Alix LeClerc was born in Remiremont, France, on February 2, 1576, during a turbulent period in history. At age 19 she met Peter Fourier. Following her dream, Alix pursued the idea of religious life and assembled a group willing to found a new order. On Christmas night, 1597, five young women publicly consecrated themselves to Our Lady. This was the birthing of "The Congregation of Our Lady: Canonesses of St. Augustine" in the church at Mattaincourt.

Alix was a mystic-dreamer whose dreams gave impetus to her vocation, mission and ministry. We recall the cradle, stalk of wheat and hammer, the vision which inspired the Notre Dame symbol; and her vision of Our Lady saying, "Take this Child and make Him grow." Alix and Peter envisioned a society that can be changed for the better by empowering individuals, especially women, through Christian education. Alix's influence was far-reaching in establishing many convents and schools and in tirelessly visiting the sick and the poor. Alix died on January 9, 1622 at Nancy. (During the Napopleonic conquests and "secularization" of hundreds of convents and monasteries, the congregation was suppressed.)

Alix LeClerc wrote: "What means are there then, of living in peace in the midst of so much warfare...and the most dangerous is against ourselves, for we are by nature so full of self-love that we are troubled and plunged in darkness! So it is in you, O my God and my Strength, that I shall surely find what I am seeking. If there is any good in this world, it is the peaceable person who possesses it, since the Reign of God is joy and peace in the Holy Spirit. The soul without interior peace is like a ship driven by winds and tempests, always in danger; it can profit neither for itself nor for others, for it pays so much attention to thinking about itself, that its very unhappiness arises from this. To find the remedy, we must remember that Our Lord said: 'If any one has a mind to come my way, then renounce yourself, take up your cross and follow me.'"