Those Who Truly Live, The Saints
"And I live, now not I; but Christ liveth in me." (Gal. 2:20)

The Mother of the Ursulines of New France

(1599 - 1672)

By Mr. Roger Zielke

When we read biographies of the great saints and heroes who sacrificed their lives to build and cultivate New France, we might wonder how they ever did it. How could they give up their comfortable place in France to come to this mostly uncivilized country? Undoubtedly it was love… love of God, love of man, and love for souls. Marie of the Incarnation well new her responsibility before God for the souls of others. She was a woman who loved immensely, first God and then her fellow man. She was a wife and mother, a religious and mystic, a teacher and a missionary.

Marie of the Incarnation was born in the city of Tours, France on October 28, 1599. She was the forth child of Florent Guyart, a baker, and his wife Jeanne. Her parents were very devout Catholics who raised their children in the fear and love of God. From her early childhood, Marie learned to help the sick and the poor. She loved the Mass and Catholic devotions and the Catholic Faith became the foundation of all her endeavors.

When Marie was seven years old she had a special dream in which she saw herself playing with some friends in a schoolyard. About this dream she writes: "Lifting my eyes toward the sky, I saw the Heavens open and Our Lord Jesus Christ in human form came toward me through the air. Seeing Him I cried to my friend, 'Look it is Our Lord and He is coming to me!' When this most adorable Majesty drew near me, I felt my heart inflamed with His love. I began to hold out my arms to embrace Him, and He, with a look full of sweetness and unutterable attractiveness, embracing me and kissing me with indescribable love, asked: 'Will you be mine?' I answered, 'Yes!'"

Marie realized many years after this event that God was leading her to a life of prayer, and although she felt an inclination to the religious life, at the age of seventeen, she married Claude Martin, a businessman. Her parents wanted her to marry Claude and she felt that she must obey them. She writes: "I let myself be led by my parents like a blind person." And at that time, Marie felt in her heart, that if God would bless her with a son, she would consecrate him to the service of God, and if at one time she was free to do so, she would consecrate herself to God.

After less than two years of marriage, in 1620, Marie's husband died. At the age of nineteen she was left a widow with a six month old son named Claude. At first Marie went to live at her father's house, but shortly after, her sister, Mme. Buisson invited her to come and help her husband, who was a prosperous merchant, with a number of servants under his command. Of this time in her life she writes, "I considered it a singular kindness for the Buissons to keep me in their household, thinking myself indebted to them because of my uselessness, I felt obliged to do whatever I could for them and be the most obedient in every way."

In 1621, Marie made a vow of Chastity, under the guidance of her Spiritual Director. Later she took the vows of Obedience and Poverty. By her vow of Obedience, she promised to obey both her spiritual director and Mr. and Mme. Buisson, without the Buisson's knowledge. The ten years that Marie passed at the Buisson house were not easy. Of this time Marie writes: "God alone knows what I suffered in this obedience. It is in obedience that God is to be found." At the Buisson's, Marie kept herself busy from morning till night; she had great responsibilities. Besides helping the servants in the house and caring for the sick, she had to count and check merchandise, and make contracts with merchants. And she was the last to leave the wharves at the end of the day, after making a final inspection of the horses.

As time passed, Marie felt an increasing desire to consecrate herself to God. Although she knew different religious communities, she could not make up her mind to join any particular one. In 1625, the Ursulines of Tours moved to Rue de Poitou where Marie passed everyday as she went to and from her work. And every time she passed the Ursuline Convent her heart would give a leap and she would visit the convent. Marie believed that God wanted her in this convent and she became friends with Mother St. Bernard who resided there. The two women never spoke about Marie's possible vocation but when Mother St. Bernard was elected Prioress, she addressed Marie about the matter and Marie in turn spoke to Dom Raymond, her spiritual director. Dom Raymond was cold and indifferent at first, but later when he went to see Mother St. Bernard, and when it appeared that Marie's vocation was to become an Ursuline, he became her advocate, using all his influence to clear the obstacles in her way. And it was Dom Raymond who encouraged the Buissons to agree to care for young Claude and release Marie from her obligation to them.

