Saint Marie-Madeleine Postel was a French Catholic professed religious and the founder of the Sisters of Christian Schools. The Benedictine nuns oversaw her education in Valognes after her initial schooling and it was during that time that she discerned a call to serve God in the religious life; she took a private vow to remain chaste as a step forward in this dream.
In 1774, Saint Marie-Madeleine Postel founded a school for girls in Barfleur which became a center for underground religious activities during the French Revolution for those who were unwilling to support the new regime. The school was shut down at the beginning of the Revolution but authorization was granted to her to keep the Blessed Sacrament in her house as the conflict continued and she carried it on her person at times to provide the Viaticum to those who were ill and at the verge of death.
The end of the Revolution saw Saint Marie-Madeleine Postel take up teaching and catechizing in Cherbourg where she taught around 300 children. She made her religious profession into the Third Order of Saint Francis in 1798. In 1832, she acquired a derelict convent in St-Sauveur-le-Vicomte to use as her headquarters which then prompted growth within the order.
Saint Marie-Madeleine Postel died in 1846. Her order continues its work in places such as Romania and Mozambique and in 2005 had 442 religious in 69 different locations worldwid
