Marie of the Incarnation (Ursuline)
| Saint Marie of the Incarnation, O.S.U. | |
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| Missionary, Foundress of the Ursuline Order in Canada | |
| Born | Marie Guyart 28 October 1599 Tours, Touraine, Kingdom of France |
| Died | 30 April 1672 Quebec City, Canada, New France, |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church (Canada and the Ursulines) and Anglican Church of Canada |
| Beatified | 22 June 1980, Vatican City, by Pope John Paul II |
| Canonized | 2 April 2014 by Pope Francis |
| Major shrine | Centre Marie-de-l’Incarnation 10, rue Donnacona Québec, Québec, Canada |
| Feast | 30 April |
Marie of the Incarnation, O.S.U. (28 October 1599 – 30 April 1672) was an Ursuline nun of the French order. As part of a group of nuns sent to New France to establish the Ursuline Order, Marie was crucial in the spread of Catholicism in New France. Moreover, she has been credited with founding the first girls’ school in the New World. Due to her work, the Catholic Church declared her a saint, and the Anglican Church of Canada celebrates her with a feast day.
Marie of the Incarnation was born Marie Guyart in Tours, France. Her father was a silk merchant. She was the fourth of Florent Guyart and Jeanne Michelet's eight children and from an early age she was drawn to religious liturgy and the sacraments. When Marie was seven years old, she experienced her first mystical encounter with Jesus Christ. In her book Relation of 1654, she recounted: "With my eyes toward heaven, I saw our Lord Jesus Christ in human form come forth and move through the air to me. As Jesus in his wondrous majesty was approaching me, I felt my heart enveloped by his love and I began to extend my arms to embrace him. Then he put his arms about me, kissed me lovingly, and said, 'Do you wish to belong to me?' I answered, 'Yes!' And having received my consent, he ascended back into Heaven." From that point onward, Marie felt "inclined towards goodness."
Intent on belonging to Christ, Marie, aged fourteen, proposed to her parents that she enter religious life with the Benedictines of Beaumont Abbey but her parents disregarded her desire. Instead, she was married to Claude Martin, a master silk worker in 1617. By her own account, she enjoyed a happy - although brief - marriage and within two years she had a son, also named Claude. Her husband died only months after the birth of their son, leaving Marie a widow at the age of nineteen.
With her husband's death, Marie inherited his failing business which she then lost. Forced to move into her parent's home, Marie secluded herself to pursue a deepening of her commitment to spiritual growth. After a year with her parents, Guyart was invited to move in with her sister and brother-in-law, Paul Buisson, who owned a successful transportation business. She accepted, and helped in managing their house and kitchen.
Though nothing could distract Marie from the pursuit of a spiritual life. "I was constantly occupied by my intense concentration on God," she wrote in Relation of 1633. Over time, her inclination toward religious life only grew and eventually led her to enter the Ursuline convent on January 25, 1631.
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