June 6, 2019: Marguerite Bougeoys
















On a recent trip to Quebec, mentioned in a previous post, one of the many beautiful churches we visited was the Church founded by Marguerite Bougeoys. 
Saint Sister Marguerite Bougeoys was born in France, 17 April 1620 at Troyes, in Champagne.  She joined an external religious group, not wished to be part of a cloistered sisterhood.  At age 33 she offered to go to Ville-Marie (Montreal), although it was thought that the conditions prevailing there would be unable to support a religious community.  She boarded a ship with several young women destined to be brides in the Colony of New France, along with a regiment of soldiers.  Her mission was to teach, but for the first decade she was unable to find children to fill her school.  The high infant mortality rate and the few families in the area kept her from fulfilling her original mission.  Meanwhile, she acted as an older sister to the settlers, in 1657 she persuaded them to labor in the building of the chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours, the first stone church on the Ilse de Montreal.
By 1658 she was finally able to receive pupils in a stable given to her for that purpose.  After a trip back to France, she returned to Montreal, and began to nurture the Fille de Roi, sent by Louis XIV to New France to “start families.”  She would meet them on the shore and prepare them for their future role as wives and mothers in this harsh new land. While she continued to support and help the young women who came to New France, she also promoted her Seamans Chapel at Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours.  It stands on the waterfront today, with the huge figure of Christ holding his arms out to sea, with the votives in the shape of ships hanging from the ceiling. 
While not one of my grandmothers, she probably guided and protected one or more of my FIlle de Roi grandmothers, and I felt a great kinship in the chapel that she built.  It was a place that spoke to my heart, and I was filled with the spirit of her grace while at Bon Secours.  Thank you, Sister Marguerite.



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