St. Marguerite Bourgeoys was born in France to a family with twelve children. As a young girl, she would help her family around the house and help care for her younger siblings.
When she was about 20, she felt called to religious life. She applied to the various orders around her such as the Carmelites and the Poor Clares, but was rejected by them all. Both of these communities were cloistered. This means that they closed themselves off from the outside world and remained within the convent for the rest of their lives, only seeing visitors rarely and separated by physical bars when they did have visitors.
Marguerite was disappointed but decided to trust that God had a greater plan for her. She began teaching children in the poor areas of her town as a way to serve others. The joy she felt teaching led her to a new and exciting opportunity: traveling across the ocean to be a teacher in “New France”. (The area they called “New France” is now known as Quebec, Canada.)
She was to begin her mission in the small village of Ville-Marie. When she arrived, she realized that teaching the children was not the most important work that needed to be done. She helped the nurse at the small hospital in the town to care for the people. Before their help, most children died at a very young age and there was no one for Marguerite to teach. She and the nurse helped the people survive the harsh Canadian climate.
Once medical care was set up, Marguerite turned back to her original mission and set up a small school in a stable. The school started very small, with only ten students and Marguerite and one other teacher. Marguerite, however, saw the town around them growing very quickly and wisely sailed back to France looking for more teachers.
Her school grew and educated not only the French who came to the area but also the Iroquois (Native American) children who lived there. Marguerite sailed back to France several more times to find more teachers to serve the growing community.
She saw a great need not only to educate the children, but also to help teach all of the new arrivals how to survive in Canada. The weather was very different than they were used to in France, so without instruction and help, many died. Marguerite's teachers did not just teach in the one school but went out to where the people were to help them on their farms and in little towns further away from Villa-Marie. They sacrificed their own comfort to help the people.
Marguerite felt a call to organize her teachers into a religious order with the mission to serve the people through education and helping with their physical needs; however, the church leaders did not approve of her plan. At this time, most religious orders for women were cloistered, like those Marguerite had tried to join in France. A cloistered community would not be able to continue to carry out the mission of Marguerite and her teachers.
Despite these setbacks, the women continued to serve the community, and Marguerite continued to ask the church leadership for permission. Finally, in 1698, her order received final approval and they became known as the Congregation of Notre-Dame de Montreal. This was almost 30 years after they had first asked for permission to start the order.
After many years, Marguerite passed the leadership of her community onto another sister so that she could live the rest of her life in quiet prayer. At the end of her life, she performed a great work of mercy. Another sister became very ill, and Marguerite prayed that she would die instead of the younger woman. The sister healed, and Marguerite died just a few days later.
The small town Marguerite helped begin is now know as Montreal, one of the largest cities in Canada. St. Marguerite is known as the Mother of the Colony (of Quebec) because of her care and compassion for all of the people. Her order continues to this day, serving millions throughout the world. They go to the poor areas of the world and help with whatever need the people of that area have.