Blessed Alix le Clerc: life, foundation and prayer

"May God be your all-consuming love," said Blessed Alix to her daughters in the Notre-Dame congregation.

Sister Alix le Clerc, a young Lorraine woman from a wealthy family, gave up everything for the Lord. At the age of 21, she decided to devote her life to Christ by serving the least of these, and together with Saint Pierre Fourier founded the Congrégation des Chanoinesses de Saint Augustin de Notre-Dame. She was beatified on May 4, 1947 by Pope Pius XII. Her feast day is January 9. 

Biography of Blessed Alix le Clerc

Alix le Clerc was born on February 2, 1576 in Remiremont, Vosges, into a wealthy family. The first years of her life were marked by balls, carelessness and worldly life. Despite her  Catholic upbringing, Alix was not very devout , but when she fell seriously ill, the young girl began to read religious works and question her life of futility. At the same time, her family moved to Hymont (near Mirecourt). This village was part of the Mattaincourt parish, where Saint Pierre Fourier was the parish priest. The saintly man was keen to educate the young people of his parish. He soon became Alix le Clerc's director and confessor. The Blessed gradually grew in piety and wisdom. What finally converted the young woman and convinced her to change her life was a vision of  the Virgin Mary during mass. Alix felt called to religious life, and  from then on she devoted herself to prayer  and mortification, rejecting all forms of entertainment she had previously cherished, and dressing as a peasant. Blessed Alix had but one idea in mind: to serve the Lord by serving others. To this end, she wished to found a "girls' house", i.e. a house in which all young women of modest origins would be welcomed for instruction. " It always occurred to me that a new house of girls should be built to do all the good that could be done ",  she says, and it was to Saint Pierre Fourier that she found the support she needed for this great project.  At Christmas 1597, Blessed Alix, aged 21, fulfilled her wish and opened the Congrégation de Notre-Dame. She became a nun, along with four friends, shortly afterwards. Together, they dedicated themselves to the education of neglected little girls. Blessed Alix was an example of simplicity, charity and kindness. She respected God's grace in every child welcomed into the congregation. The sisters sought to combine pedagogy, knowledge, humility and charity in their teaching. Their aim was to  educate the minds and hearts of their protégés. By 1598, this first free school for little girls had become a huge success. The foundation was soon moved to Mattaincourt. In this way, Saint Pierre Fourier was better able to protect it, supervise it and help it grow. Unfortunately, Blessed Alix had to face a great deal of criticism and opposition. Until then, nuns had never been entrusted with the instruction of young girls! In spite of this, numerous other schools, based on the same model, were founded throughout Lorraine: in Nancy, Pont-à-Mousson, Verdun, Épinal, Mirecourt... and indeed all over France. Alix le Clerc visited all these schools, and gave her whole life to her mission, fighting to see her project come to fruition and persevering so that all little girls could be educated. She showed great humility and persuasiveness. In 1617, Sister Alix le Clerc became Mother Thérèse de Jésus. 

Sadly, in September 1621, Blessed Alix fell gravely ill. She surrendered her soul to the Lord on January 9, 1622, in Nancy, in the monastery she had founded in 1617. Numerous miracles and cures took place at her tomb, and the Congrégation Notre-Dame continued to grow after her death: by 1789, it comprised 84 monasteries and 4,000 nuns. In 1962, the sisters became the "Chanoinesses de Saint Augustin  de la Congrégation Notre-Dame". Today, they are present in some forty countries.

On February 21, 1899, Pope Leo XIII proclaimed Alix le Clerc Venerable . Pope Pius XII promulgated her decree of beatification on May 4, 1947. Her canonization process is still underway. 

The relics of Blessed Alix le Clerc now rest in Nancy's Notre-Dame-de-l'Annonciation cathedral.

Blessed Alix le Clerc's Marian prayer

" I beseech you, my God and Savior, to give us the grace to walk the path you have been pleased to clear for us by your example and by the merits of your blessed  Mother, whom we desire to be our  Savior. nite Mother, whom we wish to imitate, aided by her power, and in this hope, we wish to die under the shelter of her name and protection." 

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