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Biography & Autobiography Religious

Marguerite Bourgeoys et la Congrégation de Notre Dame, 1665-1670

by (author) Patricia Simpson

Publisher
McGill-Queen's University Press
Initial publish date
Oct 2007
Category
Religious
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780773532748
    Publish Date
    Oct 2007
    List Price
    $37.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780773584686
    Publish Date
    Oct 2007
    List Price
    $95.00

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Description

Marguerite Bourgeoys (1620-1700) was canonized in 1982. Patricia Simpson goes beyond myth and hagiography to explore Bourgeoys's dream of establishing a radically new religious community of women, recounting her thirty-year struggle to obtain official recognition for the Congrégation of Notre-Dame.

Simpson shows that the order faced great resistance from the male Church hierarchy despite the fact that the pioneer society depended on the work of the Congrégation. The order was particularly important in assuming the guardianship of many filles du roi - young women sent to New France under royal auspices to be married to the men of the colony. Simpson also examines the many difficulties the Congrégation faced, which included natural disasters and the dangers involved in trying to reach women and children in settlements throughout New France, as far away as Acadia.

About the author

Patricia Simpson is coordinator of research services at the Marguerite Bourgeoys Museum in Old Montreal, the author of Marguerite Bourgeoys and Montreal, 1640-1665, and co-author of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours: A Chapel and Its Neighbourhood.

Patricia Simpson's profile page