BENGY DE BONNAULT D'HOUET, MARIE-MADELEINE de. — Foundress Faithful Companions of Jesus (v.), born in Châteauroux (Indre) on 21 September 1781, died in Paris on 5 April 1858. Married to the Viscount de Bonnault, she was widowed with one child after only ten months. She devoted herself to works of charity, renouncing a second marriage. In 1817 she felt moved to found a religious institute; and, after severe trials, her spiritual directors encouraged her to do so. She labored and traveled extensively to expand her Congregation. Her cause of beatification and canonization was introduced on 13 December 1916.
BIBL.: AAS, 9 (1917), pp. 20–31.