The Life of Venerable Sister Margaret BourgeoisAnonymous
History
The Life of Venerable Sister Margaret Bourgeois
Anonymous
Bourgeoys, Marguerite, Saint, 1620-1700
in the Church, whose members should aspire to the highest sanctity.
Scarcely had the vessel on which she embarked set sail, than her zeal
was called into active service. She induced the entire ship's crew to
unite in daily prayer and pious reading. Several soldiers falling sick,
she nursed them with sisterly charity, eight of them dying in her arms.
Arriving at her destination, she finds no home ready to receive her, and
takes up her dwelling in a _stable_, which is for her a happy omen, as
it resembles the stable of Bethlehem. There she opens school; from
thence she daily departs to perform innumerable good works. But the
harvest ripens quickly, and the laborers are few. Overflowing with zeal
she again traverses the broad sea in search of help, and leads back many
generous volunteers. Again she returns to procure letters patent for the
consolidation of her establishment. In the court of a king, in the
centre of a camp, she solicits the favor and obtains it. On returning to
the city of her love, she resolves on securing ecclesiastical
approbation for the rules of her institute, and for this purpose travels
on foot through blinding snowstorms. A hundred times would she have
crossed the continent rather than fail to accomplish the will of God,
and her courageous zeal was eventually blessed by heaven, a crowd of
devoted young girls ranging themselves under her standard.
The capital and provinces were alike eager to obtain a foundation of her
Sisters, and in a few years all Canada experienced the happy effects of
her institute, which for nearly two centuries has not ceased to spread
about the odor of sanctity and the knowledge of our holy religion. Being
at all times desirous to do good, she established temporarily a House of
Providence, for virtuous poor girls, where they might be saved from the
snares of a treacherous world. Placing her confidence in God more than
in man, she undertook to build a plain, substantial house, to serve the
triple purpose of convent, boarding and day-school, and though at the
start she had neither money nor credit, the building was completed. At
another time she was inspired to build a church, and the church was
built. Travelling in Paris she was reduced to extreme poverty, and
heaven sent a man from the depth of a Canadian forest to pay her an
almost forgotten debt. An establishment of her daughters was demanded
for Quebec, and she permitted them to go and live; in a stable _pro
tem_., until better accommodations were offered. The intended property
at Quebec having been unjustly contested, she relinquished her rights,
and an unknown hand gave her sufficient money to make a clear purchase.
But not only was her _confidence in God_ most remarkable; she possessed
all other virtues in an eminent degree. In youth she made a vow of
chastity, and preserved that beautiful virtue amidst many dangerous
occasions, compelling a regiment of soldiers to respect her, although
she was frequently the only woman on board.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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