III. Fr. Nicolle and the Institute of the Sisters of Charity of the Holy Agony
1. The Founder’s Original Idea (1860–1862)
Fr. Nicolle, deeply moved by the grace-filled reception of the Archconfraternity of the Holy Agony, envisioned its natural spiritual culmination in a religious institute. He believed that certain souls, drawn to both apostolic charity and contemplative prayer, needed a community that could offer the rigor of penance and deep interiority without the enclosure of cloistered life.
His vision was of a congregation:
- Engaged in charitable works toward the poor and suffering.
- Not cloistered, so as not to limit its mission.
- Emphasizing prayer, interior recollection, and mortification more than most active communities.
- Oriented to the four great goals of the Archconfraternity: preservation of the faith, peace in the Church, expiation of sin, and the conversion of the dying.
He admired the simplicity of the Little Sisters of the Poor and the zeal of the Daughters of Charity, but he wanted a more contemplative spirit and austere lifestyle. He advocated modest habits, avoiding flamboyant religious dress.
His reflections were also a counterpoint to a growing anti-Christian secularism—especially the blasphemous “Solidaires,” an organization promoting impiety to the point of ensuring that its members die unrepentant. Nicolle viewed the Holy Agony Sisters as divine instruments meant to combat this spiritual threat by providing prayerful, sacrificial presence to the poor and dying—especially among the urban working class.
Additionally, he envisioned a second mission: the moral support and formation of domestic servants, often vulnerable to moral danger. He planned for the Sisters to develop associations and safe spaces for these working women.
2. The Work’s Genesis: Fr. Nicolle and Jenny Lepreux (1863)
The founder’s vision found providential resonance in Jeanne (Jenny) Lepreux, a devout laywoman from Bordeaux. In 1849, Jenny began gathering women around her to care for the abandoned, founding what became known as the Maison du Tondu. Though she lacked canonical approval, her community was committed to Jesus in His Agony.
By 1862, after discovering a leaflet on the Holy Agony, Jenny wrote to Fr. Nicolle, seeking affiliation. She offered her entire community to become the foundation for his envisioned institute. Her heartfelt letter moved Nicolle deeply.
The priest visited Bordeaux, preached to the elderly residents of the Tondu home, and formally addressed the sisters. On June 13, 1863, Nicolle proposed, via secret ballot, the transformation of their group into the Congregation of the Holy Agony. All fourteen professed members unanimously approved. Nicolle returned to Valfleury filled with hope and gratitude, ready to bring the dream to life.
3. Canonical Institution of the New Community (October 22, 1864)
Fr. Nicolle proceeded cautiously. On June 21, 1863, he submitted a detailed report to Fr. Étienne, Superior General of the Vincentians, outlining the supernatural development of the institute. Nicolle emphasized that he had not orchestrated events; rather, they unfolded providentially.
He described the existing Tondu community’s structure, apostolic works, and compatibility with his vision. Encouraged by Fr. Étienne to proceed tentatively, Nicolle moved forward. The Archbishop of Bordeaux, Cardinal Donnet, supported the initiative and gave his approval.
On October 22, 1864, the community was officially erected as the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Holy Agony, under Fr. Nicolle’s direction and episcopal recognition. In his speech, the Cardinal emphasized the Institute’s unique calling to embrace the most abandoned and suffering, particularly the dying.
The community now had canonical status, a clear identity, a rule of life, and Fr. Nicolle as its founder and spiritual father. The following months saw a flourishing of spiritual and apostolic life.
4. Manifestations of Providence (1866)
By 1866, new challenges arose. As the community grew, Nicolle noticed insufficient religious formation among the younger members. When he was given charge of the Saint-Enfant-Jésus Hospital in Saint-Étienne, he moved the novitiate there, seeking a healthier environment for training.
This decision, though reasonable, conflicted with Sister Jenny Lepreux, who had begun to assert her own vision and authority. Tensions mounted. Nicolle documented the history, structure, and legitimacy of the community in a detailed memorandum to Cardinal Donnet.
He made several key arguments:
- The Institute’s identity was entirely rooted in the Archconfraternity and Nicolle’s guidance.
- Canonical approval had only been granted under this structure, with a new rule, habit, and spiritual focus.
- Jenny’s original effort (Companions of the Savior) lacked these essential elements.
- Therefore, any divergence from the Archconfraternity would betray the Institute’s origin and purpose.
