The Congregation of the Immaculate Conception of Niort

The decree of the Sacred Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life accepts the merger of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception with the Ursuline Sisters of Jesus.

The congregation was founded in Niort by François-Donatien Pécot, Son of Mary Immaculate, from Chavagnes-en-Paillers (85).

Since 1847, Father Pécot was on mission in Niort, in the Port district, part of the Saint André parish. Struck by the ignorance of the working classes, he decided to open a free school for poor children. For him, at the time, it was one of the most suitable means of serving the mission, as he discovered it in the neighborhood.

A disciple of Father Baudouin, he often uses this phrase: “the children asked for bread and there was no one to give it to them”.

The Sainte Thérèse school opened its doors in Niort, rue Saint Gelais, on October 15, 1849, on the feast of Saint Thérèse of Avila, thanks to 4 young girls from the neighborhood: Eulalie Piet, Catherine Martineau, Marie Guionnet, Apollonia Monsel. United under the name “Ladies of Providence”, these 4 young people wish to devote themselves to God in religious life. Father Pécot writes a rule and prepares them.

In Rome, promulgation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. In Niort, at the same time, foundation of the Congregation of the Immaculate Conception.

Over time, the congregation grew in France, in Belgium (from 1902 to 1978), in Madagascar from 1952, in Cameroon in 1999.

November 12, 2003, with the recognition by Rome of the “Path of Life” federation with the congregation of the Ursulines of Jesus. July 2, 2016, in Chavagnes, celebration of the alliance between our two congregations.

Family of the Incarnation. Reference text.