Fr. Vogel & St. Marguerite Bourgeoys

As Quebec began to flourish in the 17th century, there was concern in France that Quebec was too concerned with commercial enterprises. As a result Monsieur de Maisonneuve was chosen as the military leader and founder of the colony of Ville-Marie, which was later renamed Montreal.

Stories of hardships and dangers in Ville Marie that made other people shiver awakened a call from God in Marguerite Bourgeoys to serve the Indians and settlers who endured this adversity. In 1654 she met with the governor of Ville Marie and convinced him she was the person he was looking for to help start a school for the children.

When she arrived in Ville Marie, she found that few children survived to school age. She helped the remarkable Jeanne Mance, who ran the hospital, to change this tragedy. When she finally had children to teach, she had to set to up school in a stable.

During this time King Louis XIV set up a program to provide wives for French soldiers to establish lasting settlements in New France. These Fille du Roi or "Daughters of the King" were young women trained by nuns to be homemakers. When these women arrived in Canada, St. Marguerite Bourgeoys would bring them into the convent to live until they married. In the process she because a mother to these young women.

In 1670 Madeleine Chretien was one of these young women who arrived in Canada and lived with St. Marguerite until she married a soldier, Pierre Chicoine, three or four months later. Pierre amd Madeleine were Fr. Vogel's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparents (10 generations) on his mother's side. Their son Pierre Chicoine II was born in 1676, the same year that soon-to-be-named-St. Kateri Tekakwitha was baptized. Blessed Kateri lived 40 miles south along the St. Lawrence River from where the Chicoines lived.

There isn't any detail of their interaction with these saints, but Fr. Vogel suspects the strong Catholic devotion throughout the generations of his family may be rooted in the faith inspired by his ancestors like Pierre and Madeleine.

Although it is not celebrated on the US calendar, today is the feast day of St. Marguerite Bourgeoys. We thank her for listening to God's call and helping establish the faith in North America.