Monastery of the Ursulines at Tours, France

Before entering the Ursuline Convent, besides her spiritual director, Marie also consulted the Ecclesiastical Superior of the Ursulines and the Archbishop of Tours. They all approved of Marie's vocation and helped her to carry it out. When Marie entered the Ursulines on January 25, 1631, she was thirty one and her son Claude was eleven. Even though Mme. Buisson had promised to care for Claude, Marie still suffered greatly at the thought of leaving her son and did so only out of obedience. She wrote: "I felt more in leaving my son, whom I loved so much, than if I had given away all possessions imaginable… it seemed that I was being hacked in two!" At the convent she was given the name "Marie of the Incarnation".

On January 25, 1633, two years after joining the Ursulines, Marie took her vows. She wrote, "I saw the way of love so smooth, and all things so easy that it seemed to me that there would never be any more difficulty in acting or suffering because of my Beloved to whom I offered myself, and abandoned myself in all things to His good pleasure." Marie gave herself completely to God. During this time at the Ursulines she did not have a competent spiritual director and when she found a good director at last, he (Fr. de la Haye), asked her to write an account of the graces, which God had given her from her childhood. In great humility, Marie asked to write about both the graces with which she had been blessed and the sins of her life, as she did not want to be considered a 'saint'. Fr. de la Haye also helped Marie with her son Claude, sending him to Orleans where he had interested some people to pay for the boy's studies.

During the first years of religious life, Marie underwent many trials. Even her life of obedience and her faith in God sometimes seemed meaningless. But God permitted these sufferings in order to bring Marie closer to Him and to prepare her for a far more difficult life.

In October 1633, Marie had a new dream in which she was with an unknown woman. They left their home and went together to a vast country where the sky was its only roof. There they saw a little church on top of which sat the Blessed Virgin Mary, holding the Child Jesus. The Virgin Mary spoke to the Child Jesus but Marie did not know what she said. Marie reached toward Our Lady with outstretched arms and Our Lady turned toward her with a smile full of love, and kissed her without saying word. When Marie awoke she knew that God was planning something for her, but she did not know what. Then in 1635, Marie spoke for the first time about her dream to the rector of the Jesuit house in Tours. He told her immediately that the vast country was New France, and that her dream would be realized some day. And this was in fact the first time that Marie had ever learned that there was a place called New France!

A few months later she learned that Dom Raymond, her former spiritual director, was about to set out for the missions of New France. She wrote to him and told him of her desires to go to New France, but she received a discouraging reply. Dom Raymond refused his approval until she had spoken more fully with him. He felt that her desires were contrary to her condition but he admitted that there was good reason to think that the hand of God was at work. The more it seemed impossible to go to New France, the more Marie's desire increased. At last Dom Raymond recognized the divine origin of her vocation and approved of her decision. While Marie felt a great desire to act as soon as possible, she begged Our Lord to place obstacles in the path of everything, which was contrary to His Holy Will.

In the winter of 1636, Marie had another prophetic dream in which God spoke to her these words: "It is New France that I have shown you; you must go there and build a house for Jesus and Mary." And though Marie was very humbled by this command, she gathered her courage and replied, "O my great God, You can do all things and I can do nothing! If You wish to help me, I am ready. I promise to obey You! Accomplish Your most adorable will in me and by me."

Marie considered this to be a formal command to be carried out on the other side of the ocean. She then began to correspond with the missionaries of New France and consulted her spiritual director. The hope of embarking as soon as possible burned within her. At the same time, Fr. Lejeune was sending invitations from Quebec to religious and ladies of high rank. He urged the ladies to dedicate their lives and fortunes to the education of the little Indian girls, instead of losing their time over trifles.

Mme. de la Peltrie, a rich widow from Alençon, heard this appeal, but she suddenly became so terribly sick that the doctors lost all hope of saving her. Lying on her deathbed she made a vow to St. Joseph, that if he obtained her cure, she promised in return to devote herself and her wealth to the welfare of the young Indian girls. She fell asleep and upon awakening, she found that she was completely restored to health!

Dom Raymond had to abandon his own plans to go to the missions of New France. Disappointed, Marie had to turn elsewhere for help. She received a letter from Claude's former teacher at Orleans, Fr. Poncet, who was preparing to go to New France. He sent her a copy of the Jesuit "Relations" (telling their lives in Canada) and wrote: "To convince you to go to serve God in New France." This letter was a new sign to Marie that she should follow her heart's desires. And although she had to wait another year and suffer many trials before she could be helped, her conviction that she should follow God's plan made her overcome all obstacles, one by one.

