Adèle de Batz de Trenquelléon

Adèle de Batz de Trenquelléon was born on June 10, 1789 in the Château de Trenquelléon in Feugarolles to the Baron Charles de Trenquelléon (1754 – June 18, 1815) and Marie-Ursule de Peyronnencq de Saint-Chamarand (1763–1846). Her baptism was celebrated just hours after her birth in the local parish church.[2] On her maternal side she was related to Saint Louis IX and Robert of Clermont.[1]

In 1791, during the initial stages of the French Revolution, her lieutenant father led his armed forces as part of the Prince of Condé's attempt to rescue King Louis XVI. After the attack failed, her father fled to England for refuge in November 1791. On January 26, 1792 her brother Charles Polycarp was born. On September 27, 1797, her mother was granted permission to go into exile in Spain along with her children.[3] The following spring the Baroness and her children (along with other refugees from France) were expelled from Spain at the request of the French government and took refuge instead in neighboring Portugal. It was there that the Baron was able to rejoin his wife and children not long after this in July 1798. In 1789, France allowed expelled refugees to return to Spain, and on September 8, 1800, the Feast of the Nativity of Mary, Adele and her family settled in San Sebastián. It was there that she made her First Communion on January 6, 1801 in the church of Santa María. On November 14, 1801, her family received permission to return to their family chateau in France. On June 12, 1799, her sister Désirée was born. On February 6, 1803 she received her Confirmation from the Bishop of Agen.[3][2]

It was in San Sebastian that Adele came to know the Carmelite nuns, who inspired her to consider answering a call to religious life. Not long after their return to France, in January, 1802, Adele told her parents of her desire to become a Carmelinte nun. However, due to her young age, her mother persuaded her to wait before entering the convent. In the meantime, Adele asked her older brother's tutor, Monsieur Ducourneau, to write a Rule of Life for her in order to prepare her for life in an enclosed religious order. On August 5, 1803, she and some friends formed a spiritual union called the "Little Society," which had as its goal to create a network of women who would support each other in their faith. As this association grew, Adele began writing to all its members from her home in the Chateau de Tranquelleon.[3] This association grew rapidly and by 1808, its members numbered some 60 people, mostly young women from the countryside, as well as a few priests. At this time, Adele began visiting the sick and inviting poor children from the country to her home to teach them about the fundamentals of the Christian faith.

In 1808 her mother visited a friend who worked at a hospital in Figeac. While telling this friend in the hospital waiting room about her daughter's group another man (Hyacinthe Lafon) in the waiting area overheard their conversation and told the Baroness that the association's goals and purposes sounded similar to another group he belonged to in Bordeaux that Blessed William Joseph Chaminade founded.[3] Lafon suggested that her daughter and Chaminade begin corresponding. The Baroness bought the group to her daughter's attention and she and Chaminade begin corresponding at once. He soon sent some information about his group to her and circa 1809 the association had re-shaped itself in accordance with the organization and spirit of Chaminade's movement.[1]

In 1809 the government authorities ceased Chaminade's good work though her quick thinking and social position saw her association being able to continue its goals. On 20 November 1808 she chose to reject an offer of marriage that had been made to her which later turned into a choice to renounce marriage forever.[3] Despite suffering from a severe illness in 1810 she resumed her work of care for the sick and the education of the poor as well as her correspondence with the members of the association. But soon she began to dream about founding a religious order composed of some of the women of the association that would be engaged in the care of the poor. Chaminade saw a parallel to developments in his own foundations and invited her to join him. However she would have to wait to fulfill her dream for she had to nurse her father through a critical illness and not to mention because of the persisting government restrictions on religious organizations nationwide.[1]

The fall of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1814 saw the birth of a new freedom from the restrictions imposed on religious organizations during his rule. De Trenquelléon saw the chance had come to realize her dream and sought the required permissions – both civil and ecclesiastical – to establish the women of her new order as such and based in her castle. De Trenquelléon sought Chaminade's guidance and support in this and what he proposed to her was that the order she envisioned take on the character of a mission movement. Soon after she and her companions made a private vow to remain chaste and began to wear a silver ring as an indication of this fact.

The canonical establishment of the new congregation was put off due to Chaminade's desire for the group to develop its sense of its mission and path. But Napoleon's return to power in March 1815 suspended all moves and soon after Chaminade was arrested and transferred to central France where he was forbidden to have contact with the various religious groups that he was leading. But that fall Napoleon been removed from power and Chaminade was freed. The death of the Baron and the change in civil law left her free to embark on her desired path while Chaminade saw the time as being opportune and authorized her to rent part of an ancient convent in the local capital of Agen. This was done in 1816 at which point she renounced her inheritance in favor of her brother on that 17 April.[1] Her final farewell to her mother and siblings was on 24 May 1816.

In 1816 the members of her group and Chaminade's group's female members formed a religious congregation known as the Marianist Sisters that sought to combine an impulse for mission work with the contemplative nature of the Carmelites which she had once aspired to join. The local bishop had suspended permission for the women to take religious vows over the issue of the enclosure which was required with this step; the women were allowed to wear a religious habit during the Octave of Christmas alone and at no other stage until such permission could be granted on a formal level. On 25 July 1817 the local bishop permitted the women to take their vows – albeit in private – in the confessional so as to keep it a secret. Chaminade accepted their vows on an individual level in this manner.[1] In 1824 the French government authorized the existence of this religious congregations. The religious also corresponded on a frequent basis with her close friend Saint Émilie de Rodat since 21 June 1819. On 7 October 1820 she admitted her cousin Elizabeth de Casteras to the novitiate.[2][1]

In 1825 she had become so ill that Chaminade had to plead with her to restrict her service. Nevertheless, she continued her correspondence with the sisters though more so with the local superiors and the novices. In 1826 she suffered stomach problems and her health worsened. On 29 January 1827 her situation was said to have worsened even more. On 27 October 1827 she composed her last will.[2][1] The nun spent her final months working for the legal recognition of the congregation. De Trenquelléon died in Agen in 1828 and was buried at the convent; her final words were: "Hosanna to the Son of David!"