Lea Nicolle 1850-1926
There is no established circular for this sister, as she died outside the monastery.
Her father is a stonemason, near Notre Dame de la Délivrande, and her mother is a lacemaker! At the time in the middle of the century, because our sister was born in 1850), the lace industry employs nearly 15,000 workers in the district of Bayeux. Her father died when the little one was only 6 years old.
The young girl will enter Carmel at the age of 23. Her sisters find her sweet and good – the kind that make life together sweet and pleasant. We see how she was able to enter into a relationship with TH.
Sr. Marie des Anges, novice mistress, presents her with a marguillette [little daisy] of the Good Lord, having the simplicity of this flower. She finds it to be one of the pearls of the monastery.
With this, she flies to work, to fatigue, to dedication, to the lead for all hard work.
But then between 1886-1890, around Thérèse's arrival, she began to show mental disorders that worried the community. There are early signs of mental illness. The sisters testify: she uttered horrible cries, turned her head at an incredible speed for hours, and said horrible things.
She was hospitalized at the Bon Sauveur (around 1890) and returned quite well. Mr. Martin will be hospitalized in the same hospital from 1889 to 1892.
But 5 or 6 years later she will relapse, will be hospitalized again, without hope of recovery, then returned to her family.
