JEANNE DE CAMBRY. — Augustinian mystic, born at Douai on 15 November 1583, died at Lille on 19 July 1639. In 1604 she entered the monastery of the Augustinian nuns “Des Prés-Porchins” at Tournai. From 1621 she was superior at the hospital of Menin. She founded at Lille a new congregation, “Les Filles de la Présentation.” In 1625 she retired to a recluse’s cell near the church of St Andrew at Lille, where she died in a reputation for holiness.
A mystic soul of profound spirituality, she left various writings in which the influence of St Augustine, St Bernard and Ruysbroeck is especially evident. Her works were printed at Tournai: Petit Exercice pour pouvoir acquérir l'amour de Dieu (1620); Traité de la ruine de l'amour-propre et bâtiment de l'amour divin (1623); Le Flambeau mystique (1631); Traité de la réforme des abus du mariage (1655); Traité de l'excellence de la solitude (1656); Lamentation funèbre de l'âme captive dans un corps mortel (1656).