In November 1638, five years after her first dream about New France, Fr. Poncet wrote Marie saying: "The time has come in which God intended to fulfill His plans." He had met Madeleine de la Peltrie who wanted to help the missions of New France with a foundation. Marie wrote to her immediately, but getting to New France was not an easy task. Problems of all kinds had to be overcome. Among these her sister tried to use her son Claude's situation to keep her in France. But Claude was now nineteen and his last meeting with his mother had bound their hearts. He understood his mother's love for him and he in turn loved her with an ever increasing love and admiration.

Fr. Poncet brought about a meeting between Mme. de la Peltrie and Marie of the Incarnation. They came so quickly to an understanding that the departure from Tours to Paris was set for February 22, 1639. In time Marie and Sister Marie de St. Joseph, her first companion from Tours were ready to leave, but before leaving that city they went to see the Archbishop of Tours. Marie asked the Archbishop to command them to undertake this venture in the name of obedience, and he did so. They then left for Dieppe where they were joined by another Ursuline: they would be three starting the Ursuline mission in New France.

On May 4, 1639, the first women to go to New France as missionaries, boarded the "St. Joseph" and set sail for New France. They were: three Ursuline Sisters, three Augustinian Nursing Sisters, Mme. de la Peltrie and Charlotte Barré, a girl of nineteen from Tours, who would later become an Ursuline. The crossing on heavy seas filled with ice floes and pirates took about three months. At one time, the ship came within a few inches of an enormous iceberg that would have sliced it in two! Thick fog also made the captain lose his course and for sixty leagues the ship brushed along dangerous reefs in spite of efforts to steer it away. Finally, thanks be to God, after a long and exhausting journey the ship reached Quebec on August 1, 1639.

Marie started life in New France in great poverty. The Ursulines were given a very small uncomfortable house, which they shared with a group of Indian girls. They were so poor that at night they could see the stars through the little holes in the roof. And it was almost impossible to keep a candle burning in the house because the wind would blow it out. The Sisters started to study native languages immediately so that they could teach the Indians the truths about the Catholic Faith.

In 1641, the building of a convent was undertaken with the help of Mme. de la Peltrie's friends. Marie, who had been elected Superior, wrote about the many difficulties they had in paying the builders: "We are going to have to deprive ourselves this year of every kind of delicacy and even the most essential commodities…" Amidst all these trials, Mother Marie had the great consolation of receiving a letter from her son Claude; he had been admitted as a Benedictine Postulant! But although Mother Marie received a personal consolation from the fact that her son had a vocation, she also had the sorrow of seeing Mme. de la Peltrie, the foundress of the Ursulines, leave for Montreal. Mme. de la Peltrie believed that God wanted her to leave the Quebec City area to go and help in Montreal. And the hardest cross to bear was that Mme. de la Peltrie had left just when the nuns had started building their convent!

Mother Marie worked with a stalwart faith in God, deprived of material means, and begging here and there for help. Then in the fall of 1642, on the Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Ursulines went in procession with their borders to their new convent. It was not yet finished and during the winter, they suffered greatly from the cold. About these times Mother Marie wrote to Claude saying, "Sometimes the priests are in danger of having their hands and ears frozen as they say the Mass!"

In 1643, Claude wrote to Marie telling her that he had taken his religious vows and asking her if he would ever see her again. Even tough she was happy the vow made when she was pregnant was finally realized, Marie answered, "Let us leave it to God. I should wish for it as much as you, but I wish to wish for nothing except in Him and for Him; let us lose our own wills for His love." And in the fall of 1643, Mme. de la Peltrie went back to Quebec, after an absence of eighteen months. Without being bound by vows, she lived in the cloister, wearing secular clothes and following all the convent observances and, in 1646, she asked permission to enter the Ursulines, but the Superiors found her desire incompatible with her temperament and her mission as Foundress. Nevertheless, she and the Sisters continued to live in perfect harmony.

Besides dealing with material hardships and the burden of trying to find benefactors for the mission, Mother Marie strove to establish unity in her community. As the Ursulines coming to New France were from different convents with different customs, Marie worked diligently in drawing up a new constitution to which all the Ursulines would agree. In 1646, the convents of Tours, Paris, Dieppe and Ploermel were consulted to draw up such a constitution for Quebec. All of these convents gave a positive reply, but the concern was no longer Marie's as, she had been replaced by Mother St. Athanase, one of her first companions.

