Dates

• Existence: 1805 February 1 - 1885 September 26

Biographical note

Thérèse Couderc was born Marie-Victoire Couderc in 1805 in Le Mas, the fourth of twelve children of Claude Michel Corderc and Anne Méry. Couderc entered the novitiate in 1825 with the Sisters of Saint Regis, a teaching order in Lalouvesc; she made her perpetual vows in 1827. In 1826, with Father Jean-Pierre Etienne Terme, Couderc founded the Sisters of the Cenacle, becoming the order's 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 an Ignatian retreat. After Terme's death in 1834, the order 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. When the order encountered financial hardship, Couderc accepted responsibility, and the Bishop of Viviers removed her from her office as superior in 1838. Couderc subsequently lived in Lyon, Paris, Tournon, and Montpellier. She died in 1885 in Lyon, and was buried in Lalouvesc. She was canonized in 1970.

Alternate names

Marie-Victoire Couderc

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