SOUBIRAN, MARIE-THÉRÈSE de, Blessed. — Born Sofia Agostina, founder of the Society of Mary Help of Christians, born in Castelnauary (diocese of Carcassonne) on 16 May 1834, died in Paris on 7 June 1889.
Raised piously under the guidance of her priest uncle, in 1855, after good preparation in Ghent, she founded in February in her hometown an institute to care for poor and at-risk girls, protecting them from evil; this aroused such fierce anger among the wicked that they set fire to the institute. But it rose again and, under a new form more suited to the times, she established a new congregation, more modern, under the guidance of the Jesuit Fr. P. Ginhac, taking the name Society of Mary Help of Christians.
The Institute spread rapidly, embracing many activities, but in 1873 the foundress was forced to leave her congregation under the unfounded accusation of having incurred debts that compromised the reputation of her work. Although the true culprit was another, St. Marie-Thérèse remained silent and did not defend herself, but embraced her cross by entering the monastery of Our Lady of Charity and Refuge in Paris, where she remained until her death.
Soto, Domingo de - Title page of De Natura et gratia, Venice, Giunta, 1547 - Rome, copy from the National Library.
This soon brought to light the holiness of the foundress, whose body was solemnly transferred to the house from which she had been dismissed. The cause of beatification was introduced on 9 May 1934 and she was beatified on 20 October 1946. Feast day: 7 June.