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The Congregation of Our Lady of the Retreat in the Cenacle, also known as the Sisters of the Cenacle or the Cenacle Sisters, is a Roman Catholic religious Congregation founded by Saint Thérèse Couderc and Jean-Pierre Etienne Terme in 1826. The Congregation began in the village of Lalouvesc, France at at time when the French Revolution had left the French people with few religious leaders and little or no education in Christianity or Catholicism. Seminaries were just being reopened afte having been closed during the Revolution and the years afterward, and mission bands were roaming the land trying to rekindle the faith. Marie-Victoire-Thérèse Couderc, a young woman, was asked by her father to participate in a mission at Sablières, which was overseen by Etienne Terme, who has founded a small group of teachers called the Sisters of Saint Regis. Victoire entered the Sisters of St. Regis and became Sister Thérèse. The Shrine of Saint John Francis Regis at Lalouvesc attracted large crowds, but they left a mess behind. Father Terme opened a house for women and girls, which was under the direction of the Sisters of St. Regis. In 1828, Thérèse Couderc became Superior General of the Sisters of St. Regis. The hostel for women took in every woman or girl who came to the door, so it became noisy and unruly. Unable to live a religious life in that environment, a change was made. Only those who were willing to make their stay a time of serious prayer would be given lodging. The next step was when Father Terme introduced the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola. After the death of Father Terme in 1834, the home was given to the control of the Society of Jesus, who continued the formation of the Sisters in Ignatian spirituality, and it became the Congregation of Our Lady of the Retreat in the Cenacle in 1844. Its mission consists of prayer, community, and ministry. Cenacle prayer is directed to an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Congregation and on the world.

 

 

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