At the age of 16 Camille decided to become a nun but faced opposition from her parents who wanted her to marry, which she strongly opposed.

Because she supported Pope Pius VII and the "black cardinals", Mother Thérèse Camille was exiled to Guise by Napoleon from 1811 to 1813.

After returning to Paris she continued her work of restoring the Carmelite order while also supporting the clergy and other religious communities.

In 1766 she was placed for four years at a convent of the Visitandines, whose superior was Madame de Brancas, to complete her academic and religious education.

[11] Her parents and family were worried when they heard she wanted to enter the austere and difficult Carmelite order, and tried to dissuade her.

The young Camille was tempted, but finally used a subterfuge to enter the Carmelite convent on 2 February 1784, to the despair of her parents.

She should have made her vows three months after entering the convent, but her family demanded a six-month delay in the hope that she would give up her project during this period.

[a][13] Among the many people that attended her final entry into the Carmelite convent was the future King Louis-Philippe, who was very struck by the celebration.

The first two winters were particularly harsh, and manual labor was difficult for Sister Térèse-Camille, but her good will offset her physical weaknesses.

The Carmelites of Paris addressed a petition to the National Constituent Assembly on behalf of all their order and obtained permission to preserve their buildings and their community life.

[18] On 14 September 1792 two commissaries of the commune of Paris opened the doors of the convent and went through the building collecting and plundering all the precious objects.

[20] Despite her parents' asking her to return to the family estate, Sister Thérèse Camille remained in the house on Rue Mouffetard in Paris that had been allotted to her and other Carmelites.

She was called to seal the family home after the death of her mother on 25 March 1794, then returned to Paris and went to her parents' mansion, where she feared being arrested in turn.

[23][24] After much effort and the help of servants Sister Camille went to Carmes Prison and was able to see her father for a short interview.

[26] When the Decree of Exile of the Nobles was published in 1794, Sister Thérèse Camille took refuge at her parents' estate at Moulineaux near Paris.

The following year, she rented a larger house on the Rue Saint-Jacques where she set up a small improvised convent that became home to many nuns coming out of prison, and also accommodated several ecclesiastics who were passing or in distress.

Sister Thérèse Camille was the heiress of her family, but hesitated to take steps that seemed contrary to her vow of poverty.

Pope Pius VI urged her to demand the return of family property and even made it a duty to preserve it.

[30] On 8 August 1797 Mother Thérèse Camille de l'Enfant-Jésus redeemed some of the buildings of the Carmes convent in the Rue Vaugirard.

Mother Thérèse Camille chose for her cell the room which had served as a prison for her father a few years earlier.

Mother Thérèse Camille and her nuns were under the constant threat of an administrative closure of their convent and dispersion of the community.

[d][40] Living in the Carmelite convent and disposing of her fortune, Mother Thérèse Camille continued to house priests in difficulty, even to finance their installation in their parish, providing them with liturgical equipment and clothing to restore churches to service that had been looted during the revolutionary troubles.

During the occupation of the Papal States by the French army in 1809 and the excommunication of Napoleon, Mother Thérèse Camille was a faithful support of Pope Pius VII and the exiled Cardinals.

She spread the text of the papal bull of excommunication, accommodated the expelled cardinals and provided them with subsidies when Napoleon cut off funding and exiled them.

[43] A Vatican courier intercepted by the police revealed to the authorities Mother Thérèse Camille's role in supporting the pope and his cardinals.

Although exiled, Mother Thérèse Camille returned incognito to Paris to settle some important business.

[47] After having been elected prioress of the convent several times, Mother Thérèse Camille had to transfer the load to another nun.

[g] Finding no other qualified nun, the Carmelites wrote to the Pope asking him to keep Mother Thérèse Camille as prioress of the convent for life.

[48] Mother Thérèse Camille, seeing that she could not use all her fortune, donated it to her family, retaining only some life annuities to meet her financial commitments.

She had a special devotion to the Souls of Purgatory, for whom she frequently had Masses celebrated, and she had particular confidence in Saint Anthony of Padua.