CCHA, Report, 14 (1946), 29-34 Pioneer Schools By SISTER MARY PIA, C.N.D. This year of grace 1947, the second of a precarious peace, has been dedicated to Our Blessed Lady. Midway in its course, the splendid Marian Congress, conceived and organized by His Excellency Archbishop Alexander Vachon, drew thousands to Canada’s Capital, where a tribute, unique in every aspect, glorified and invoked the Queen of Peace. The vivid remembrance of its every phase, civic, artistic, religious, cast a rich afterglow upon the following weeks. In that light, the Canadian Catholic Historical Association meets for its annual session, and its chosen gathering place is Montreal, the Ville-Marie of Canada’s Heroic Age, where gallant founders toiled and battled under the protection of Mary, Mother of God. Such is the twofold fitness of this subject, – “Pioneer Schools”, – for the first school in Ville-Marie was opened by a fervent disciple and apostle of Our Lady, the Venerable Margaret Bourgeoys. From time to time, the Holy Spirit has raised up in the Church of Christ, souls whose guiding star was Mary Immaculate. A few short weeks ago, amid the gorgeous pageantry of a Roman canonization, two such Marian saints were glorified: St. Louis Marie Grignon de Montfort (1673-1716) and Catherine Labouré, the Sister of Charity who received, in 1830, the great revelation of the miraculous medal. Margaret Bourgeoys is of their spiritual lineage. Three hundred years ago, two men in distant parts of France, one of them a tax collector, the other a young priest, were told in vision that they were to accomplish much for God in a colony to be founded in Canada on an island named Montreal. Apparently by divine guidance, the two men were brought to a meeting in which they shared confidences as to Ville-Marie. The tax collector, M. de la Dauversiere, revealed that he was to establish a nursing and a teaching order of Sisters in Montreal, while Abbé Olier was convinced that his mission was to found a society of priests for work in the new colony. Dr. James J. Walsh, in his “History of Nursing”, (P. J. Kenedy, N.Y.) thus traces the genesis of Ville-Marie. “Mary’s Town”. On August 7, 1640, the first Associates of the Montreal Company bought the aforesaid Island. Two years later, a valiant Catholic gentleman, Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, founded the perilous set- tlement, and held it staunchly against harsh Nature and ruthless savages. Exactly two months later, on Rosary Sunday, October 7, 1640, a girl of twenty, Margaret Bourgeoys by name, was following a procession in her native city of Troyes. The statue of Our Lady over a monastery portal, seemed suddenly — 29 — to come to life and to look upon her with a glance of transforming love that marked a turning point to higher sanctity. Thirteen years went by. Guided by a chain of Providential circumstances, the young woman, whom God had meanwhile prepared and sanctified, set out with Paul de Maisonneuve to teach the children of VilleMarie. Fear, opposition, hesitation – all had been set at rest by Our Lady’s own promise: “Go, and I will not forsake you!” Five years were spent in danger, privation and toil before Sister Bourgeoys could devote her life to teaching children. Her burning charity, which the saintly Pius X compared to that of St. Paul, embraced all the works of mercy and the manifold forms of Social Service, demanded by the relentless hardships of pioneer existence: she visited and nursed the sick in log cabins of Ville-Marie, she buried the dead, as she had learned to do in the wartorn and plague-infested France of her adolescent days; she comforted the widows and orphans of brave colonists slain by redskins; she instructed men and women in their rude homes; she washed and mended for the poor and the soldiers, often depriving herself of the necessaries of life. In 1658, she laid the corner stone of her Congregation, the first religious community founded in North America, when she opened Montreal’s earliest school in a stone stable, – dear reminder of Bethlehem!–- the gift of Governor de Maisonneuve. Her singularly social and patriotic zeal assumed every form of apostolic work: an industrial school and a sodality for the preservation of poor girls, a “settlement house”, where she received the “Filles du Roi”, girls of good family regularly sent out from France, whom she mothered, instructed in domestic science, prepared for marriage and followed in their after careers. There is a record at the Congregation of the baptism and death of a baby four days old and the death of its mother, aged nineteen. Many early marriage certificates are dated from the Congregation parlor and bear Sister Bourgeoys’ small, neat signature. She brought together older girls in her little school on Sundays and holydays for instructions and pious