Museum Marguerite Bourgeoys, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Marguerite was born in France in 1620, the 6th daughter of 12 children. By the time of her death in 1700, she had become known as the “Mother of the Colony” for her part in developing Ville-Marie, Montreal.
At the age of 15, Marguerite decided to join a sodality whose mission was to educate girls too poor to board within the cloister. That is where the Governor of the French settlement at Montreal in New France recruited Marguerite to move to Canada and set up a congregation. In 1653, she made the journey to Ville-Marie, now known as the city of Montreal.
Upon her arrival to Ville-Marie, Marguerite was saddened to learn that very few children survived to school-age. She quickly took action to strengthen the colony both physically and spiritually. She restored the cross on Mount Royal and swiftly organized a team of workers to build Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours Chapel; the first permanent church in Ville-Marie. She converted a stone stable provided to her by the founder of Ville-Marie into a schoolhouse. Soon after beginning the school, Marguerite visited France to recruit more women who would return to Canada with her as teachers. This was the beginning of public schooling in Montreal.
The women followed a religious way of life and later formed the congregation Notre-Dame. Marguerite's dedication to expanding education never wavered. She went on to develop a boarding school in Ville-Marie to keep affluent girls local, instead of requiring them to travel to Quebec City for their education. She set up an artisan occupations for women school, a school for Catholic Native communities, and her congregation set up many smaller schools in surrounding areas.
Marguerite was the figurehead of the Congregation until 1693 and passed away in early 1700. In 1982, Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys became the first female Saint of Canada.
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