Nicolle asked for the Cardinal’s intervention to prevent rupture. He appealed not only as a founder but as a priest acting in full obedience to ecclesial authority. Meanwhile, he redoubled his prayer, entrusting the situation to the suffering Christ in Gethsemane.
Jenny Lépreux: A Heart for the Forgotten
Reverend Mother Jeanne-Jenny Lepreux, foundress of the Sisters of the Holy Agony of Our Lord.
In the bustling port city of Bordeaux, France, on August 3, 1809, Jenny Lépreux was born into a modest yet deeply faithful Catholic family. From an early age, her heart was stirred by the suffering she saw around her—the sick, the elderly, the poor, and especially those who were invisible to society. Little did anyone know that this quiet, devout woman would go on to found a community of service that would bring dignity and hope to some of the most marginalized people of her time.
By 1849, Jenny had discerned a powerful inner call: to consecrate her life entirely to God in the service of the poor and abandoned. That same year, she founded the Maison du Tondu.
In 1850, Sister Saint Joseph opened the Asylum of Our Lady of Good Hope (Notre-Dame de Bonne Espérance) in the Tondu district of Bordeaux. It was a simple house, but its doors opened wide to elderly women who were alone, destitute, or discarded by their families. In them, she saw not burdens, but beloved children of God.
Yet Jenny’s compassion did not stop there. She turned her gaze toward an especially misunderstood and feared group: women suffering from epilepsy. In the 19th century, epilepsy was seen as a terrifying, almost demonic affliction. Those who lived with it were often locked away, hidden, or simply abandoned. But to Jenny, these women were sacred. In 1862, she moved her care home for them to Arlac, near Mérignac. This new residence became the Maison des épileptiques, a sanctuary that offered not only shelter but love and acceptance.
Working alongside priests from the Congregation of the Mission, particularly Father Antoine Nicolle, Jenny gave her community a strong spiritual foundation rooted in the Passion of Christ. In 1864, the congregation received formal ecclesiastical approval from Cardinal Donnet, and the Sisters of the Holy Agony were officially recognized by the Church.
Under her leadership, the sisters expanded their mission. They opened schools for poor children, cared for young girls in need of protection, and built chapels for spiritual nourishment. Wherever she went, Jenny brought not just charity, but dignity, seeking out those whom society had forgotten and treating them with the tenderness of Christ Himself.
Jenny Lépreux passed away on May 1, 1888. Though she died in quiet obscurity, her legacy endured. The Foyer Jenny Lépreux, named in her honor, still exists today in Arlac–Mérignac, providing care to women with epilepsy and other disabilities. The congregation she founded eventually merged with others, and today continues its mission under the name Sisters of Christ in Gethsemane, serving in France and Africa.
In an age when the sick and disabled were cast aside, Jenny Lépreux became a voice of mercy. She founded not just homes, but a spiritual family rooted in prayer, sacrifice, and above all, love. Her story is a quiet reminder that even the most hidden lives, when offered to God, can light a path for generations to follow.
5. Hopes Dashed (January 1867)
The long-awaited response from Cardinal Donnet finally arrived. While sympathetic, the Cardinal refrained from issuing a firm directive. The conflict with Sister Jenny deepened. Nicolle, heartbroken, sensed that the Institute was at risk of schism or dissolution.
He addressed Jenny with clarity and sorrow. He reminded her of the 1863 vote where all sisters had pledged obedience to him as founder. He emphasized that every structural element—rule, habit, apostolic scope—came from his vision under ecclesial authority.
Jenny, however, had deviated from prior agreements, even changing decisions made by the community council. Nicolle’s appeal was calm but resolute. He defended his actions as both canonically and morally legitimate, rooted in the unity of the Archconfraternity and the Congregation.
But the divide was now too great.
6. Final Separation (February 1867)
Despite his efforts, Nicolle was forced to confront a painful truth: the community he had shaped could no longer function under his direction. On February 14, 1867, Nicolle formally renounced his leadership of the Maison du Tondu. The separation was definitive.
In his farewell, he expressed no bitterness. He forgave, blessed, and entrusted the sisters to Divine Providence. For Nicolle, unity with the Archconfraternity remained essential. Without that link, the community risked losing its soul.
He returned to Valfleury. The wound was deep. He had poured years of prayer, love, and labor into a project that now stood divided. Yet he did not regret the effort. He believed that God would redeem the loss and raise up new fruit from his tears.
