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1763). Her father, a Breton gentleman who had lived her, at the beginning of her mourning, “Console your-
in New France since 1687, was an army officer. Mar- self, Madame, God has destined you for great works,
guerite’s mother, Marie-Renée de Varennes, was the and you will rebuild a crumbling house.” Indeed, in
daughter of an officer, René Gauthier de Varennes, a the city of Montreal, a hospital founded in 1692 and
knight in the Royal Order of Saint Louis. named Charon Hospital, after its founder, was deca-
Marie-Marguerite (custom dictated that she be dent. Two Sulpician priests, Father de Lescöat and
called “Marguerite”), was the eldest in a family of six Father Normant, successive pastors at Notre-Dame
children. Orphaned by her father at the age of seven, Parish, hoped to recover possession of and save
Marguerite entered the school of poverty at a yet ten- this institution, which was indispensable to the city’s
der age. Her father had never had more than an offi- poor. Unlike today, the eighteenth century hospitals
cer’s meager salary to support his family, that is to say, did not specialize in medical care; rather, they were
just enough to keep the family from starvation. Upon places of welcome for all manner of poor people.
his death, his widow and her six children were forced Upon Father de Lescöat’s death, Father Normant
into beggary. Six years of painful waiting passed be- became Madame d’Youville’s spiritual director. He
fore a derisory pension was paid to Madame Dufrost noticed the piety of the young woman who, with
to raise her family. Thanks to the support of charit- tears of sincerity, mourned the husband who had so
able individuals, Marguerite was sent to an Ursuline little deserved her. He considered the mother sparing
boarding school for two years in Quebec. She gained no expense for the education of her two sons, Fran-
a strong religious education there, in keeping with the çois and Charles, future priests. He saw this woman
formation she had received from her family. At the visit the poor and the sick; he saw her go to the gen-
age of twelve, she returned home to help her mother eral hospital to mend the rags of some neglected and
in household tasks and the raising of her brothers and filthy poor; he observed this charitable person’s in-
sisters. genuity and her marvelous spirit of initiative. In addi-
On August 12, 1722, tion to the great personal traits that God had given
she married François her was yet added an intimate love of God the Father.
She entered into a spirit of adoption, through which
d’Youville, who was a we cry, Abba, Father! (Rm 8:15), with an almost reck-
handsome knight, but less confidence in the Father’s Providence, which is
also an adventurer of never lacking for those who work for the sanctifica-
questionable morals, the tion of His Name and the coming His Kingdom.
son of a fur and alcohol
trafficker, and himself In Father Normant’s
also a trafficker. In a few eyes, this woman was
years, he had squandered capable of rebuilding the
his fortune and destroyed hospital, and to this end
his health as well as his God would perhaps make
wife’s happiness. He died her the mother of a reli-
in 1730, at the age of gious family. Filled with
twenty-eight, after eight these ideas, he suggested
years of an unhappy marriage. He bequeathed debts to Marguerite d’Youville to
to his wife, leaving her two young children and preg- take some poor persons
nant with a third—four others had died in infancy. into her home; this would
be a novitiate suitable
Marguerite accepted all these trials with courage, for the task to come. The
in a spirit of faith. She knew that Divine Providence’s priest then recruited her a
care is tangible and immediate, that it sees to every- fellow worker. Soon, two
thing, from the smallest matters to the greatest world other young women joined
and historical events. In fact, Jesus asked for filial them. They moved into On November 21, 1737,
abandon to the Providence of the heavenly Father, a rented house, with five the feast of the Presentation
who meets the least of His children’s needs: So do poor persons who would of Mary in the Temple, Mar-
not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are quickly become ten. And guerite welcomed a blind
we to drink?’... Your heavenly Father knows that you thus was formed the core woman into her home. This
need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and of a new community. This gesture of hospitality was
His righteousness, and all these things will be given was in 1737. But this char- the starting point of a great
you besides (Mt 6:31-33). itable undertaking was to adventure in the service of
“Console yourself, Madame...” undergo serious trials. the poor.
Trials were to bear the fruit of sanctification in Mar- Intoxicated from alcohol?
guerite’s life, which seemed to have begun so badly. Certain individuals cast a disapproving eye on the
Father de Lescöat, the young widow’s confessor, told Sulpician Fathers’ initiative. They were suspected of u

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