Saint Marguerite d’Youville | Canada’s First Saint & Mother of the Poor | Saint Story for Kids
Saint Marguerite d'Youville was the first native-born Canadian saint and a powerful witness to Christian charity lived through hardship. Born in 1701 in New France (modern-day Canada), she married young and was soon widowed, left with children and heavy debts after her husband’s death. Rather than giving in to despair, Marguerite entrusted her life to God and responded to suffering with mercy. She opened her home to the poor, the sick, and those rejected by society. In time, she founded the Sisters of Charity of Montreal, affectionately known as the Grey Nuns, a community dedicated to serving the most vulnerable with dignity and compassion. Despite criticism, poverty, and illness, Saint Marguerite persevered with remarkable faith. Her work laid the foundation for Catholic charitable institutions across Canada and beyond, including hospitals, orphanages, and shelters. She died on December 23…More
Mary Margaret Dufrost de Lajemmarais d’Youville
Marie-Marguérite d’Youville
Marie-Marguérite Dufrost de Lajemmerais
Memorial
23 December
16 October on some calendars
Profile
Eldest of six children born to Christophe Dufrost de Lajemmerais, who died in her youth, and Renee de Varennes; niece of Laverendrye, who ‘discovered’ the Rocky Mountains. Her father died when Marguerite was seven. Educated for two years by the Ursulines in Quebec, she returned home at age 13 to help her mother raise her younger siblings, and to teach them what she’d learned. Her mother re-married, her step-father an Irish physician who was considered an outsider by their friends; the family fell out of favour in their own town, and moved to Montreal. There on 12 August 1722 at age 21, Marguerite married François de Youville, and the couple lived with his mother. François proved to be a negligent, adulterous bootlegger. Marguerite was mother of six children, four of whom died in infancy; both surviving sons became priests. Widowed in 1730 at age 28; François left her nothing but debt.
Marguerite opened a small store to support herself and her children, and spent much of her profits helping those even poorer than herself. With the help of Father Louis Normant du Faradon and three like-minded women, she founded the Sisters of Charity of the General Hospital of Montreal (Grey Nuns) on 31 December 1737; the congregation received diocesan approval in 1755. She and her sisters took over operation of the failing and decrepit General Hospital in Montreal on 7 October 1747; Marguerite lived in the hospital the rest of her life, served as its director, and through the work of the sisters it became a success and beacon to outcasts. The hospital was nearly closed several times due to financial problems and armed conflict between the English and French for the region; Mother Marguerite and her sisters made clothes which were sold to traders in order to raise money, and her care for sick English soldiers caused them to avoid damage to the building. Today the sisters work throughout Canada, the United States, Africa, and South America.
Born
15 October 1701 at Varennes, Quebec, Canada
Died
23 December 1771 in the General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada of natural causes
Venerated
28 April 1890 by Pope Leo XIII (decree of heroic virtue)
Beatified
3 May 1959 by Pope John XXIII
Canonized
9 December 1990 by Pope John Paul II
Patronage
against the death of children
difficult marriages
in-law problems
loss of parents
people ridiculed for their piety
victims of adultery
victims of unfaithfulness
widows
John of Kanty (Optional Memorial)
—
Antonio of Saint Anne
Besa of Egypt
Bincema
Cherilde of Saint George
Dagobert II of Austrasia
Epifanio Gómez Alvaro
Frithbert of Hexham
Hartmann of Brixen
Herman of Scheda
Ivo of Chartres
James Aymerich
John Cirita
John Stone
Joseph Cho Yun-ho
Mardonius of Rome
Marguerite d’Youville
Mazota of Abernethy
Migdonius of Rome
Nicolás Factor-Estaña
Servulus of Rome
Thorlac Thorhallsson
Victoria
Vintila of Orensee
—
Martyred Dominicans of Santander – (9 beati)
Martyrs of Crete – (10 saints)
—
Abastradius of Ethiopia
Cotelinda of Saint George
Garibaldus of Ratisbon
Gwenvael
John of Novgorod
Paolo Melendez Gonzalo