7. The True Daughters Of The Holy Agony (1867–1868)
Back in Valfleury, Nicolle continued the mission. From among the original sisters and new postulants, he gathered a nucleus of faithful women to re-found the true Congregation of the Holy Agony. This new group would embody the original spirit of prayer, sacrifice, and service to the dying.
He was especially attentive to their formation: clear rules, Vincentian spirituality, and an unbreakable tie to the Archconfraternity. Nicolle moved cautiously, avoiding the mistakes of the past. His model was St. Vincent de Paul’s prudence and patience.
Meanwhile, the Tondu sisters continued independently, retaining the name but no longer aligned with Nicolle’s vision. The Vatican later recognized both realities, though Nicolle’s branch retained stronger canonical legitimacy.
By 1868, the new community had several houses and growing stability. God had indeed blessed his fidelity.
8. Nicole’s Final Labors for the Congregation
Until the end of his life, Fr. Nicolle accompanied the Sisters of the Holy Agony as father, founder, and spiritual guide. He wrote extensively—rules, meditations, letters—to nourish their interior life.
He insisted on humility, patience in trials, and unwavering fidelity to the Church. He reminded them that their mission was not grand or visible, but hidden and redemptive—like Christ in Gethsemane.
Even as his health declined, he kept writing, guiding, and praying. He visited communities, encouraged vocations, and supervised every element of formation. His final years were consumed in this spiritual fatherhood.
Nicolle saw in his suffering and setbacks a reflection of the very mystery the sisters were called to honor: the Holy Agony of Christ. His work, born in the silence of prayer and the fire of love, would bear fruit long after his death.
The Sisters of Christ in Gethsemane, Formerly Known as the Sisters of the Holy Agony
The “Purple Sisters” – that was the name people originally gave to the members of this well-known congregation in the Tarn region of France.
It all began with a priest, Antoine Nicolle, and a future foundress, Jenny Lepreux. Father Nicolle belonged to the Congregation of the Mission, founded by Saint Vincent de Paul to both train priests and serve in missions throughout France and abroad. (In fact, they were the first missionaries to Madagascar, arriving in 1648.) In line with their mission of forming priests, Cardinal de Bernis invited them to the major seminary in Albi in 1774. After the disruptions of the French Revolution, members of the congregation eventually returned to Albi. In 1874, Antoine Nicolle was appointed superior of the major seminary there. He arrived with a burning passion for a particular prayer association—the Archconfraternity of the Holy Agony. Though its popularity might seem surprising today, at the time it attracted the support of the Pope, many bishops and priests, and thousands of laypeople.
It was in this context that the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Agony was born. Clothed in purple, a fitting symbol for those serving people in deep suffering, the sisters embodied the spirit of compassion and prayer.
Driven by the dual spirit of mission from the Congregation of the Mission and devotion to Christ in His agony, they turned their attention to the local youth, whose moral lives were endangered by the rapid industrialization occurring in Mazamet and Carmaux. New foundations followed, always focused on serving the poor: Mazamet, Labastide-Rouairoux, Rive-de-Gier, Montpellier, and even Italy. Their apostolate included clinics and dispensaries, homes for children, and domestic training centers where girls learned to sew while praying the rosary.
This foundation, its spirituality, and its works addressed the urgent needs of the time: widespread poverty, and an intense commitment to prayer for the Pope and the Church. It was a time when the Papal States were being dismantled and the Pope was ridiculed and mocked. The sisters launched a movement of prayer and sacrificial offering for the Pope and the Church. The Holy Father himself was seen as suffering, much like Christ in His agony in Gethsemane. These final hours of Jesus’ life are at the heart of the sisters’ prayer life—whether they are keeping vigil with the dying or serving the poor through countless initiatives.
In 1983, the Congregation adopted a new name that captured its essence: The Sisters of Christ in Gethsemane. Their mission is now summarized in four clear objectives: peace for the Church, preservation of the faith, an end to calamities, and the salvation of the dying.
Though vocations have diminished over time, the sisters continue their mission. In France, they run a home for at-risk youth in Rive-de-Gier and retirement homes in Carmaux and Mazamet. But with boldness and faith, as early as 1967, they also established a mission in the heart of Muslim Niger. There, new African vocations have blossomed alongside another congregation—the Sisters of Jeanne Delanoue.
In France, a strong network of “Friends of Gethsemane” plays a vital role in supporting the sisters, especially the community in Niamey, which continues to serve street youth, just as the original sisters once did in Mazamet.
(To be continued…)
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