17 April - Marguerite Bourgeoys birth anniversary

 

Marguerite Bourgeoys, born on 17 April 1620, was a French nun and founder of the Congregation of Notre Dame of Montreal in the colony of New France, now part of Québec, Canada. She traveled to Fort Ville-Marie (now Montreal) by 1653. There she developed the convent and educated young girls, the poor, and children of First Nations until shortly before her death at the turn of the 18th century. She is also significant for developing one of the first uncloistered religious communities in the Catholic Church. Declared "venerable" by the pope in 1878, she was canonized in 1982 and declared a saint by the Catholic Church