Amid such anxious times the new church, begun in 1656, was rapidly nearing completion, assisted by the funds provided by the Sulpicians. It was a modest building of wood and stood on the corner of St. Joseph (St. Sulpice Street of today) and St. Paul. There it stood till 1678, the first "parish" church, till it was given over entirely to the hospital for the sick. The church at Montreal now took on parochial airs and pretentions although it was not canonically erected as a parish till 1678, and it must have its _marguilliers_, or church wardens. Accordingly at an election held November 21, 1657, Louis Prud'homme, Jean Gervaise and Gilbert Barbier were appointed. This day must be taken as the birthday of the foundation of the parish of Montreal. The parish or at least the establishment of the "Fabrique" or corporation for the management of the temporals of the church school was next to be set up. A stable in stone, 36 by 18 feet, situated near the hospital, with a plot of playing ground of forty-eight perches, was donated by the Company through Maisonneuve by act of January 22, 1658. "The present concession made to be of service for the instruction of the girls of Montreal as well as for the dwelling for the said Marguerite Bourgeoys, and after her decease, to perpetuity," this latter being inserted because it was understood that Marguerite would found a body to continue the work after her. She was then thirty-eight years of age. The donation was accepted and witnessed by the chief officers of the community: M. Souart, _curé_; M. Galinier, _vicaire_; the then church wardens; Marin Jannot, syndic; Lambert Closse, "major of the island," Mademoiselle Mance, administratrice of the hospital, and Charles Le Moyne, storekeeper of the Company. Montreal of today is perhaps the greatest educational centre on this continent. It receives its students from all parts. Let us then glance at the description given by Marguerite Bourgeoys, in her memoirs, of the humble beginnings of the first home of education in Montreal: "Four years after my arrival M. de Maisonneuve was good enough to give me a stone stable to make a school of it and to lodge there persons to conduct it. This stable has served as a dovecot and a home for cattle. It had a granary loft above to sleep in, to which it was necessary to ascend by an outside staircase. I had it cleaned and a chimney put in, and all that was necessary for schoolkeeping." School was opened on April 30. She was assisted by Marguerite Picard who on November 5 married Nicholas Godé and afterwards became Madame Lamontagne, Sieur de la Montague, son of Nicholas, the joiner, who came in 1642. The girls too old to go to school Marguerite formed, on July 2, 1658, into a pious girls' club, or sodality, on the lines of the Congregation of Externes at Troyes, of which she herself had been a member. Thus the house became known as the "Congregation."