reading, forming them into an “outside” Congregation, modelled on that to which she had belonged at the convent of her native Troyes. This congregation was inaugurated on July 2, 1658. The house where it met came to be called “The Congregation”. Later on its owners were popularly known as “The Sisters of the Congregation”. There exists a spiritual link between the French community, the Congregation de Notre Dame at Troyes, founded by St. Peter Fourrier, and that founded at Ville-Marie, by the Venerable Margaret Bourgeoys. However, the Canadian Foundress had very definite personal aims and ideals, nor did she shrink from what was then considered a bold innovation – uncloistered religious life for women. Her single objective was the service of God and the saving of souls through devotion to Our Lady and in imitation of Mary’s apostolic life after the Ascension of her Divine Son. Hence — 30 — she chose the Mystery of the Visitation as the patronal feast of her institute. Moreover, she adapted the curriculum of her schools to the actual needs of the colony, teaching French and Indian children – already a bilingual program! – besides reading, writing, number work and singing, such homely crafts as weaving, sewing and cooking, with the things of God always first. To quote Dr. J. B. O’Reilly: “Today when elementary education in Canada is at the crossroads, when some educationalists, have forgotten that a teacher affects eternity, and a system of education that is the same for boys and girls, that is the same for the country and the city, is breaking down, one might, with profit, study the methods of one of Canada’s first educationalists, who built up a system of education indigenous to the country.” (“Marguerite Bourgeoys,” the Canadian Messenger of the Sacred Heart, September, 1943). This system, from its root in the original stable, spread into the “petites écoles”, developed into Normal Schools, now seven in number, six Colleges, of which Antigonish, 1908, was the first and Marianopolis, 1944 the latest, and the stately Pedagogical Institute, founded in 1909 – all animated, in spite of growth and outward change, by the spirit of Margaret Bourgeoys. According to the learned Benedictine biographer, Dom Jamet, the missions outside of Montreal did not begin till 1683, when the Sisters of the Congregation were teaching schools at two places outside of the Island – Champlain and Batiscan – both beyond Three Rivers. However, Mgr. de Laval’s reference to the excellent work done “in various parishes,” in a letter praising Mother Bourgeoys’ Community of teachers, is somewhat vague. The holy Bishop, who, for twenty years, had known and appreciated the Sister’s intelligent and devoted work, expressed his wish to see them carry it out in every part of his immense diocese. The earliest temporary or moving, mission (mission ambulante) was inaugurated by Mother Bourgeoys at the Mountain Cross, on the slope of Mount-Royal – the first place where her ardent desire to evangelize the Indians began to be realized. The date assigned is 1669. In 1676, the Sulpicians, who had taken over the spiritual and temporal care of Montreal in 1663, opened a regular Indian Mission at the same place. They asked Mother Bourgeoys to take charge of the girls. Two Sisters were housed in birch bark huts until M. de Belmont, Superior of the Sulpicians, gave them the two conical towers of gray stone (still to be seen in the garden of the Grand Seminary, on Sherbrooke Street West), one to be used as a dwelling. The Indians were prepared to help in teaching younger companions. Two of them entered the Congregation and became fervent religious. The first English-speaking member of Mother Bourgeoys’ Community was probably Lydia Longley, who had been captured by a band of Abenakis at Groton, near Boston, in July 1694. After a cruel forced march to Montreal, she was ransomed by the French, and placed as ward in the family of Jacques Le Ber, — 31 — father of the famous recluse of Ville-Marie, – the first and only “anchoress” of modern times! On August 5, 1695, Lydia assisted at the ceremony of reclusion in the little cell behind the altar of the Congregation chapel. After receiving instruction from Mother Bourgeoys, Lydia was baptized on April 24th, and soon entered the novitiate of Our Lady’s Congregation, receiving the name of Sister Sainte Madeleine. She died at the age of eighty-four, on July 20, 1758, in the sixty-second year of her religious life. Mary Sayer, or Sayward, was taken prisoner by the vengeful Abenakis, then in league with the French, when they attacked York, Maine, after the reconquest of Acadia. All the inhabitants, except a few women, were put to death. Mary Genevieve, eleven, and her sister, Mary Joseph, seven, were brought to Montreal, where they, with their mother, were rescued by a friendly French family.
Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys, CND (1620–1700) Born in Troyes, Champagne (France) on April 17, 1620, the sixth of twelve children, Marguerite Bourgeoys grows up in a Christian, middle class family. She is 19 years old when she loses her mother. The following year, during a procession in honour of Our Lady of the Rosary, she receives a special grace that transforms her and urges her to leave the world and consecrate herself to God. She therefore begins to search for her vocation and finally enters the Congregation of Troyes, an association of young women devoted to teaching children of the poor neighbourhoods of the city. In 1642 she learns about the foundation of Ville Marie, in Canada, and feels a call to missionary life. In 1652 she meets with Maisonneuve, founder and governor of Nouvelle France, who was looking for a lay teacher for the French and Indian children. The Blessed Virgin will appear to her and confirm her vocation: “Go, I won’t abandon you”. Marguerite leaves Troyes in February 1653 and arrives in Montréal in November. She is considered co-founder of Montreal, together with Jeanne Mance and Maisonneuve. To stimulate the piety of the colons, she has the Cross of Mount Royal put up again and plans the construction of a chapel dedicated to Notre Dame de Bon Secours. Convinced of the importance of families in the construction of the new country and the role of women, in 1658, in a stable given to her by the governor, she opens the first school in Montreal. She then starts a new Congregation, like the one of Troyes, but devoted to the needs of the new mission: the Congregation of Notre Dame, who inspires itself from the “journeying life” of the Virgin Mary.
Marguerite’s Odyssey Marguerite’s Odyssey The journeying life of Marguerite Bourgeoys and the Congrégation de Notre-Dame de Montréal. Hello, I am Marguerite Bourgeoys. Welcome to this section on the “odyssey” of my life and of the community I founded. It was not always easy for a young woman from France like me to overcome many different obstacles in order to settle in New France and live out her dreams. It was quite an adventure! But thanks to my unshakeable faith and the courage and determination of my “sisters”, I never gave up. I was also sustained by my motivation to create, with the help of others, a new society. I have always been convinced that by providing practical instruction, we can help those in need to become more self-reliant and to better their lives. That is why I founded a community of non-cloistered sisters. The Virgin Mary was my inspiration. Following her example, my companions and I travelled wherever we were needed. The sisters of the Congrégation de Notre-Dame who have come after me have continued my mission and are now present on four continents. What a wonderful outcome! Come follow our odyssey and complete the 7 challenges… that the Marguerite-Bourgeoys Museum in Montreal has prepared for you. http://www.archivesvirtuelles-cnd.org/en 1 Marguerite’s Odyssey - Challenge 1 Marguerite finds her vocation and joins in the dream of Ville-Marie. Marguerite Bourgeoys’s adventure in Canada begins in France, her native land. Her destiny becomes clear to her through the people she meets whose ideas inspire her.
