Women of the Cenacle

The Sisters of the Cenacle (full title: Congregation of Our Lady of the Retreat in the Cenacle) is a Roman Catholic Congregation founded in 1826 in the village of Lalouvesc (Ardèche), France. The founders were Saint Thérèse Couderc and diocesan priest Jean-Pierre Etienne Terme. Father Terme died in 1834 at the peak of his missionary activity. In his will he confided his "daughters of the Retreat" to the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, who continued the formation of the Sisters in Ignatian spirituality and the use of the Spiritual Exercises. Gradually it became clear that the Congregation was evolving into one which reflected the spirit and mission of the community gathered with Mary the Mother of Jesus in the Upper Room, or Cenacle (Latin: coenaculum). The Constitutions of 1844 officially recognized the biblical mystery of Acts 1:12-14 as expressing the fullness of the vocation and gave the Congregation the name which identifies it today. This book includes American history.