Thérèse Couderc - born Marie-Victoire Couderc - was a FrenchRoman Catholicprofessed religious and the co-founder of the Sisters of the Cenacle. Couderc underwent humiliations during her time as a nun for she was forced to resign from positions and was ridiculed and mocked due to false accusations made against her though this softened towards the end of her life. She was a spiritual writer having written on sacrifice and service to God. After her death, she left a series of spiritual writings. Pope Pius XII beatified the late religious in Saint Peter's Basilica on 4 November 1951 and in 1970 was canonized as a saint under Pope Paul VI.
Life
Marie-Victoire Couderc was born in 1805 in Le Mas as the fourth of twelve children to farmers Claude Michel Corderc and Anne Méry; her parents married in 1801. One sibling was Jean and two others died in their childhood. The surviving children were eight males and two females that included herself. In her childhood she attended Mass twice a week. She made her First Communion at Pentecost on 15 May 1815. In 1822 her parents sent her to a boarding school at Vans and she remained there until 1825 in Lent when her father wanted her to attend a school in their local area. She entered the novitiate after she had met Father Jean-Pierre Etienne Terme in late March 1825 and confided in him her desire to become a religious. Couderc underwent her period of the novitiate in 1825 with the Sisters of Saint Regis, a teaching order in Lalouvesc; she made her perpetual vows on 6 January 1837 with one other. Couderc assumed a religious name when she became a novice. Couderc and two other sisters were sent to manage a mountain hostel for women pilgrims at the shrine of St. John Francis Regis in Lalouvesc. It became a successful retreat house under her guidance. Couderc co-founded the Sisters of the Cenacle with Father Terme in 1826 and became its superior in 1828. Desirous to provide women a place for recollection in solitude, prayer, and meditation, they resolved to open houses where women might follow the exercises of a retreat. When the motherhouse was established, Couderc became Superior General. In 1828 Terme began to hold Ignatian retreats for the sisters. He continued to do so until his death in December 1834. After Terme's death the order to split into the Sisters of Saint Regis who retained their teaching ministry, and the Congregation of Our Lady of the Cenacle, which continued its retreat ministry. The Jesuits then led the retreats. The regular school teaching of the hostel was separated from the retreats, and this resulted in financial hardship for the sisters. Although she was not at fault, Couderc accepted responsibility. This led, in October 1838, to the Bishop of Viviers Abbon-Pierre-François Bonnel de la Brageresse to remove her from her office and replacing her with a new novice as the "Foundress Superior"; Couderc resigned in full on 27 October 1838. The novice led for a few months but did so bad a job the bishop removed her. The Jesuit advisers began replacing her with a succession of wealthy women. In 1842 she was sent for almost eighteen months alone with one other sister to a small house in Lyon; in 1852 saw her go to Paris. In November 1856 she was appointed as the superior of the Tournon house until it was to be sold off and so she returned to Lyon. On 20 October 1859 a Jesuit gave a retreat on the topic of Christian sacrifice that had a profound impact on her. At the end of August 1860 she was sent to the house at Montpellier but its closure in 1867 saw her return to Lyon once more. In the beginning of 1885 she fainted and was unconscious for several hours in an occurrence that left her bedridden until her death. Couderc died on 26 September 1885 and was buried in Lalouvesc.
Sainthood
The beatification cause commenced in an informative process that opened in France in 1920 and concluded its work in 1921 which then led to the approval of all of her spiritual writings from theologians on 23 July 1924; the informative process was validated by the Congregation of Rites on 13 July 1927. The formal introduction to the cause came on 18 July 1927 in which she was titled as a Servant of God - the first official stage in the process. Pope Pius XI proclaimed Couderc to be Venerable on 12 May 1935 after he confirmed that the late nun lived a life of heroic virtue. Pope Pius XII beatified her on 4 November 1951 after approving two miracles attributed to her intercession while the cause was resumed in a decree issued on 26 July 1953. Pope Paul VI canonized Couderc as a saint on 10 May 1970 after approving two more miracles attributed to her intercession.
Spirituality
To Surrender Oneself
In 1864 Couderc wrote: The surrendered soul has found paradise on earth.
Goodness
In 1866, Couderc reported having a vision of goodness which was a defining moment for her life and spirituality, and which she describes in a letter to Mother de Larochenégly:
