Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys

Marguerite Bourgeoys was born in Troyes, France, on April 17, 1620. At twenty, during a procession in honor of Our Lady, she felt called to give her life to God. In 1653 she sailed to the small French settlement of Ville-Marie, today Montreal, to teach the children of the colonists and of the Indigenous peoples.

In 1658 she opened the first school of Montreal in a converted stone stable. She welcomed and trained the young women sent from France to marry settlers, and founded the Congregation of Notre-Dame, an uncloistered community of sisters who went out to teach, which was new for women religious at the time. She also built the chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours. She died in Montreal on January 12, 1700, and in 1982 became the first woman saint of Canada.

She is celebrated as an optional memorial in Canada, and her sisters still teach in Canada, the United States, Latin America and beyond. Pilgrims visit the Marguerite Bourgeoys Museum and the Bon-Secours Chapel in Old Montreal, where her remains now rest.