Canada -- History -- To 1763 (New France); Laval, François de, 1623-1708
At Quebec, the barometer of piety, if I may be excused so bold a
metaphor, held at the same level as that of Montreal, and he would be
greatly deceived who, having read only the history of the early years of
the latter city, should despair of finding in the centre of edification
founded by Champlain, men worthy to rank with Queylus and Lemaitre, with
Souart and Vignal, with Closse and Maisonneuve, and women who might vie
with Marguerite Bourgeoys, with Jeanne Mance or with Jeanne Leber. To
the piety of the Sulpicians of the colony planted at the foot of Mount
Royal corresponded the fervour both of the priests who lived under the
same roof as Mgr. de Laval, and of the sons of Loyola, who awaited in
their house at Quebec their chance of martyrdom; the edifying examples
given by the military chiefs of Montreal were equalled by those set by
governors like de Mezy and de Courcelles; finally the virtues bordering
on perfection of women like Mlle. Leber and the foundresses of the
hospital and the Congregation found their equivalents in those of the
pious Bishop of Petraea, of Mme. de la Peltrie and those of Mothers Mary
of the Incarnation and Andree Duplessis de Sainte-Helene.
The Church will one day, perhaps, set upon her altars Mother Mary of
the Incarnation, the first superior of the Ursulines at Quebec. The
Theresa of New France, as she has been called, was endowed with a calm
courage, an incredible patience, and a superior intellect, especially in
spiritual matters; we find the proof of this in her letters and
meditations which her son published in France. "At the head," says the
Abbe Ferland, "of a community of weak women, devoid of resources, she
managed to inspire her companions with the strength of soul and the
trust in God which animated herself. In spite of the unteachableness and
the fickleness of the Algonquin maidens, the troublesome curiosity of
their parents, the thousand trials of a new and poor establishment,
Mother Incarnation preserved an evenness of temper which inspired her
comrades in toil with courage. Did some sudden misfortune appear, she
arose with all the greatness of a Christian of the primitive Church to
meet it with steadfastness. If her son spoke to her of the ill-treatment
to which she was exposed on the part of the Iroquois, at a time when the
affairs of the French seemed desperate, she replied calmly: 'Have no
anxiety for me. I do not speak as to martyrdom, for your affection for
me would incline you to desire it for me, but I mean as to other
outrages. I see no reason for apprehension; all that I hear does not
dismay me.' When she was cast out upon the snow, together with her
sisters, in the middle of a winter's night, by reason of a
conflagration which devoured her convent, her first act was to prevail
upon her companions to kneel with her to thank God for having preserved
their lives, though He despoiled them of all that they possessed in the
world. Her strong and noble soul seemed to rise naturally above the
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