Marie-Thérèse de Soubiran (1834–1889), born Sophie-Thérèse de Soubiran La Louvière in Castelnaudary, France, was a devout young woman who felt drawn to religious life from an early age. After making a private vow of chastity at 14 and receiving formation under her uncle, a canon, she discerned a calling to serve working-class girls and young women. In 1864, following a Jesuit retreat, she founded the Congregation of the Sisters of Marie-Auxiliatrice in Toulouse—an order devoted to Eucharistic adoration and the care and education of poor and working women. From the motherhouse in Toulouse, new communities were soon established across France and into England.

In 1869, her leadership was challenged when a newly joined sister falsely accused her of financial mismanagement. The tension escalated, and in 1874, feeling forced to resign from the very Congregation she had founded, Marie-Thérèse sought refuge with the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity in Paris. She was welcomed on September 20, 1874, and took final vows three years later under the name Marie of the Sacred Heart. In her new community, she lived a quiet, humble life, teaching catechism and working with the young women in their care. Her health gradually declined, and she died on June 7, 1889, her final words a simple prayer: “Come, Lord Jesus, come!” Two years after her death, an official investigation cleared her of all wrongdoing and restored her good name.