Henriette Aymer de La Chevalerie (8 November 1767 – 23 November 1834) was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

nun, who along with

Peter Coudrin Pierre Coudrin, SS.CC (1 March 1768 – 1837) was a French Catholic priest who founded the Picpus Fathers, a religious institute of the Catholic Church known for its missionary work in Hawaii, Africa, Europe, Central America and the Pacific Isla ...

founded the

Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary () abbreviated SS.CC., is a Roman Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men priests and brothers. The congregation is also known as the Picpus because their firs ...

Life

She was born in the small castle of Aymer, to an aristocratic family in St.-Georges-de-Noisne near Poitiers France. She had two brothers, one older, and one younger. As a child, she spent time at the Abbaye Sainte-Croix de Saint-Benoît in Poitiers, to better prepare for her first communion. Her father died when she was eleven. Living in French society in the later years of the “Ancien Regime”, Henriette received an education in the religious values of the French tradition and the somewhat superficial formation considered appropriate for a woman."The Good Mother Henriette Aymer", SSCC Picpus
/ref> In her youth, her life centered on glamorous events of the aristocracy, but she was arrested in October 1793 along with her mother during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

for giving shelter to persecuted priests. Barely escaping an execution, she was released in September 1794. In prison, she began a religious life. She was released from prison in September 1794, at the age of twenty-eight. After her release, she joined the Association of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which was founded in 1792 by Susanne Geoffroy and some companions."Henriette Aymer de Chevalerie", Arnsteiner Patres
/ref> The Association was a group of women who gathered secretly to pray and to help priests who were living in hiding. Henriette belonged to a small group called “The Solitaires” within the Association of the Sacred Heart. This group became more drawn to live a religious life. There, she met the priest Pierre Coudrin. Together with him, she founded the

. To this end, they bought a house in 1797 on the Rue des Hautes-Treilles in Poitiers, called "Grand'Maison." On Christmas Day 1800, she and Coudrin took solemn vows and that day can be considered the founding date of the Congregation. Mother Aymer de la Chevalerie led the female branch of the Congregation.Steele, Francesca Maria. ''The Convents of Great Britain. Ireland''
London. Sands, 1902. p. 160 In 1805, the congregation moved from Poitiers to Paris on the rue de Picpus, hence the name "Picpus congregation". This became the Mother House. The statue of Our Lady of Peace, venerated in the Congregation, was welcomed there on 6 May 1806. Although Henriette Aymer kept mostly to herself, she showed gentleness and kindness to the sisters and came to be called "La bonne mère", i.e. the good mother. She made more than twenty foundations in different parts of France, attended to the sisters’ formation and supported the superiors she appointed to local communities. On 4 October 1829, she suffered a stroke and was paralyzed on the right side, and died in 1834. The beatification process was initiated in February 1925. Closure of the Diocesan Stage in the Process of the Beatification occurred in 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aymer de Chevalerie, Henriette Founders of Catholic religious communities 1767 births 1834 deaths French Servants of God People from Poitiers 18th-century French nobility 19th-century French nuns 18th-century French nuns

Life

See also

References