Summer 2012 Dear Friend of the CND, As We Celebrate the 30Th Anniversary of St
CONGREGATION OF NOTRE DAME Blessed Sacrament Province • Mission Advancement Office 30 Highfield Rd. • Wilton, CT 06897-3802 (203) 762-4306 • Fax (203) 762-4319 cnddev@juno.com • www.cnd-m.org Summer 2012 Dear Friend of the CND, As we celebrate the 30th Anniversary of St. Marguerite Bourgeoys’ Canonization , we rejoice that the Church has recognized her and the religious congregation that she established. It was in 1653 when St. Marguerite Bourgeoys left the security of her home in Troyes, France for the wilds of New France, (now known as Canada) to a village called Ville Marie, City of Mary . She traveled alone without the comfort of female friends to a wilderness where she chose to live alongside the poor settlers. Her call was to found a non-cloistered community of religious women who would eventually teach the children of this new foundation. St. Marguerite made several trips back to France to recruit young women who would join her in this endeavor. Ville Marie became her home until her death on January 12, 1700. On October 31st, 1982, Marguerite Bourgeoys was declared a saint! As we mark this anniversary, we thank you for all the ways you have supported us through the years. The small beginning in Ville Marie has grown to the Congregation of Notre Dame. Our Motherhouse is in Montreal and we serve the English-speaking and French-speaking people of Canada, and the people of the US, Central America, Japan, France, and Cameroon. We ask you to continue your support of the many ministries in which we are involved.
Marian Studies Volume 53 The Marian Dimension of the Christian Article 9 Life: II. The Middle Period 2002 Marian Devotion in Religious Orders: Congregation of Notre Dame (St. Marguerite Vourgeoys) Marie Azzarello Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies Part of the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Azzarello, Marie (2002) "Marian Devotion in Religious Orders: Congregation of Notre Dame (St. Marguerite Vourgeoys)," Marian Studies: Vol. 53, Article 9. Available at: https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol53/iss1/9 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Marian Library Publications at eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Marian Studies by an authorized editor of eCommons. For more information, please contact frice1@udayton.edu, mschlangen1@udayton.edu. Azzarello: Congregation of Notre Dame VISITATION-PENTECOST SPIRITUALITY IN THE CONGREGATION OF NOTRE DAME (St. Marguerite Bourgeoys)l Sister Marie Azzarello, CND. * Introduction Etienne-Michel Faillon, a priest of St. Sulpice, published Jean Jacques Oller's seventeenth-century work entitled The Interior Life ofthe Most Holy Virgin in 1866. Faillon added a footnote to Oller's reflection on the Visitation and the Order of the Visitation recently founded by St. Francis de Sales "to adore in this glorious mystery, graces and virtues that Jesus Christ lavished on His di vine mother and through her on the Church:'2 Faillon noted: Shortly after this Order was established in France to honour the inner life of this Mystery, God raised up in the city dedicated to Mary, Ville Marie, New France (Canada), a congregation of Christian virgins destined to ho nour, at one and the same time, the interior life and apostolic zeal that •sr.
A CHAPEL AT THE HEART OF A CITY Marguerite Bourgeoys’ historic chapel 1655: Montreal rises laboriously from the forest floor to the sound of swinging axes. This city dedicated to the Blessed Virgin will one day be beautiful and prosperous. That is the pledge of its founders, drawn here by faith and the dream of a better world. One of them, Marguerite Bourgeoys, a modest and endearing woman, will give the city its first stone chapel – Notre-Dame- de-Bon-Secours. Marguerite Bourgeoys arrived in Ville-Marie in 1653 at the invitation of the governor, Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, to open the first school. While waiting for the children to reach the school age, she began the work of realizing another dream: the construction of a chapel of pilgrimage dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, accessible to the colonists just a short distance outside the settlement. Marguerite’s enthusiasm was hard to resist and everyone in the small settlement became involved in the project. In 1657, Montreal was transformed from a mission to a parish. It was now under the direction of the Sulpicians who arrived from France to take charge when the Jesuits withdrew to continue their missionary work among the Native Peoples. The foundations of the chapel were taking shape but Father de Queylus, Superior of the priests serving Notre-Dame, had the work suspended. Work on the stone chapel resumed only in 1675 and was completed in 1678. Meanwhile, Marguerite had a little shelter built over the foundations where people would go to pray. On her second trip to France (1670-1672), Marguerite Bourgeoys received the little statue of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours from Pierre Chevrier, Baron de Fancamp, one of the members of the Société de Notre-Dame de Montréal responsible for funding the Montreal project.
