Marguerite Waddington-Delmas

Marguerite Waddington-Delmas (born August 9, 1870 in Saint-Léger-du-Bourg-Denis , † February 1, 1952 in Vanves ) was a French Benedictine , founder of a monastery and founder of an order. It stands at the beginning of the Congregation of Saint Bathilde .

life and work

family

Marguerite Waddington was the daughter of the politician Richard Waddington and the niece of William Henry Waddington , Prime Minister of France, and the philosopher Charles-Pendrell Waddington (1819-1914). In 1890 she married the engineer Marcel Delmas (1865–1911), son of the deputy and mayor of La Rochelle Émile Delmas (1834–1898), and had six children. After the death of her youngest child in 1907 and the early death of her husband in 1911, she became involved in caring for the wounded during World War I.

Conversion and Oblature

In 1916 the Protestant came to the Catholic faith through the Benedictine Jean-Martial Besse (1861–1920). In 1918, she was worldly Benediktineroblatin the Monastery Ligugé and took the religious name Bénédicte on. In the same year she stayed in the Benedictine monastery in Poitiers and decided, together with Besse, to found a regular oblature. A first attempt at monastic life in Paris on avenue de Ségur failed due to resistance from Archbishop Léon-Adolphe Amette .

Founding of a monastery

In 1920 she began a novitiate in the Benedictine Abbey of Jouarre with a like-minded person, Gabrielle Richard, Sister Marie-Scholastique . The end of 1921 the two women lay in the hands of the Priors of the Benedictine Paris the profession from. In January 1922, convent life began on avenue de Ségur. In 1923 there were already seven of them. It was not made official by Rome until 1926 under the name Oblates missionnaires de saint Benoît (Missionary Oblates of St. Benedict). The monastery was called the Priory of Sainte Bathilde (after Bathilde of Ascania). Bénédicte Waddington was elected prioress.

Congregation Foundation

In 1928 they moved to Vanves and in 1936 the new monastery built by the Benedictine Dom Bellot (1876–1944) ( Prieuré Sainte Bathilde , 7 rue d'Issy ). The church was founded in 1949 by the later Pope John XXIII. consecrated. To date, eight foundations have been added to the parent company in Vanves, the first of which took place during the lifetime of Oberin Bénédicte. The foundations (in France, Madagascar, Vietnam and Benin) are grouped together in the Congregation of Saint Bathilde. Mother Bénédicte died in Vanves in 1952 at the age of 81.

literature

• Yvonne de Pourtalès: Histoire d'une vocation. Marguerite Waddington-Delmas . Lethielleux, Paris 2000.

Web links

• Life story of Marguerite Waddington-Delmas on the website of the Congregation of Saint Bathilde, French, illustrated
• Biographical information on the diocese's website, French, illustrated