AUGUST 29, 1604 – On this day in 1604, Blessed Anne of St. Bartholomew, Venerable Anne of Jesus, and four other Spanish Carmelites embarked on a journey that would bring the Teresian reform to France. They arrived in Paris on October 15, 1604.
The caravan carrying the OCD nuns, founders of the Carmelite convent in France, departed from the city of Ávila. The group consist of 22 people: two carriages for the ladies and 18 mules for the men. In addition to the founders Berulle, Bretigni, and Quintadueñas, the caravan included three French ladies and two OCD priests. The founders were Ana de Jesús, Lobera, Isabel de los Ángeles, Beatriz de la Concepción, Ana de S. Bartolomé, Leonor de S. Bernardo, and Isabel de S. Pablo. The OCD priests were the Provincial of Old Castile, José de Jesús María, and a companion; in Catalonia, they were joined by Miguel de S. Fermín, Provincial of Catalonia.
Upon setting foot on French soil, Anne of Jesus declared, “Now I am the Mother,” as Gauthier intoned the “Laudate Dominum.” They arrived in Paris on October 15, 1604. The arrival of the Carmelites was celebrated as a momentous event by the Court, the clergy, and the people. Bérulle had written to Madame Acarie: “If St. Thérèse were still alive, she could not have given France better Carmelites, unless she herself were.” (The Carmelites in France. Rafael Mejía)
Blessed Anne of St. Bartholomew tells the story: “At last, our Father General, Francis of the Mother of God, came to Avila with several Fathers of the Order to arrange for our departure. We left on the morning of the Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist [1604].
Our Father General accompanied us a great part of the day. When he was obliged to leave us we begged his blessing. He gave it with an emotion that was shared by all the religious. In parting, both Fathers and daughters made a great sacrifice to God.
Two friars of our Order, great servants of God, two French priests, one of whom was M. de Berulle, and the other, M. Rene Gauthier, together with three Frenchmen on horseback, and several Spaniards, accompanied us on this journey.
The three French ladies were alone in one carriage and the six religious in another. We were together in the inns.
The French ladies taught us their language; it must be acknowledged we did not make great progress in it; we learned sufficient, however, to understand most of what was said to us. But we did not speak fluently; we could, with difficulty, say only a few sentences.
Our Lord wished to humble us in this, and I think it was best for us, for by speaking little we did not give disedification. Every nation has its own customs.”
Blessed Anne of St. Bartholomew
Third Book, chap. 1
(Anne of St. Bartholomew, M; Bouix, M 1917, Autobiography of the Blessed Mother Anne of Saint Bartholomew, inseparable companion of Saint Teresa, and foundress of the Carmels of Pontoise, Tours and Antwerp, translated from the French by Michael, M A, H. S. Collins Printing Co., Saint Louis.)