JEANNE LE BER (1662-1714) Chaque Fois Que L'on Parle De La
JEANNE LE BER (1662-1714) Chaque fois que l’on parle de la fondation de Montréal, il est de mise de faire ressortir les figures historiques que sont Jeanne Mance (1606-1673) et Paul Chomedey (1612-1676). Sans oublier, bien sûr, ceux et celles qui sont à l’initiative de cette folle entreprise, tel Jérôme Le Royer. Comme dans toute entreprise humaine, il existe toujours des personnages hors du commun qui, de manière discrète, contribuent au succès d’un projet de grande envergure. Ces personnages de l’histoire peuvent être classés dans la catégorie d’Illustres inconnus qui sont dans les faits des personnes méconnues de notre histoire. Jeanne Le Ber en est une belle illustration. Mlle Le Ber comme on pouvait la nommer à l’époque était l’aînée d’une famille de quatre enfants. Elle était fille unique de Jacques Le Ber (1633-1706), un riche marchand de la Nouvelle- France et du Montréal naissant et de Jeanne LeMoyne, sœur de Charles LeMoyne (1626-1685), sieur de Longueuil et de Châteauguay. Jacques Le Ber était arrivé en Nouvelle-France avec son frère aîné François, en 1657. Nous sommes donc dans la deuxième étape de l’établissement de Ville-Marie commencé en 1642. En 1660, les Le Ber et les LeMoyne décident d’un commun accord de construire une maison à deux logements distincts sur la rue St-Paul juste en face du bâtiment de l’Hôtel-Dieu de l’époque. C’est là que naîtra Jeanne Le Ber le 4 janvier 1662 qui aura comme parrain Paul Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve dont le sort dans la jeune colonie est en sursis et qui finalement quittera (désavoué) Ville-Marie en 1665 pour retourner définitivement en France.
The Congrégation De Notre-Dame of Troyes, 1628-1762
CCHA Historical Studies, 58 (1991), 5-20 Life and Death of a Community: The Congrégation de Notre-Dame of Troyes, 1628-1762 by Elizabeth Rapley Department of History University of Ottawa The religious community of the monastery of the Congrégation de Notre-Dame of Troyes should hold a special meaning for the Canadian Catholic historian. It was the institution where Marguerite Bourgeoys first worked as a teacher. The methods she learned there, we may presume, were the methods that she applied in Montreal, and taught to the members of her congregation.1 It is not too far-fetched to imagine a sort of educational family tree, rooted in Troyes and stretching its branches in Canada. Unfortunately the ancestor was less vital than its descendants. In 1762 it was suppressed for its Jansenist leanings, and disappeared, almost without a trace. Anyone wishing to reconstruct its history must search patiently, and be content with gleanings. A description dating from 1700, provides the setting: In the city of Troyes there is a large house of religious of the Congregation instituted by the saintly priest Fourier, curé of Mattaincourt: cloistered nuns who bring together a large number of secular women ... to follow a life of piety, and teach school, and give religious instruction in various places, going everywhere two by two, as is the practice in missions.2 1 Soeur Sainte-Gertrude-de-la-Croix, CND “L’oeuvre pédagogique de Marguerite Bourgeoys.” Université Laval, 1951: unpublished thesis. 2 Charles de Glandelet, Le Vray Esprit de l’Institut des Soeur seculieres de la Congrégation de Notre-Dame (Montreal: CND, 1976), pp.
