Marguerite Bourgeoys: Montreal's first teacher

Marguerite Bourgeoys arrived in Montreal on 16 November 1653. A practical, intrepid and mystical woman, she quickly became the soul of the colony. Everything had to be built. She designed the Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours chapel, which was completed in 1678. She returned to France to recruit companions who would help her consolidate the colony by educating girls from all walks of life. She thus became the founder of French education in Montreal. She selflessly helped build and educate the colony, inspired by the joyful mystery of the Visitation: the Virgin Mary who went to help her cousin Elizabeth. Considered to be the co-founder of Montreal with Jeanne Mance, Marguerite Bourgeoys was canonised by John Paul II on 31 October 1982, as the first female saint of Canada.

Stained glass window depicting Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys, in the church of Saint Vincent de Paul in Montreal / © CC BY-SA 4.0, ndoduc

Reasons to believe:

We can see the importance of the Blessed Virgin in the life and spirituality of Marguerite Bourgeoys: Mary was at the origin of her conversion and her vocation as a nun and teacher. At the age of 20, she had a profound religious experience and conversion during a procession in honour of Our Lady of the Rosary: "I was so moved and so changed that I no longer recognised myself and, on returning home, this was noticeable to everyone.

In 1652, Marguerite was offered the chance to leave everything behind to go to New France to instruct the children of the colonists and Native Americans. It's easy to understand why Marguerite accepted such an uprooting, since the Virgin Mary had appeared to her and said, "Go, I will not abandon you".

The work of education and evangelisation thatMarguerite Bourgeoys carried out in Ville-Marie (Montreal)was not without material difficulties or dangers, but God always showed her his presence and protection. To obtain help, she did not hesitate to cross the ocean seven times, braving all the usual hazards of seafaring in the 17th century.

On 31 December 1699, when a young nun was at about to die, Marguerite Bourgeoys, then Mother Superior of the Congregation, asked God to take her life in exchange. The next day, the young nun recovered her health and Mother Marguerite was seized with a violent fever: she passed away to God twelve days later, on 12 January 1700.

Marguerite Bourgeoys spent her life in the service of others, and it was in Christ that she drew her energy. In her prayers, she asked God, on behalf of herself and her companions: "May we never have any other contentment than to live in you [God] and with you."

At the time of her death, her teaching work in the New World included the foundation of eight houses offering education to 600 pupils. Her educational and apostolic work has continued ever since: in 1961, there were 262 houses throughout the world, teaching more than 100,000 students.

Lise Gauthier, aged twenty-one, was suffering from terminal cancer. While everything pointed to her imminent death (she had been given the last rites), she was completely cured in the space of one night, from 14 to 15 June 1968, after receiving relics of Marguerite Bourgeoys, while the nuns of the motherhouse of the congregation founded by Marguerite in Montreal had been asked to pray for her recovery. Lise's surgeon declared: "Something extraordinary has happened which is beyond medicine, and it wasn't me who did it." This sudden and unexpected change in Lise's health was attributed to the supernatural intervention of Mother Marguerite Bourgeoys and was recorded as the miracle that led to her canonisation on 31 October 1982.

Summary:

Marguerite Bourgeoys was born in Troyes on 17 April 1620 and baptised the same day in Saint-Jean church. She was the sixth of twelve children. She lost her mother when she was nineteen. Her peaceful life was transformed on 7 October 1640 by a special grace, during a procession in honour of Our Lady of the Rosary. Marguerite looked at a sculpture of the Blessed Virgin above the portal of an abbey and felt a lightness of heart and joy. She experienced what she called a "conversion". She wanted to consecrate herself to God in a religious community, but without success. This did not prevent her from taking private vows of chastity and poverty.

The young woman became an external member (sodality) of the canonesses de Saint-Augustin of the Congregation Notre-Dame. Mother Louise de Chomedey de Sainte-Marie, the head of this community, happened to be the sister of the Governor of the French settlement at Montreal in New France, Paul de Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve, founder of Ville-Marie, which later became Montreal. In 1652, during his trip to France, Paul de Chomedey visited his sister and invited Marguerite to join him in Ville Marie as a lay teacher to provide free education for the children of settlers and natives. Thirty-two-year-old Marguerite Bourgeoys accepted the job after the Virgin Mary appeared to her and confirmed her vocation, saying: "Go, I will not abandon you."

