|
Information:
| Feast Day: |
January 12 |
| Born: |
17 April 1620, Troyes, France |
| Died: |
12 January 1700, Montreal,
Canada |
| Canonized: |
31 October 1982, by Pope
John Paul II |
| Major Shrine: |
Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours
Chapel, Montreal |
|
Patron: |
Against
poverty, loss of parents, people rejected by
religious orders |
|
|
MARGUERITE BOURGEOYS was born in Troyes, in the province
of Champagne (France), on Good Friday, April 17, 1620.
She was baptized on the same day in the church of
Saint-Jean, a church that was located near her home.
Marguerite was the sixth child in a family of twelve.
Her parents were Abraham Bourgeoys and Guillemette
Gamier, and she was privileged to grow up in a milieu
that was middle class and thoroughly Christian.
Marguerite was nineteen years of age when she lost her
mother. In the following year, 1640, in the course of a
procession held on October 7 in honor of Our Lady of the
Rosary, she had an unforgettable experience. Her eyes
rested on a statue of the Blessed Virgin, and at that
moment she felt inspired to withdraw from the world and
to consecrate herself to the service of God. She
registered, at once, as a member of the extern
Congregation of Troyes, an association of young girls
devoted to the charitable work of teaching children in
the poor districts of the town. While engaged in this
apostolate she learned about the foundation of Ville
Marie (Montreal) in Canada. The year was 1642, and at
that time she sensed a first call to missionary life.
This call was rendered concrete in 1652 when she met
Monsieur de Maisonneuve, founder and governor of the
settlement begun in New France, who was in search of
someone who would volunteer her services for the
gratuitous instruction of the French and Indian
children. Our Lady confirmed the call addressed to her:
"Go, I will not forsake you", she said. Thus assured,
Marguerite left Troyes in February, 1653, in a spirit of
complete detachment. She arrived in Montreal on the
following 16th of November, and without delay she set to
work to promote the best interests of the colony. She is
rightly considered co-foundress of Montreal, with the
nurse, Jeanne Mance, and the master designer, Monsieur
de Maisonneuve.
In order to encourage the colonists in their faith, she
arranged for the restoration of the Cross on Mount Royal
after it has been destroyed by hostile Indians, and she
undertook the construction of a chapel dedicated to
Notre-Dame de Bon Secours. Convinced of the importance
of the family in the building of this new country, and
perceiving the significance of the role to be exercised
by women, she devoted herself to the task of preparing
those whose vocation it would be to preside in a home.
In 1658, in a stable which had been given to her by the
governor for her use, she opened the first school in
Montreal. She also organized an extern Congregation,
patterned after the one which she had known in Troyes
but adapted to the actual needs. In this way, she could
respond to the needs of the women and young girls on
whom much depended as far as the instruction of children
was concerned. In 1659, she began receiving girls who
were recommended by "les cures" in France, or endowed by
the King, to come to establish homes in Montreal, and
she became a real mother to them. Thus were initiated a
school system and a network of social services which
gradually extended through the whole country, and which
led people to refer to Marguerite as "Mother of the
Colony".
On three occasions, Marguerite Bourgeoys made a trip to
France to obtain help. As of
1658, the group of teachers who associated themselves
with her in her life of prayer, of heroic poverty, and
of untiring devotedness to the service of others,
presented the image of a religious institute. The
Congregation de Notre-Dame received its civil charter
from Louis XIV in 1671, and canonical approbation by
decree of the Bishop of Quebec in 1676. The
Constitutions of the Community were approved in 1698.
The foundation having been assured, Sister Bourgeoys
could leave the work to others. She died in Montreal on
January 12, 1700, acknowledged for her holiness of life.
Her last generous act was to offer herself as a
sacrifice of prayer for the return to health of a young
Sister. Forty members of the Congregation de Notre-Dame
were there to continue her work.
On November 12, 1950 Pope Pius XII beatified Marguerite
Bourgeoys. Canonizing her on October 31, 1982, Pope John
Paul II gave the Canadian Church its first woman saint.
(Abridged from Vatican News
Services)
|