Another problem facing the community was the impending menace of the Iroquois. The people of Quebec lived in fear and dread of being attacked at any time. In 1649, war broke out again among the Indians and many Christians. During this time Fathers: Brébeuf, Garnier and Lalement were burned and massacred with all their flock. And all the priests of the Huron Mission and the remnant of their flock, were forced to leave their homes and seek refuge at the colony in Quebec City. But in spite of all these things Marie's heart remained at peace and she continued to study the Huron language, acting as if nothing more would happen, and trusting in the good God. And in that same year the Ursulines received news of a great blessing; Claude Martin, Marie's son, was ordained a priest on November 10, 1649.

The Ursulines shared much of the suffering of the Church and the great poverty of the new colony. But still worse, on December 30, 1650, a fire burned their new convent to the ground! Barefooted in the snow, Mother St. Athanase watched their precious convent burn. And instead of blaming the little Sister for having placed a pan of hot coals under the wooden kneading trough, to help the dough would rise, she committed herself to Divine Providence and prayed peacefully in the midst of her companions.

The Ursulines and the girls stayed for three weeks with the Hospital Sisters at the Hotel-Dieu Then the Sisters and the children moved into Mme. de la Peltrie's home, a lodging measuring twenty by thirty feet. It housed the chapel, parlor, dining room and different offices. In fact this building contained everything except the classrooms, which were set up in a bark cabin. Here they remained crowded together for fifteen months, until the new convent was ready. Meanwhile many friends in France saw the fire as a sign that the Ursulines should move back to France.

With renewed trust in God and under the protection of the Blessed Virgin, the foundations of a new convent were laid in the spring of 1651, although the Sisters were as poor as ever and could not expect much help from France. During this period of construction, Marie who was elected Superior again, wrote to her son Claude: "God has wonderful treasures of goodness for simple souls who trust themselves to Him. You must believe that we have a God who cared for us in every minute of the past, and Who will continue to do so in the future." The new convent was finished by the beginning of April, 1652, and it was bigger and better than the convent which had burned. Indeed, God had blessed the Ursulines for their faith and trust in Him.

And from 1652 on, Dom Claude was elected Prior, assistant, definer, and president of the General Chapter of his Benedictine Order. For thirty years Marie had lavished advise, tenderness and encouragement on him. In 1654, Marie prepared an account of her spiritual life for her son who had asked for such a record. This autobiography is one of the most precious of Marie's writings. Prompted by her Superior and Director she wrote: "Fr. Lalement, told me to ask Our Lord that if He wanted something of me before my death that could contribute to His glory, to let me know. After praying in obedience, I had two views: the first one was to offer myself in sacrifice to the Divine Majesty so that He could consummate me as He pleased for this lonely country; the other was that I write the ways by which He has led me since He called me to interior life."

Because of the apostolic zeal of the missionaries, the church in New France grew continually and needed a Bishop. Bishop Laval of France, arrived in Quebec in 1659, sooner than he had been expected. But because no lodging was ready for him, the Ursulines shared what they could, lending him a portion of their building, and they bore this inconvenience with pleasure until his Episcopal residence was built.

Marie was well aware of the problems existing in the Church in New France. There was much evil done to the Indians by the exchange of brandy for fur pelts. She wrote: "In this country there are some Frenchmen so wretched and Godless that they are causing the loss of all our new Christians by selling them brandy in exchange for beaver pelts. This drink is the undoing of these poor people…Night and day they run about naked with swords and other weapons, putting everyone to flight… In their wake follow murders, rape, horrible and unprecedented brutalities. The Fathers have done their best to stop this evil on the part of both the French and the savages, but all their efforts have been in vain… Our Prelate has done all he possibly could to stop its course, since it tends so directly to the destruction of faith and religion. He has used all his ordinary persuasion to deflect the French from a trade which is so contrary to the glory of God and the salvation of the savages."

As the years passed by, Marie continued to be either the Superior of the Community or the Sister responsible for the material care of the convent. And over the years God had enabled Marie to master the following Indian languages: Huron, Algonquin, Iroquois and Montagnais. But not only that, she also compiled dictionaries and prayer books in these difficult tongues, translated the catechism, and also large portions of the Holy Scriptures as well!

