Acarie, Barbe Jeanne (1566–1618)

French Carmelite nun. She introduced the Carmelite Order into France in 1604 and in 1615, after the death of her husband, she joined the order as Mary of the Incarnation. She was beatified in 1791.

She was born in Paris, the daughter of Nicolas Avrillot, a royal councillor. In 1582 she married Pierre Acarie, Vicomte de Villemore, by whom she had six children. A leading light in Paris society, she became deeply involved in the Catholic reform Movement in France and was a close friend of the Bérulle family.

Her sense of vocation was deepened by reading the autobiography of the Spanish mystic St Teresa of Avila, and in 1604, having won the approval of the king, Henry IV, she established a community of the Reformed (Discalced) Order of Carmelites in Paris. Her husband died in 1613, and two years later she joined the Amiens convent, moving to Pontoise the following year.