Louise Marie of France (1737-1787) - Find a Grave Memorial

French Royalty. Louise Marie de France, youngest of the ten children (excluding a stillborn child) of the marriage of King Louis XV of France and Queen Marie Leszczynska, was born at the Palace of Versailles. She was their eighth daughter. Unlike the six oldest children in the family, she was not raised at the palace. Instead, Louise was sent as an infant to the Abbey of Fontevraud with three of her sisters. She returned to the court of Versailles as an adolescent, but never married. She and most of her siblings were dismayed by the king's open adultery with many mistresses and many illegitimate children. In 1770, the princess requested permission from her father to become a Carmelite nun, with the Archbishop of Paris acting as intermediary. She joined the convent of Saint Denis that year, assuming the name Thérèse of Saint Augustine. In 1771, the princess took her vows and became a full member of the order. Pope Clement XIV was represented in both the 1770 and 1771 ceremonies. Her father the king made visits to the convent. The nun became Mother Superior of the convent, with two terms, from 1773 to 1779 and again from 1785 to her death. She interceded with the king to allow persecuted Austrian Carmelites to enter France. The Mother Superior died at the convent in 1787 and was interred at the Royal Basilica of Saint Denis. She was declared Venerable by Pope Pius IX on June 19, 1873.

Bio by: Anne Philbrick