The teacher arrived in Montreal on 16 November 1653. The school barn, donated by Maisonneuve in 1658, had become too small. Marguerite sailed by to France to find reinforcements. When she returned to Ville-Marie in 1659, she was accompanied by four companions who formed the nucleus of a community of uncloistered women serving all the inhabitants of the colony, including Native Americans. This was an innovation at the time, when life in a cloister was the rule for nuns. They were known as the "Daughters of the Congregation". In addition to a very active life, they also led a life of prayer.

In 1670, Marguerite Bourgeoys returned to France to meet King Louis XIV, who recognised her exemplary dedication and signed the "letters patent" establishing the civil charter of the Secular Daughters of the Congregation of Notre-Dame. Canonical approval was granted in 1676 by François de Laval, the first bishop of New France. The religious constitutions of the Congregation were approved by the Church in 1698.

Marguerite Bourgeoys' daughters did not lead a cloistered life because they wanted to follow the example of Mary who had visited her cousin Elizabeth. Their profound mission was to imitate the "travelling life" of Our Lady. Dressed simply for the times, they were not dependent on anyone. They could teach catechism and teach along the banks of the St Lawrence, whether on foot, on horseback or in a canoe. They recognised Mary as their mother and protector, reciting the rosary and thanking God for the favours he had granted them. They also attached great importance to Eucharistic adoration, adoring Jesus present in the tabernacle of their community chapel. Marguerite Bourgeoys' religious name was Sister Marguerite of the Blessed Sacrament.

The Secular Daughters of the Congregation of Notre-Dame opened missions and schools for the daughters of settlers far from Montreal, such as Champlain, Batiscan and Île d'Orléans. The foundress did not hesitate to cross the ocean several times to secure material support and recruit new sisters. Her devotion to Mary and her love of the Eucharist gave her the strength she needed to continue her mission of evangelisation.

In 1693, she gave up her position as superior of the congregation to Marie Barbier, the first Montrealer to join her in 1678. She spent her last years in the infirmary, taking care to safeguard the non-cloistered " travelling life" of her congregation despite the objections of Bishop de Saint-Vallier, Laval's successor in Quebec. But everything was settled on 1 July 1698. The sisters took their simple vows in the presence of the bishop.

Marguerite Bourgeoys wrote little, leaving an autobiography and a spiritual testament in 1698. She showed that prayer "must begin from the heart, which is its centre". Her whole life was dedicated to God. She died on 12 January 1700, and the sisters of the congregation she founded continue her work as educators to this day.

Marguerite had said: "It is true that all that I have ever most desired, and that I still most fervently wish, is that the great precept of the love of God above all things and of one's neighbour as oneself be engraved in all hearts."

Jacques Gauthier, an author and theologian, has written over eighty books, including some fifty on spirituality. This article is partly taken from his blog.

Beyond reasons to believe:

Marguerite Bourgeoys was canonised in 1982. In his homily, John Paul II summed up her ardent faith well: "Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys will be remembered above all for her original contribution to the promotion of families, children, future spouses and parents. In Montreal, she was known as the 'mother of the colony'. Like Saint Paul, she could have said: "With you, we were full of gentleness, like a mother who surrounds her infants with care. With such affection for you, we would like to give you not only the Gospel of God, but everything we are."

Going further:

The Life Of Venerable Marguerite Bourgeoys: Foundress Of The Congregation De Notre Dame Of Montreal by Archbishop John Gregory Murray D.D, Kessinger Publishing (September 10, 2010)

More information:

Marguerite Bourgeoys and Montreal, 1640-1665(McGill-Queen’s Studies in the Hist of Re) (Volume 27) by Sr. Patricia Simpson, McGill-Queen's University Press (April 15, 1997)
Marguerite Bourgeoys And the Congregation of Notre Dame, 1665-1700 (McGill-Queen's Studies in the History of Religion) (Volume 42) by Patricia Simpson, McGill-Queen's University Press; Annotated edition (December 12, 2005)
Marguerite Bourgeoys, Pioneer Teacher by Sister Saint Mary Genevieve, Hassell Street Press (September 9, 2021)
Marguerite Bourgeoys: brave beginnings by Patricia Simpson, EFIDES (January 1, 1900)
Marguerite Bourgeoys historical site: https://margueritebourgeoys.org.