. "Well, she was in charge of the gardens for many years, and she was sent to be a temporary superior at two houses in the 1850’s. Now she just mostly prays in the chapel, and we let her alone."

Cardinal Lavigerie looked at her sharply. "She has been left out, hasn’t she?" The superior said nothing.

Her reputation had been by now so thoroughly maligned by her superiors that even her status as founder had been completely forgotten. Her work as founder had been, above all, her prayers, penances, and humiliation. It was only towards the end of her life, when bishop of Viviers launched an inquiry into the circumstances of the foundation, that Mother Therese Couderc was finally recognized as the founder of the Sisters of the Cenacle.

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