Her father was the colonel of a Dragoon regiment and took part in the Seven Years' War. He left the army at the age of 36 to look after his domains, where he was popular. Camille de Soyécourt was baptized at the Church of Saint-Sulpice, Paris, the day after her birth. Her father, who wished to stay close to her, gave her a governess and a tutor for her early education. In 1766 she was placed for four years at the convent of the Visitation, whose superior was Madame de Brancas, to complete her academic and religious education. There she found her two older sisters, who had entered the convent when very young. In the convent the staff said she was a good student, "full of virtues" and very pious. However her father, wishing to see her more freely than when she was behind the gates of the convent, moved her to a Benedictine convent that had already accepted his mother. She left this one and after some time entered the Benedictine Tresnel Abbey on the Rue de Charonne. Camille took her First Communion "with great devotion" at the age of 15 on 25 December 1772. When she was sixteen her parents wanted to marry her to a nobleman much older than her. If she wanted to be a nun rather than get married, she did not find the courage to tell her parents. She even planned to wait for her widowhood to enter the convent. However, her future husband died before the wedding, which she understood as "a sign of God calling her to the convent". She then declared her desire to become a nun to her parents, but they sharply refused her request, despite being very religious. The girl then stated that she would wait for her majority at the age of 25. Camille alternated between periods at the convent of the Benedictine nuns and months spent at her family home. She took the opportunity to establish a regular correspondence with the nuns of the Visitation with whom she had formed a tender friendship. With her mother and her brother she made a trip to Dauphiné, visiting Savoie and Chambéry. When she returned her parents offered her a new wedding project. She again refused, but her parents made her leave her convent. She returned to the family home where she adapted to social life and gradually began to enjoy it. She also gradually abandoned prayer, starting to hesitate between marriage and the convent. At 22 she took a spiritual director who led her back to prayer.