Saint Marie of the Incarnation

Catholic Saint

st.Marie of the Incarnation,

Blessed-Missionary to Indians in Canada

Also known as: Marie of the Ursulines

Marie was born in Tours, France, on October 28, 1599, the daughter of a baker named Guyard. In 1616, she married a silk manufacturer, Claude Martin, and they had one son. When Claude died in 1618, she became a bookkeeper for her brother-in-law. However, in 1629 she decided to become a nun, and joined the Ursulines at Tours, taking the name Marie of the Incarnation. In 1639, Marie was sent as a missionary to Canada. She laid the cornerstone of the first Ursuline convent in Quebec in 1641, rebuilding it when it was destroyed by fire in 1650. She taught the Indians of the region and compiled dictionaries in the Algonquin and Iroquois languages. Although she suffered periods of spiritual aridity, she also experienced mystical visions. She died in Quebec on April 30, 1672.