Basile-Antoine Moreau was born on February 11, 1799 at Laigné-en-Belin. Ordained priest in 1821, Basile-Antoine served as seminary professor at the Le Mans Diocesan Seminary.
In 1837, Basile-Antoine founded the Congregation of Holy Cross (CSC) at Le Mans — the French religious congregation combining priests, brothers, and sisters in a single Congregation.
The Congregation of Holy Cross established the University of Notre Dame in Indiana (founded 1842 by Fr. Edward Sorin CSC) — the American Catholic university that would become the principal American Catholic institution of higher education.
In 1857, the Vatican suppressed the Marianite Sisters (the third branch of the Congregation of Holy Cross) — producing the institutional crisis. Basile-Antoine was forced to resign as Superior General in 1866.
He died at Le Mans on January 20, 1873. Beatified September 15, 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI at the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Sainte-Croix in Le Mans.