Marie Guyart

The first female missionary to North America, Marie Guyart (1599-1672) wanted to become a nun at fourteen, but her parents encouraged her to marry. After the birth of a son, her husband died. Marie lost his failing business and moved in with her parents, then her sister and brother-in-law. A spiritual missionary vision led her to deeper devotion as she dedicated herself to following in the footsteps of Teresa of Avila.

Marie entered an Ursuline convent in Tours, changing her name to Marie of the Incarnation. After a highly emotional separation, her son eventually became a Benedictine monk. Supported by a devout widow, Marie set sail for Quebec City with a fellow Ursuline, nurses, Jesuits, and a single woman.

Marie wrote dictionaries and catechisms in multiple Indian dialects. She founded a bi-lingual school for French and indigenous girls, treating them as equals, melding cultures, overcoming difference in lifestyle, the introduction of contagious diseases to the Indians, a burned convent, French political disorder, and Iroquois-Huron wars. The French girls paid for their education, the Indians did not.

Guyart recorded her experiences, writing upwards of twenty-thousand letters to her son, acquaintances, and students, documenting the missionary political, religious, and relational history. Pope Francis canonized Marie on April 2, 2014.