When she was in her sixties, she had a deep longing to spend more time with God. She wrote a letter to Mother St. Bernard in France saying: "I keep hoping for a little rest in order to prepare myself for death. Everyone laughs at me when I talk like this, for I am looked upon as a person who loves activity. I mean that I am quick and not easily upset, but they do not see the depths of my soul, which yearns above all for its only good." But in spite of this letter, Marie had to continue with the burden of her duties. And she wrote to Claude: "Let us reflect that it is precisely in these affairs that we will sanctify ourselves, you and I, for what is most perfect in His eyes is to fulfill His orders."

In 1664, at the age of 65, Marie's health failed; she was exhausted and had to stay in bed and wait for better days. During these times she kept up her interest in the colony. With the arrival of new settlers, the Ursulines found that gifts from their friends had been left in France because there was no room on the ships. Of this Marie wrote: "I thank God for having put us in a country where, more than in any other, we must trust completely in His Divine Providence."

Marie trusted in the Providence of God until the end of her life. And when her son Claude wrote asking forgiveness for the suffering he had caused her after she had recalled to him all that she had endured when she had left him, she replied: "Why do you ask of me pardon for what you call the follies of your youth? Don't you realize that everything had to happen just that way so that the consequences would give us real cause to bless God?"

In 1671, Mme. de la Peltrie, the woman who had done so much for the Ursulines, passed on to her eternal reward. She had caught a severe cold and though she was given the best of care, pleurisy soon set in, and she died on November 18^th. Then later on January 1, 1672, Marie was afflicted with several painful abscesses. But with this cross, she also had the consolation of knowing that the convent now had twenty three Sisters. After praying for a recovery, Marie was able to leave her sick bed and walk again, and participate in the Holy Week services. Soon afterwards however, two huge abscesses formed on her body. Thinking to help Marie, the doctor opened the abscesses but the holy nun knew it was useless to do so, since she felt that she did not have long to live. In fact she lived only for another whole week, speaking very little, enduring great pain and keeping in union with the good God.

On April 29^th, Marie was feeling extremely sick and received the Last Rites, but she could not die without again expressing her love for the dear little Indian and French girls, to whom she had devoted so many years of her life. She insisted on having the French and Indian borders near her so that she might bless them for the last time. The next day she lay unconscious, holding her crucifix in her hands. At about six o'clock in the evening on April 30, 1672, Marie opened her eyes, sighed twice and breathed her last.

Mother St. Athanase wrote to Claude after his mother had died, saying that in the end, Marie seemed transformed by the Divine Will. One can hardly add to the beautiful words she wrote about Marie of the Incarnation, which explain so well the beautiful soul and character of this saintly nun: "One of the things that I admired the most in her was the exact fidelity and perfect submission to all that she knew God was asking of her. She looked for and loved only that, all the rest did not matter. Accordingly she saw with the same eye, His Holy Will in everything that happened to her, agreeable or unfortunate, and because of this she was always in good spirits and humor which was very admirable in all circumstances, being always the same, always kind, always quiet, without hurrying or being in bad humor."

"She had waited long and ardently (for death) but with submission to God's Will; and when it presented itself, she received it from His hand, with perfect satisfaction, in a way that all people who saw her during her last illness, marveled to see the contentment she had in going to God, that she did not give us any doubt that the Holy Ghost had given her an inner assurance of her happiness."

"In a word, she was tireless in leading all the savages of this country to eternal happiness; she always had them in her thoughts and in her heart. Before her death she strongly recommended us to do everything we could for them. Her charity was not limited only to them. It was so great, so broad, that it embraced all the souls redeemed by the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ."

But perhaps Bishop Laval sums up best, the holy life of Marie of the Incarnation. He wrote: "Having chosen her to establish the Ursulines in New France, God gave her the full spirit of her Institute. She was a perfect Superior, an excellent Mistress of Novices, capable of undertaking any religious enterprise. Her exterior life, simple and well disciplined, was animated by an intense interior life, so that she was a living Rule for all her Community. Her zeal for the salvation of souls, especially for the conversion of the Indians, was great and so universal that she seemed to carry them all in her heart. We cannot doubt that, by her prayers, she greatly called down God's many blessings upon the newborn Church."

On June 22 1980, Marie of the Incarnation was made Blessed by Pope John Paul II, together with Bishop Laval.

Let us all pray that one day soon, she will be canonized a saint.