Picture: Attributed to Antoine Plamondon · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Marguerite Bourgeoys
French colonist and foundress
SaintResearchedPost-1588
Feast: 12 January (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Born
17 April 1620
verified
Died
1700
verified
Beatified
—
not on record
Canonised
31 October 1982
by John Paul II
Who they were
Marguerite Bourgeoys was born at Troyes in Champagne on Good Friday, 17 April 1620, the sixth of twelve children of a comfortable Christian family, and baptised the same day.
In Quebec, in Canada, she brought comfort to settlers and soldiers by every means and worked tirelessly to give girls a Christian education, founding for this the Congregation of Notre-Dame.
The miracles
The Dicastery's biography does not describe the miracles approved in the cause.
Why that counted as sanctity
A pioneer of New France who founded schools for its girls.
Sources
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Marguerite Bourgeoys
- Wikidata Q263327 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Marguerite Bourgeoys (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.