Barbel acarie

Sel. Marie of the Incarnation

Barbe Acarie , b. Barbara Avrillot (born February 1, 1566 in Paris , † April 18, 1618 in Pontoise ) was a French Carmelite who introduced the Teresian Carmel to France. She is venerated as a blessed in the Roman Catholic Church .

Life

At sixteen, Barbe Acarie became the wife of Pierre Acarie, with whom she had a happy marriage for thirty-two years with six children. During her married life, she became convinced that a life inclined to mystical prayer could well be combined with family and social commitment. She cared for her six children, three daughters and three sons with joy and love. By her birth and marriage she belonged to the upper class of society in Paris. Very early on she was asked for advice and instruction by those in power in the city and at the French royal court, primarily because of her kindness and piety. Their attitude led them to repeatedly admonish those in power in their country that their position, which God had entrusted to them, should be understood as a service to people. She herself used her influence to stand up for the poor and the needy in Paris.

Introduction of Carmel to France

Her most far-reaching act was to bring to France the branch of the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, reformed by Theresa of Ávila . At the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries, the political situation in France was very tense because of the Huguenot Wars . Barbe Acarie and others were convinced that France needed above all a renewal of the faith. Those who felt connected to this idea met in her Paris salon. During his first diplomatic trip in 1602, St. Francis de Sales also joined this group.

For the introduction of the Discalced Carmelites in France, Barbe Acarie received support from Pierre de Bérulle . In addition to the renewal of their own piety, Carmel seemed to all of them to be the most suitable for promoting ecclesiastical renewal in France. Madame Acarie and her circle therefore sent a delegation to Spain to invite Spanish Carmelites to France. The first founding of the Spanish Carmelites took place on October 18, 1604 in Paris.

Entry into the Carmel

After the death of her husband Pierre Acarie in 1614, Barbe Acarie joined the Carmel of Amiens as an outside sister at the age of forty-eight and took the religious name Marie of the Incarnation . Even before she joined, she repeatedly had mystical experiences that intensified in her life at Carmel. When she entered, she asked to be allowed to join the poorest Carmel in France as an outside sister. Three of her daughters also became Carmelites; one of them later became sub-priority of Amiens. Sr. Marie of the Incarnation, already marked by illness, made her solemn profession on April 8, 1615 in Amiens. The following year she was sent to the Carmel of Pontoise for health reasons, where she died at the age of fifty-two. When the news of her death became known in Pontoise on April 18, 1618, they immediately spoke of the death of a saint .

Barbe Acarie also contributed to the expansion of two other religious orders in France, that of the Oratory of St. Philipp Neri and the Ursulines . Among the postulants of Carmel were those who had no calling for Carmel. Barbe Acarie had the idea that they could become active in the education of girls. So with her cousin, Mme. De Sainte-Beuve, she brought Ursulines to Paris.

beatification

Her son Pierre made sure that as early as 1622 all the necessary documents were put together in order to start the beatification process . This was completed in 1632. However, the documents remained in Rome. Only at the end of the 18th century was the process under Pope Pius VI. rolled up again and brought to a conclusion. On June 5, 1791, Sr. Marie of the Incarnation was beatified in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Her feast day is April 18.

Web links

Commons : Barbe Acarie  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Madame Acarie (in French)