Youville, << YOO vihl, >> Saint Marguerite d’ (1701-1771), was the first native-born Canadian to be honored as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. She was canonized (declared a saint) in 1990. Marguerite founded the Grey Nuns, a religious order, to care for the poor. The nuns also nursed the elderly, orphans, and smallpox victims, as well as soldiers wounded in the Seven Years’ War, also called the French and Indian War (1754-1763).
D’Youville was born on Oct. 15, 1701, in Varennes, near Montreal. Her given and family name was Marie-Marguerite Dufrost de Lajemmerais. She married Francois d’Youville in 1722. He died in 1730. In 1737, Marguerite and three companions began to house and care for ill and needy women. Their work was scorned and they were falsely accused of intoxication, resulting in the nickname “tipsy nuns.” In 1747, Marguerite was named director of the General Hospital in Montreal. In 1753, she received permission from King Louis XV of France to found the Grey Nuns. The name referred to the color of their clothing. She died on Dec. 23, 1771. Marguerite’s feast day is October 16.