Memorial of St. Marguerite Bourgeoys, Virgin Mark 1: 21-28
1 JANUARY 12, 2021 Memorial of St. Marguerite Bourgeoys, Virgin Mark 1: 21-28 “WE TRAVEL WITH OTHERS.” On the feast of the Baptism of the Lord last Sunday, Jesus identified Himself to us sinners, He became part of our family and our community. He became one of us. Our gospel for today is just one of the many miracles of Jesus and the best way to be with His people. “In the synagogue of Capernaum Jesus freed a man from possession by an unclean spirit, a madness that had kept him away from his local community and from God. Jesus lived and died to draw people into a sharing of faith, hope and love, and a personal relationship with God. He did not call people to a holiness that would isolate them from others.”1 Jesus wants us to be with Him always, together as one and He does not want us to be separated. The man with an unclean spirit was far from others and the people were afraid of him. He was outcasted, alone and lonely, but because of Jesus, he saw light and hope. The man was imprisoned by the unclean spirit and Jesus freed him with His loving and caring authority. By that, the man was cleaned and freed, and now became part of the community a community that follow Jesus. We are one community, a family of God, so therefore, we are challenge to embrace all, and not separate others by their color, race, or ethnicity. “Our faith journey to God is a journey that we travel with others.
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Parish Office St. Peter Catholic Church Phone (608) 249-6651 office@stpetermadison,org January 10, 2021 Fr. Grant Thies, Parochial Administrator Spiritual Communion grant.thies@stpetermadison.org Rev. Mr. Todd Martin, Deacon For all who cannot attend Mass, here is an act of Spiritual Communion: dcntodd@att.net (608) 358-3331 "My Jesus, I believe that you are truly present in the Holy Eucharist. I love Sally Matusek, Administrative Assistant you above all things and I desire to receive you into my soul. Since I sally.matusek@stpetermadison.org cannot at this moment receive you sacramentally, I ask you to come at Susi Kurek, Director of Pastoral Care, Liturgy & least spiritually into my heart. I embrace you as if you were already there Office Assistant and I unite myself wholly to you. Never permit me to be separated from susan.kurek@stpetermadison.org you. Amen." Bulletin: Deadline 10 am Tuesday Brandon Reda, Director of Music O Sacrament most holy, O Sacrament divine, brandon.reda@stpetermadison.org All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment thine. (3 times) Peg Miller, Director of Religious Education and Youth Ministry (Grades 6-12) -St. Alphonsus, modified peg.miller@stpetermadison.org Chris Cardin, Assistant Director of Religious Parish Financial Support Education (Ages 3 to Grade 5) chris.cardin@stpetermadison.org We want to keep our parish facilities running during this unprecedented Sandra Lee, Accountant pandemic time. We are aware this may also be a time of financial burden for you as well, but if you are able, please continue to make St. Peter sandraj1971@gmail.com Parish and the Church a primary place of your financial consideration, Margarita Ugalde, Spanish Translator along with the very important needs of the poor and oppressed in our ugalde@madisoncollege.edu (608) 446-6142 area.
Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys a Little Over a Month Ago, I Was Asked Al)
CHOOSING A PATRON SAINT OF THE SOCIETY OF SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL IN CANADA Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys A little over a month ago, I was asked al). It was to be the first of seven voyages across the Atlantic that she would to submit the name of a Canadian take in order to carry out her life’s mission. No mean feat in the 1600’s! saint to be chosen as patron saint Upon arrival in Ville-Marie, Marguerite found there were no children there of Canada’s Society of Saint Vin- to be schooled due to the high infant mortality rate under such primitive cent de Paul. I have been the school conditions. So began her new life. She quickly started helping the communi- coordinator of our Conference for ty in any way she could and thus became what we would call today, a social the past few years, visiting many worker. She helped to organize the building of the first stone church in the classrooms and telling the students community and a school that would become Canada’s first public school. about the Society and what we do She also played a very prominent role in serving anyone in need within the in serving the poor. I always include community, including those of the indigenous population. Shortly after this the story of our long (four-hundred- time, she returned to France to recruit four women to serve as teachers in year) history as the first organized, the colony. (Such trips were made several times over the following years.) non-governmental, charity in the Marguerite was also responsible at this time for looking after the “filles du world.