Bourgeois, Margaret

Bourgeois, Margaret founder of the Congregation of Notre Dame, Montreal, was born in Troyes, France, April 15, 1620. Being refused admission to the Carmelite order of her native city in 1640, and afterwards of the Poor Clares, she finally decided to accompany M. de Maisonneuve, one of the first and truest friends of the Canadian colonists, to Canada. They arrived in Quebec, Sept. 22, 1653, She commenced a school in Montreal; founded her congregation in 1659; procured letters-patent from Louis XIV, in 1670, for the legal confirmation of her institute; founded many missions; and in 1698 obtained from St. Vallier, bishop of Quebec, the confirmation of the rules of her order. In 1693 her resignation weas accepted, and this humble saint became the last and least member of the flourishing community she had founded. She died in 1700, and it is said that miracles were wrought by the application of her relics. See (N. Y.) Cath. Almanac, 1878, p. 60.