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Marguerite Bourgeoys and Montreal

Adapted from the introduction to Patricia Simpson's Marguerite Bourgeoys and Montreal, 1640-1665 (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1997)

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2. Early Beginnings of the Congregation

With the first settlers she shared the dangers and hardships, as well as the efforts and hopes that marked life in the early col­o­ny. Like them, she was vulnerable to the threats posed by the en­vi­ron­ment the enemy, and disease, as well as by sometimes hos­tile or incompetent authorities in both church and state. She consistently avoided and, whenever possible, refused all pre­fer­ment or privilege that would remove her from the lot of ordinary people in New France, the poor and struggling settlers at­tempt­ing to build a better life for themselves and their families in the New World.

She also performed the task for which she had come to Mont­re­al, opening the first school in an abandoned stable in the spring of 1658. To give permanence and stability to the work of ed­u­cat­ing children and women in New France, she founded a com­mu­ni­ty of uncloistered women. Although civil and especially ec­cle­si­as­ti­cal approbation lay far in the future, this community came into existence on July 2 1659 when Marguerite's first companions joined her on the ship carrying the last of the great recruitments un­der­taken by the Société de Notre-Dame de Montréal.

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