In 1675, Barré returned to Paris where he continued to found schools, which he called the schools of the Holy Infant Jesus.
He was assisted in this by Marie de Lorraine, Duchess of Guise, one of the wealthiest people in the kingdom, who funded and housed a school for training teachers of the Institute in her own palace.

Barré encouraged the first members of the Institute to offer human and spiritual support in a variety of ways depending on the needs of those they met.
He encouraged them to go out to people in their surroundings; to find those who had lost direction in their lives and to look after people who were sick and abandoned:
‘It is in the valley of the greatest misfortune and tears that God is pleased to bring the soul to the heights – heights that reach even the infinity of God’s greatness.
Experience shows that one can see the stars shining more brightly from the bottom of a well than in full daylight from the ground above’.

Because they lived in a house in rue St Maur the sisters became known as the Dames de St Maur.
In 1691 the communities of Rouen and Paris split.
The Sisters of Providence in Rouen, became a diocesan institute with a missionary outreach in Madagascar and Central Africa.
The Sisters of St Maur in Paris became an institute of pontifical right with communities in five continents.
In 1675, Barré returned to Paris where he continued to found schools, which he called the schools of the Holy Infant Jesus. He was assisted in this by Marie de Lorraine, Duchess of Guise, one of the wealthiest people in the kingdom, who funded and housed a school for training teachers of the Institute in her own palace.
Barré encouraged the first members of the Institute to offer human and spiritual support in a variety of ways depending on the needs of those they met. He encouraged them to go out to people in their surroundings; to find those who had lost direction in their lives and to look after people who were sick and abandoned:
‘It is in the valley of the greatest misfortune and tears that God is pleased to bring the soul to the heights – heights that reach even the infinity of God’s greatness. Experience shows that one can see the stars shining more brightly from the bottom of a well than in full daylight from the ground above’.
Because they lived in a house in rue St Maur the sisters became known as the Dames de St Maur. In 1691 the communities of Rouen and Paris split. The Sisters of Providence in Rouen, became a diocesan institute with a missionary outreach in Madagascar and Central Africa. The Sisters of St Maur in Paris became an institute of pontifical right with communities in five continents.
Nicholas Barré