Marie guyart autobiography books

GUYART, MARIE, named de l’Incarnation (Martin), Ursuline nun, foundress of the Ursuline order in New France; baptized 29 Oct. 1599 at Tours (France); d. 30 April 1672 at Quebec.

A daughter of Florent Guyart, master baker, and of Jeanne Michelet, Marie was baptized in the former church of Saint-Saturnin. Her mother was descended from the Babou de La Bourdaisières, an old and noble family that had distinguished itself in the service of church and state. But Jeanne Michelet had married a simple and honest workingman who was well established and honoured in his guild. The Guyarts gave their seven children, three boys and four girls, a deeply Christian upbringing and a sound education. Marie went to school at an early age. Her earliest recollections are of trundling a hoop in a playground with a companion. One night she saw the Lord in a dream. Bending down to her, he asked her: “Do you want to be mine?” “Yes,” she replied. A “yes” which was to make of her existence an uninterrupted series of generous impulses. Marie Guyart was a little girl who was drawn towards divine realities. While still quite young, she used to spend hours telling her “personal matters” to God. Standing on a chair, she would repeat the sermons she had heard in church, and she used to stare after the priests whom she met in the street. What she called “a slight sentiment of prudence” kept her from kissing their footsteps and running after them. Marie early revealed a rich yet balanced character, apt for both mystical experiences and practical deeds. She was indeed a daughter of the first half of the 17th century: a period of chivalry and of good sense, a period in which speculation and action meet in a harmonious synthesis.

At about the age of 14, Marie Guyart showed an inclination towards the life of the cloister; but, finding her to be of a gay and agreeable disposition, her parents thought instead that she was suited for marriage. Even though she was devou

c. 1599

France

c. 1672

Quebec, France

French missionary

French missionary Marie Guyart was a pioneering educator in seventeenth-century Canada. Going against the wishes of her family, Guyart achieved her lifelong dream of becoming a nun (member of a Roman Catholic order for women). In 1631 she entered the Ursuline convent (a house where nuns live) in Tours, France, where she took the religious name Marie de l'Incarnation and began her spiritual training. Eight years later Guyart went to Canada and established a convent in New France (now Quebec). Her school for daughters of settlers and Native Americans thrived in spite of many hardships. A tireless missionary, Guyart also wrote instructional materials in Algonquian and Iroquoian. Her autobiography, titled The Life of the Venerable Mother Marie de l'Incarnation published in 1677, is an important document about the lives of Native American and European women in early Canada.

Pursues dream of becoming nun

Marie Guyart was born in France around 1599 to middle-class parents. Her father was a baker in the French textile center of Tours. As a young woman, Guyart had numerous mystical experiences and hoped to become a nun. Her father, who disapproved of her plans, arranged for her to be married to a silkmaker named Claude Martin. After they married in 1617, the couple had one son, Claude. Shortly before the child was a year old, Guyart's husband died.

The Jesuits in Canada

French missionary and Roman Catholic nun Marie Guyart went to Canada in 1639 to work alongside the Jesuits, members of the Society of Jesus (a Roman Catholic religious order for men founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola). Jesuits are dedicated to academic study and the establishment of foreign missions and schools. Called the "Black Robes" (because of their clothing) by Native Americans, several Jesuits wrote accounts of their life in Canada. Among them was Jean de Brébeuf, whose narrative (dated 1635) reveals Europe

French Roman Catholic saint

Marie of the Incarnation, OSU (28 October 1599 – 30 April 1672) was a French Ursulinenun. As part of a group of nuns sent to New France (Quebec) to establish the Ursuline Order, Marie was crucial in the spread of Catholicism in New France. She was a religious author and has been credited with founding the first girls' school in the New World. Due to her work, the Catholic Church declared her a saint, and the Anglican Church of Canada celebrates her with a feast day.

Early life

She was born Marie Guyart in Tours, France. Her father was a baker. She was the fourth of Florent Guyart and Jeanne Michelet's eight children. From an early age she was drawn to religious liturgy and the sacraments. When Marie was seven years old, she recounted her first mystical encounter with Jesus Christ. In her book Relation, of 1654 she recounted: "...with my eyes toward heaven, I saw our Lord Jesus Christ in human form come forth and move through the air to me. As Jesus in his wondrous majesty was approaching me, I felt my heart enveloped by his love and I began to extend my arms to embrace him. Then he put his arms about me, kissed me lovingly, and said, 'Do you wish to belong to me?' I answered, 'Yes!' And having received my consent, he ascended back into Heave