Born in 1691, Marie Anne was the youngest in her family. At ten years old she went to the Visitation Monastery Boarding School near Bourbonnais, France but initially was not happy there. Eventually she settled in.
Her sudden conversion was born of a violent inflammatory reaction that prevented her from breathing, despite the application of all known remedies. Mother Soudeilles then had the idea of making her drink a little water in which had been submerged a relic of St. Jeanne de Chantal, begging her to save her if she wanted her in the Visitation. Immediately her throat healed and she breathed again. Marked by this miracle, Marie Anne decided from the age of 12 to devote herself to Jesus and asked 18 months later to enter the novitiate. Despite the objections of her family and the reluctance of the community, she managed to overcome her haughty behavior to become a humble Visitandine in Moulins. Her name in religion was now Sr. Anne-Madeleine.
Quickly elected assistant, Sr Anne Madeleine became Superior in 1747 and organized the celebrations of the beatification of Jeanne de Chantal. She was re-elected in 1754 and again early in 1757 and then in 1763. But no sooner was she elected than gangrene settled into her knee. At 72 years old and declared lost, Mother Anne Madeleine was administered Extreme Unction and the Surgeons tried all for all the analgesic treatment of the time. Her daughters, meanwhile, settled around her bed a “spiritual wall” with relics and prayed fervently for a miracle. It was granted to them. She recovered and walked again . She could thus thus organize the celebrations of the canonization of St. Jeanne de Chantal!. She led the community for nearly twenty years and went home to God in 1775.