Note: For the next several weeks, I’m featuring women with a connection to the Americas.
The Basics: Born October 15, 1701, in Canada; died December 23, 1771, in Canada; canonized December 9, 1999, by John Paul II; feast day, October 16; woman religious, wife, mother, businesswoman.
The Story: The first native-born Canadian saint had a bit of a roller-coaster life. Marguerite’s first years as the oldest of six children were spent in relative comfort, but the family was left destitute when her family died (she was seven).
Her mother’s second marriage was regarded as below her station, scandalizing some in society. The pattern repeated itself to a degree; Marguerite’s husband was involved in illegal liquor trading to native Americans, and the family fell into poverty when he died. Marguerite was just twenty-nine at the time, and opened a dry-goods store to help satisfy his debts. She also had the heartache of losing four of her six children in infancy. (The two surviving boys both went on to become priests.) Still, rather than focus on her own misfortunes, Marguerite felt a call to minister to the poor, joining the Confraternity of the Ladies of the Holy Family in 1727.
The controversy about her husband’s activities dogged her years later when in 1737 Marguerite and three young women took vows in what would become the Sisters of Charity of Montreal, called the “Grey Nuns” for the habits they would eventually adopt. Living in a community that did active ministry was unusual at the time; the typical places for women were in a marriage or a convent. The sisters’ many acts of service included revitalizing a hospital that had fallen into disrepair, and then was destroyed by fire. The community continues to serve today in Canada, Colombia, and Brazil.
Marguerite’s Wisdom: “Trust in His goodness, and He will give you what is needed.”
What We Can Learn from Marguerite: It’s easy to focus on the places where we feel life and God have mistreated us. Marguerite’s example shows us we become more alive and are more pleasing to the Lord when we pick up our cross and carry it in the service of others.
To Learn More About Marguerite: Visit the site for the order she founded, the Sisters of Charity of Montreal, or learn about the museum dedicated to her in her hometown of Varennes.
To Learn More About Other Women Saints and Blesseds: Come back next week, or consider buying my books, Blessed Are You: Finding Inspiration from Our Sisters in Faith or Sisterhood of Saints: Daily Guidance and Inspiration.
