The congregation was founded with the intention of serving the poor and supporting the Sodalities of the Immaculate Conception that were started by William Joseph Chaminade and supported by Marie-Thérèse Charlotte de Lamourous as missionaries of Mary, thus combining certain aspects of the Carmelite charism with this impulse to balance the aspirations of the two co-founders.
[1] In 1791, during the initial stages of the French Revolution, her lieutenant father led his armed forces as part of the Prince of Condé's attempt to rescue King Louis XVI.
On 5 August 1803, she and some friends formed a spiritual union called the "Little Society", which had as its goal to create a network of women who would support each other in their faith.
At this time, Adele began visiting the sick and inviting poor children from the country to her home to teach them about the fundamentals of the Christian faith.
[1] With the return to power of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1809, the government authorities resumed the policy of suppression of religious organizations and detained Chaminade.
[3] Despite suffering from a severe illness in 1810 she resumed her work of care for the sick and the education of the poor, as well as her correspondence with the members of the association.
However she would have to wait to fulfill her dream for she had to nurse her father through a critical illness, not to mention of the persisting government restrictions on religious organizations nationwide.
Trenquelléon saw that the chance had come to realize her dream and sought the required permissions – both civil and ecclesiastical – to establish the women of the new congregation as such and based in her castle.
Soon after, she and her companions made private religious vows to remain celibate and began to wear a silver ring as an indication of this fact, doing so in the privacy of the confessional at the insistence of Jacoupy.
[5] The canonical establishment of the new congregation was put off due to Chaminade's desire for the group to develop its sense of its mission and path.
But Napoleon's return to power in March 1815 suspended all moves and soon after Chaminade was arrested and transferred to central France where he was forbidden to have contact with the various religious groups that he was leading.
The death of the Baron and the change in civil law left her free to embark on her desired path while Chaminade saw the time as being opportune and authorized her to rent part of an ancient convent in the local capital of Agen.
At 38 years old, De Trenquelléon died of tuberculosis in Agen in 1828 and was buried at the convent; her final words were: "Hosanna to the Son of David!
De Trenquelléon was named as venerable on 5 June 1986 after Pope John Paul II confirmed that she had lived a model life of heroic virtue.
A miraculous healing attributed to De Trenquelléon's intercession was investigated in the Italian diocese of Novara from November 2013 until 12 June 2014.
Dedicating this building to Adèle serves as a reminder for students to emulate her joy of service and leading a life of independence and openness to all God has in store for her.