The Life of Venerable Sister Margaret BourgeoisAnonymous
History
The Life of Venerable Sister Margaret Bourgeois
Anonymous
Bourgeoys, Marguerite, Saint, 1620-1700
virtues and talents she concealed beneath the veil of humility,
assembled _en masse_ in the Seminary, to give to her petition the weight
of their united signatures. They also sent by her an humble supplication
to his majesty, or his representatives, entreating that the royal
sanction be given to insure the success of the establishment. Each one
separately signed his name to the document, and placed it in her hands.
They were all the more eager to help as they had often been compelled to
send their children to Quebec to the Ursulines, and the pressing need of
a home institution was becoming more apparent each day. Full of
confidence in God and His holy Mother, and furnished with these
respectable documents, she finally decided on no half-way course, but
set sail again for France, in the autumn of 1670, fearing neither
danger, nor the inconveniences conveniences of a third sea-voyage, to
obtain the succors she needed for others, more than for herself. What a
sublime spectacle it was, to see an humble, unattended woman cross the
great sea alone, and go in her simple attire, into the brilliant court
of the Great King, Louis XIV., to treat of the interests of religion and
the glory of God. Her success was as singular as her enterprise, and
though the journey was long, and full of pain and fatigue (she did not
return for two years), she felt abundantly repaid by the many advantages
and lasting good it produced. On her arrival in Paris, her first visit
was to the church of Notre Dame, to renew, before the altar of the
Blessed Virgin, the consecration she had there made of herself, in 1646,
in company of the Montreal Association. She implored the blessing of the
Queen of Heaven, on herself, her fellow-laborers in the schools of
Montreal, and her present undertaking, and then set to work to
accomplish her end. She visited some of the old friends of M. de
Maisonneuve, who were all persons of merit and high social position, and
were known to have much influence at court, in order to induce them to
procure her the favor of an interview with his majesty. These people had
not at all forgotten her, and had several letters of recommendation in
her favor. They knew the good she was capable of effecting, and made it
a point of honor to assist her. The King was in due course of time
informed of the matter, and seemed to be rather favorably inclined to
grant her request, yet six weary months elapsed without his giving a
decisive answer. Learning that his majesty was at Dunkirk in the May of
1671, she repaired thither, to renew solicitations, and at last obtained
the long-sought letters, which contained Catholic sentiments worthy of
the great French monarch. Being authorized by the royal patent, she next
tried to procure a new corps of volunteers, who would, like the first
heroic band, generously renounce home, family, and country, without hope
of ever returning, who would be willing to cross the great ocean, then
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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