Page 27 - Michael 2024 March

Saint Marie of the Incarnation

Mother of the Canadian Church

Among the saints and blesseds business; she also attended the local
of Canada who helped found the school.
Catholic Church in the country, two Marie was drawn to the divine re-
figures stand out: Most Rev. Fran- alities when she was still very young,
çois de Laval, the first bishop of Que- devising her own form of “medita-
bec and North America, and Marie tion”: she would talk at length about
of the Incarnation, wife, housewife, her “little affairs” with the good Lord.
entrepreneur and Ursuline nun. From an early age, her rich person-
Both were beatified in 1980 by Saint ality revealed a remarkable balance,
John Paul II and canonised by Pope designed for both mystical experien-
Francis in 2014. ces and practical accomplishments.
If we think that conditions are dif- When she was about fourteen, Marie
ficult for the Catholic Church today, expressed her attraction to the reli-
let’s consider that circumstances gious life. Judging by her cheerful
were at least as difficult for the first and pleasant disposition, however,
founders of the Canadian colony ar- her parents thought she was des-
riving in Canada from France. They tined for marriage: although very
had everything to build but rose to pious, the young girl read novels and
the challenge, thanks to their cour- put on a good face to the world. In
age and boundless trust in God’s 1617, Claude Martin, a master silk
help. God did not fail them. The early “Will you be Mine?” worker who ran a silk factory, asked her
Church can still be an example to us to marry him. Marie, who was about to
because God is always at work ready to help us if turn eighteen, dared not resist her parents, and al-
we pray and ask Him. Here is a summary of Saint lowed herself to be betrothed to the young man. But
Marie of the Incarnation’s life whom French Bishop she promised God that if one day she became a wid-
Bossuet called ‘Thérèse of the New World’ because ow, she would devote herself entirely to Him. In Oc-
of her mystical life, as published in the October, 2023 tober, at the foot of the altar, she received from God’s
Saint Joseph de Clairval Abbey newsletter (www. hands the husband she had been destined to marry.
clairval.com): Her son and first biographer, Dom Claude Mar-
by Dom Jean-Bernard Marie Borie, Abbot tin, later wrote of his mother: “Seeing her husband
In the bleak and lonely wilds of French Canada, as holding God’s place, she paid him all the respect
during the reign of Louis XIV, a nun shared this and service she could; she loved him not only be-
childhood memory dating back to her eighth year: cause he had fine qualities of body and mind, but
“One night, while I was sleeping, it seemed to me even more because God obliged her to do so.” Marie
that I was in a schoolyard… Suddenly, the heavens was faced with domestic problems caused by a jeal-
opened and Our Lord emerged from them, and came ous mother-in-law and financial troubles that led to
to me! When Jesus came close, I held out my arms the bankruptcy of her husband’s business: “God,”
to embrace Him… Then Jesus gave me an affection- she wrote, “wanted to prepare my soul for His graces
ate embrace and said to me: ‘Will you be Mine?’— and to purify it in tribulation.” She had a strong desire
‘Yes!’, I answered…” This “yes” to God was the key for perfection. Despite being a model of devotion to
to her entire existence; it was a “yes” that Saint Marie her husband, she experienced the tension described
of the Incarnation never ceased to repeat on every by Saint Paul: An unmarried man is anxious about
occasion, both in joy and in adversity. She has been the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord.
called “the mother of the Catholic Church in Canada.” But a married man is anxious about the things of the
world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided
Marie was born on October 18, 1599 in Tours, to (1 Cor 7:32-33).
Florent Guyart, a master baker, and his wife Jeanne
Michelet. She was the fourth of a family of seven. According to her biographer, Marie had a burning
The Guyarts provided their children with a deeply zeal to spread the fear and love of God in her home
Christian upbringing and a solid education. Marie and in the workshop, and “to close off all the chan-
used to help her father at his ovens, well enough to nels through which sin could penetrate.” Her charity
learn the rudiments of the trade and how to run a and the thoughtfulness of her personal attentions en- u

www.michaeljournal.org MICHAEL March/April 2024 27