Saint Marie de l’Incarnation

Marie of the Incarnation, born Marie Guyart on October 28, 1599, and canonized by Pope Francis through equipollent canonization alongside François de Laval in 2014, was a French Ursuline nun who lived an extraordinary life dedicated to education, mysticism, and missionary work. She founded the Ursuline monastery of Quebec and established the first institution devoted to the education of girls in North America. Her contributions were pivotal for the religious, educational, and cultural development of New France. Marie of the Incarnation's writings include autobiographical, spiritual, and epistolary works, as well as catechetical and linguistic works in Indigenous languages. Her correspondence is a significant historical source for understanding the seventeenth-century history of the colony.