The Life of Venerable Sister Margaret Bourgeois

or of many ascetic works, succeeded him as arch-deacon of Evreux, M. de Laval having resigned in his favor. He received his appointment from the French King, but as the Sovereign

y, M. d'Allet, to inform his own Bishop of what had transpired in Canada. He never returned, however, and died in Paris, in 1680, in the Seminary of St. Sulpice. M. de Laval met Sister Bourgeois for the first time, during the voyag

seemed possible to arrange matters by procuring the approbation of the home authorities, that is to say, of the Bishop and Governor-General. So she determined to set out for Quebec, to present her petition to these distinguished persons, hoping to have little difficulty in making them understand the utility of the establishment. Messrs. Souart and Perrot gave her letters of recommendation, and the inhabitants of Montreal, who knew the great virtues and talents she concealed beneath the veil of humility, assembled en masse in the Seminary, to give to her petition the weight of their united signatures. They also sent by her an humble supplication to his majesty, or his representatives, entreating that the royal sanction be given to insure the success of the establishment. Each one separately signed his name to the document, and placed it in her hands. They were all the more eager to help as they had often been compelled to send their children to Quebec to the Ursulines, and the pressing need of a home institution was becoming more apparent each day. Full of confidence in God and His holy Mother, and furnished with these respectable documents, she finally decided on no half-way course, but set sail again for France, in the autumn of 1670, fearing neither danger, nor the inconveniences conveniences of a third sea-voyage, to obtain the succors she needed for others, more than for herself. What a sublime spectacle it was, to see an humble, unattended woman cross the great sea alone, and go in her simple attire, into the brilliant court of the Great King, Louis XIV., to treat of the interests of religion and the glory of God. Her success was as singular as her enterprise, and though the journey was long, and full of pain and fatigue (she did not return for two years), she felt abundantly repaid by the many advantages and lasting good it produced. On her arrival in Paris, her first visit was to the church of Notre Dame, to renew, before the altar of the Blessed Virgin, the consecration she had there made of herself, in 1646, in company of the Montreal Association. She implored the blessing of the Queen of Heaven, on herself, her fellow-laborers in the schools of Montreal, and her present undertaking, and then set to work to accomplish her end. She visited some of the old friends of M. de Maisonneuve, who were all persons of merit and high social position, and were known to have much influence at court, in order to induce them to procure her the favor of an interview w

contre, he placed a considerable sum of money in her hands (she had not wherewith to pay her night's-lodging at the time), which she refused to accept, not knowing his motive for doing so, but was soon relieved of her e

ew society, and consecrate themselves to the service of God under her guidance. Six young persons responded to her call. Their names were Sisters Elizabeth, Genevieve, Constantine, Durant, Marianne

nedictions on herself and her young recruits, and received their first religious consecration to the service of God and the Church. He placed no bounds to his favors, and renewed the general permission given before, to erect schools, and form any other religious establishment in his diocese that they should judge beneficial to the colony. Everything seemed to succeed with this holy woman, and she attributed all her past success, as well as wh

uring the letters patent, and thanking them for their many kindnesses. No person could be more punctilious than she in the duties of social etiquette that charity approved, and religion did not condemn. By a particular dispensation of Providence, her first visit was

ld, Sister Bourgeois fortunately presented herself. During the two days that M. Faucamp had it in his house he fell dangerously ill, the sickness proving to be a fatal attack of inflammation of the lungs, and the physicians despaired of his life. In this emergency he made a vow, while praying before the miraculous statue, that if Mary cured him, he would everywhere publish her praises, and do all in his power to build a chapel in her honor, for which he would donate thirty pistoles to commence a fund for the purpose, begging also in his simplicity that she, the Mother of God, would not go t

Her desire was complied with as soon as known, the act of registration taking place on the 17th of October, 1672, after which she set out for Ville-Marie to join her daughters, and labor anew in the service of God. Glorying in being the custodian of the miraculous statue, she hastened to relate its wonderful history to Messrs. Souart and Perrot, who authorized her to expose it for public veneration. She deposited it in the little wooden shed she had erected after her first return from France, expecting to be

out of their private funds, and others donated materials or labor which was equivalent. The interior decorations were quite elaborate, and in due course of time the church was finished to the satisfaction of every one. It was the first stone church erected in Montreal, and was consecrated under the title of "Notre Dame de Bon-Secours." Mass was celebrated in it for the first time on the Feast of the Assumption, 1675, this day of Mary's glorious triumph being selected as its principal Festival. The work being thus happily completed, Sister Bourgeois, in the hope of making it contribute more effectually to the glory of God, requested the cure and church-warden of the parish to accept the new monument of piety for public use, and make it a perpetuity of the parish, in order to promote devotion to the Mother of G

second burning, issuing forth daily to serve the sick, and returning at night to discharge the reciprocal duties of charity, consequent upon two different communities residing in the same house, and unavoidably crowding each other, yet no violation of charit

the dominion of the King of England, who was a Protestant ruler, the inhabitants of Montreal did not think the time favorable to rebuild the church, and it remained a ruin until 1771. They repented of their inaction, however, and reproached themselves with cowardice, attributing to their neglect the extraordinary calamities that befell them. The city was scourged by two other general conflagrations, the first occurring on the 18th of May, 1765, when in the short space of four hours, one hundred hous

