Saint Marguerite 17th Century French Canadian who Founded the Sisters of Charity in Montreal
Saint Marguerite d’Youville was born on October 15, 1701, and she died on December 23, 1771. She was a French Canadian widow who founded the Sisters of Charity of Montreal, who are commonly known as the “Grey Nuns.” Saint Marguerite d’Youville was canonised by Pope John Paul II in 1990, and she became the first native-born Canadian to be declared a saint. Saint Marguerite d’Youville was a slave owner. She and the Grey Nuns used enslaved labourers in their hospital. They also purchased and sold both Indian slaves and British war prisoners, including an English slave whom she purchased from the Indians. Do you think someone who is a slave owner should be a saint?
Saint Marguerite d’Youville Biography
Saint Marguerite was born Marie-Marguerite Dufrost de Lajemmerais in 1701. She was the oldest daughter. Her father died when she was a young girl. Despite her family’s poverty, when she was 11, she was able to attend the Ursuline convent in Quebec City for two years before returning home to teach her younger brothers and sisters.
Saint Marguerite’s impending marriage was a bit of a surprise to her mother, who had a different spouse in mind. On August 12, 1722, she married François d’Youville, a bootlegger who sold liquor illegally to Indigenous peoples. The couple had six children together before François died in 1730.
By age 30, D’Youville had suffered the loss of her father, husband and four of her six children, who died in infancy. But she underwent a spiritual and religious awakening during her marriage. She wanted to make known God’s compassionate love to all. She undertook many charitable works with complete trust in God, whom she loved as a Father.
Sister Marguerite and three other women founded a religious association to provide a home for the poor in Montreal in 1737. At first, the home housed only four or five members, but it grew as the women raised funds. By 1744, the association had become a religious congregation with a rule and a formal community. In 1747, the women were granted a charter to operate the General Hospital of Montreal, which by that time was in ruins and deeply in debt. The congregation expanded to other cities, and it became known simply as the “Grey Nuns.”
Saint Marguerite d’Youville Veneration
Saint Marguerite d’Youville died in 1771. In the next century, her status continued to increase, as people cited prayers for her intervention in aiding them. After her spiritual writings were approved by theologians on February 1, 1888, her beatification process was formally opened on April 28, 1890, and she was granted the title Servant of God. She was declared Venerable by Pope Pius XI on June 16, 1931. In 1959, she was beatified by Pope John XXIII, who called her “Mother of universal charity.” She was canonised in 1990 by Pope John Paul II. She is the first native-born Canadian to be made a saint by the Catholic Church.
In 1961, a shrine was built in her birthplace. Today, it is the site of a permanent exhibit about the life and works of Saint Marguerite d’Youville. Interestingly, the review process for canonisation included a review of a medically inexplicable cure of acute myeloid leukemia in a patient after relapse, after prayers to Sister Marguerite.
Numerous Catholic churches, schools, women’s shelters, charity shops, and other institutions in Canada and worldwide are named after Saint Marguerite d’Youville. The Catholic institution of higher learning, D’Youville University in Buffalo, New York, is named after her.[11]
Conclusion
Saint Marguerite d’Youville did a lot of good, and the grey nuns of Montreal still exist, but we cannot look past her ownership of slaves. At that time, slave ownership was common, and the was discrimination against Native Americans. Nevertheless, she is a saint who is revered. Some places exist today that are named after her. For instance, the D’Youville Academy at Plattsburgh, New York, was founded in 1860. It was listed on the US National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
