Saint Marguerite d’Youville
Saint of the Day for June 15
(October 15, 1701 – December 23, 1771)
https://www.franciscanmedia.Saint Marguerite d’Youville’s Story
We learn compassion from allowing our
lives to be influenced by compassionate people, by seeing life from
their perspectives, and reconsidering our own values.
Born in Varennes, Canada, Marie
Marguerite Dufrost de Lajemmerais had to interrupt her schooling at the
age of 12 to help her widowed mother. Eight years later
she married François d’Youville; they had six children, four of whom
died young. Despite the fact that her husband gambled, sold liquor
illegally to Native Americans, and treated her indifferently, she cared
for him compassionately until his death in 1730.
Even though she was caring for two
small children and running a store to help pay off her husband’s debts,
Marguerite still helped the poor. Once her children were grown, she and
several companions rescued a Quebec hospital that was in danger of
failing. She called her community the Institute of the Sisters of
Charity of Montreal; the people called them the “Grey Nuns” because of
the color of their habits. In time, a proverb arose among the poor
people of Montreal, “Go to the Grey Nuns; they never refuse to serve.”
In time, five other religious communities traced their roots to the Grey
Nuns.
The General Hospital in Montreal
became known as the Hôtel Dieu (House of God) and set a standard for
medical care and Christian compassion. When the hospital was destroyed
by fire in 1766, Mère Marguerite knelt in the ashes, led the Te Deum—a hymn to God’s providence in all circumstances—and
began the rebuilding process. She fought the attempts of government
officials to restrain her charity, and established the first foundling
home in North America.
Pope Saint John XXIII, who beatified
Mère Marguerite in 1959, called her the “Mother of Universal Charity.”
She was canonized in 1990. Her Liturgical Feast Day is October 16.
Reflection
Saints deal with plenty of
discouragement, plenty of reasons to say, “Life isn’t fair” and wonder
where God is in the rubble of their lives. We honor saints like
Marguerite because they show us that with God’s grace and our
cooperation, suffering can lead to compassion rather than bitterness.
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