ity turned out in procession, with an enthusiasm and splendor worthy the admiration of succeeding ages, the foundation-stones being put in place by the most distinguished men of Montreal. The first was laid directly under the sanctuary, by Etienne Montgolfier, Vicar-General of the diocese, with the following inscription: "This church is dedicated to the Great and All-powerful God, and the Blessed Mary of Good Help, with the title of her glorious Assumption." The second was laid under the grand entrance door, by Louis Jollivet, beneath which was placed the following scroll: "This church was built nearly a century ago, by the Venerable Sister Margaret Bourgeois, Foundress of the Congregation Sisters of this city, but having been burnt in 1754, the citizens of Ville-Marie, who have ever been the devoted clients of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on this day, June 30, 1771, place the first stone for its re-establishment, on a much mo

ommunity. Her second batch of postulants had already obtained in Paris the approbation of M. de Laval, who received their primary engagements, and she ardently desired that her first beloved companions should enjoy the same precious advantage, having labored with h

what you ask, nevertheless, it will be more prudent to await his return, as he has written to me regarding both you and your Congregation, for which he testifies much esteem. It will be best that he regulate everything himself, as he will certainly make his intentions known

ess, similar to that ordinarily worn by pious women of the middle class. The color was black, being the same in every respect as Sister Bourgeois

tuted my entire baggage, and to place them safely on board. The captain politely consented, but his servant entirely forgot both myself and my baggage. Recovering from my indisposition in two or three days, I went on board without further precaution, but alas, found that I was minus the precious box, M. de Fenelon delayed a short time to find it, but all in vain. It was not forthcoming. As the vessel was obliged to sail with the wind, I wrote in haste to M. Dupuis, Major of the garrison of Montreal, who was in Quebec at the time, begging him to search for my box, and if he found it, to forward it to France, by any ship he might find convenient. I particularly requested him to send the papers, and to return the rest to our Sisters in Montreal. He fortunately found the box, and I received it in France shortly after. Behold me, then, embarked without clothing, without provisions, without money, without anything for the voyage. Worse still, I was the only female in the ship, but there were two good priests among the passengers, who gave me great consolation. I arranged a sack and a roll of cordage for my bed, on deck, with an improvised enclosure. This was my chamber during my passage; which was not very long, however, as we arrived at La Rochelle in thirty-one days. I had not made a change of underclothing during the voyage, as I had nothing to make it with, except a piece of c

t she had believed lost. After the death of M. Blondel, it had been placed for safe-keeping in the hands of M. de Maisonneuve. She received it very gratefully, of course, but not at all avariciously. Here the memoirs of Sister Bourgeois become irregular, in both dates and events, which were perhaps so crowded that she could not devote time to take note of them in the order of occurrence, so we will content ourselves by relating a few incidents of traditional report before again returning to the authentic manuscripts. At the time of her second return to Montreal, with the six new subjects that M. de Laval received in France, she found it necessary to secure the services of an honest, robust man, who would be willing to work for them, when necessary, during their travels. She accordingly made a contract with a man named Louis Frin, whom she also hoped to employ in teaching a boy's school in Montreal, in place of the young man that died after his arrival in Canada. This Louis Frin became afterwards Brother Charon, and eventually was known as Brother Louis. Her next care was to secure passages for her young charge of eleven girls, three of whom were her nieces. Six of this band were intended for the community, the remainder being destined to become the wives of as many colonists. On this occasion they set out from Paris by way of Normandy, taking a boat on the Seine as far as Rouen. Here they were compelled to remain one month, and as they were not rich, their funds were on the point of being exhausted, the expense of maintaining so many persons being very considerable. Madeline Senecal kept the purse, and found it necessary to warn Sister Bourgeois that she had not sufficient money to meet the current week's expenses. "You seem to distrust the Providence of God, my child," replied Sister, in a tone of rebuke, but immediately added in a pleasant manner, "Since it is evident that we must have a dinner of some kind, fear nothing, God will provide it himself." And God did provide it, for that same week, Louis Frin, who had remained in Paris with M. de Maisonneuve arranging some business matters, arrived at Rouen, bringing to each of the girls a draft for 200 livres, and also the means of purchasing a full supply of provisions, until their arrival at Quebec. Behold how God provides for those who trust in Him. Departing from Rouen, they arrived at Havre-de-Grace, one of the seaports of Normandy, and were obliged to wait fifteen days for the arrival of the ship that was to take them forever from home and country. During these unavoidable delays, Sister Bourgeois occupied both herself and them with the most fervent exercises of piety. Among others, they proposed a pilgrimage to the celebrated shrine of "Our Lady of Snows," to procure through her intercession the favor of a successful voyage. This shrine was one of the most famous places of devotion to the Blessed Virgin in France. It was decided to make the pilgrimage on foot, and although they set out early in the morning, they did not arrive at the shrine until quite a late hour. Two priests resided here in a kind of monastery, one of whom had just concluded his morning Mass, the other being confined to his room for six weeks by sickness. When Sister told the first Father the object of their pilgrimage, he immediately repaired to his invalid brother priest, whom he found partially dressed and still fasting. Both returned to the church, and heard the confessions of the devoted young pilgrims. The sick Father, who had not been able to walk for a long time without the aid of a crutch, then said Mass without the least inconvenience. All ferventl