Blessed Barbara Acarie
Blessed Marie de l'Incarnation (Barbe Avrillot Acarie) (born February 1, 1566 AD in Paris, France; died April 18, 1618 AD in Pontoise, Île-de-France, France) was a French mystic, reformer, and the woman who introduced the Discalced Carmelites of Saint Teresa of Ávila to France. Married to Pierre Acarie (a prominent Parisian official) and mother of six children, she lived an extraordinary mystical life amid the duties of aristocratic French family life — receiving visions of Saint Teresa of Ávila who asked her to bring the Carmelite reform to France. She accomplished this, established five Carmelite houses, and after her husband's death entered the Discalced Carmelites as a lay sister, taking the name Marie de l'Incarnation. She was beatified by Pope Pius VI in 1791. Her feast day is April 18.
Stored in Cargo: Blessed Barbara Acarie
| Blessed Barbara Acarie | |
|---|---|
| Feast Day | April 18 |
| Profession | French laywoman; married woman and mother of six; mystic; organizer of the Discalced Carmelite establishment in France; eventually Discalced Carmelite lay sister (Marie de l'Incarnation) |
| Rel. Affiliation | Catholic Church; Discalced Carmelites (O.C.D.); French Catholic Church; French School of Spirituality; 17th-century French Catholic renewal; Parisian aristocratic Catholic culture |
| Patronage | France; Paris; Pontoise; wives; mothers; mystics; Discalced Carmelites; those who combine mystical life with family life; organizers of religious communities |
| Attributes | Lay clothing (she was primarily a laywoman); white Carmelite mantle (as a Carmelite lay sister); a vision of Saint Teresa (who appeared to her); a lily (purity); a heart (mystical union); French Renaissance dress |
| Birthplace | Paris, France |
| Death Place | Pontoise, Île-de-France, France |
| Cause of Death | Natural death; died April 18, 1618, at the Carmelite monastery in Pontoise (a town northwest of Paris on the Oise river); she was 52 years old; she had entered the Discalced Carmelites as a lay sister (Sister Marie de l'Incarnation) after her husband Pierre Acarie's death in 1613, choosing the Carmelite house at Amiens and then transferring to Pontoise; she bore her final illness with great patience; her death was regarded by all who knew her — including Cardinal Bérulle, Saint Francis de Sales, and other great spiritual figures of the age — as the death of a saint; she was beatified by Pope Pius VI on June 5, 1791 |
| Primary Shrine | Pontoise, Île-de-France, France — Carmelite monastery; her tomb; April 18 feast; French Carmelite pilgrimage |
| Liturgical Class | Not in universal Roman calendar; April 18 feast in France and in the Discalced Carmelite Order |
| Historic Class | Not in 1962 calendar |
Biography
Barbe Avrillot was born February 1, 1566, in Paris, into a prominent Parisian family. She married Pierre Acarie, a royal official of the Parlement of Paris, and had six children.
She became one of the most celebrated mystics of her age — experiencing visions, ecstasies, and mystical phenomena while also running a large household and organizing extensive charitable works. The great spiritual figures of the day — Cardinal Bérulle, Saint Francis de Sales, and others — recognized her as a woman of extraordinary holiness and spiritual authority.
She received visions of Saint Teresa of Ávila (who had died in 1582 in Spain), asking her to bring the Carmelite reform to France. Working with Cardinal Bérulle, she organized the establishment of the first French Discalced Carmelite foundation for women in Paris in 1604, bringing four Spanish Carmelite nuns including Sister Ana de Jesús. She then helped establish additional Carmelite foundations in Pontoise, Dijon, Tours, and Rouen.
After her husband's death in 1613, she entered the Discalced Carmelites as a lay sister (Sister Marie de l'Incarnation) — deliberately choosing the lowest position in the community she had helped create. She was transferred to the Carmelite house at Pontoise, where she died on April 18, 1618.
She was beatified by Pope Pius VI on June 5, 1791.
Significant locations
Legend
Birth location: Paris, France
Death location: Pontoise, Île-de-France, France
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Known shrines
- Carmelite Monastery, Pontoise, Île-de-France, France — her tomb; April 18 feast.
Feast day
April 18
Veneration
Blessed Barbara Acarie (Marie de l'Incarnation) (1566–1618) was a French mystic, wife, and mother who received visions of Saint Teresa of Ávila, organized the establishment of the Discalced Carmelites in France (1604), and after her husband's death entered the Carmelites as a lay sister, dying at Pontoise in 1618 — one of the great figures of the French Catholic renewal. Beatified Pius VI, 1791. Feast April 18.
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