In 1990, the Catholic Church declared Marie-Marguerite d’Youville a saint. Canonized by Pope John Paul II, she became the first Canadian born person to receive that honor, and today her name appears on churches, schools, charities, and universities across Canada, where she is remembered as a woman who devoted her life to caring for the poor and the sick. But there is another part of her story that is rarely discussed. The historical record shows that the woman later celebrated as a saint owned slaves and used enslaved labor in the institution she led.
Marie-Marguerite d’Youville was born on October 15, 1701, in Varennes in the French colony of New France. Her birth name was Marie-Marguerite Dufrost de Lajemmerais. When she was still a child, her father died, leaving the family in financial difficulty. Despite the hardship, she spent a short period studying with the Ursuline nuns in Quebec City before returning home, where she helped care for her younger brothers and sisters.
In 1722 she married François d’Youville in Montreal. The marriage brought its own difficulties. François developed a reputation for illegally trading alcohol with Indigenous communities and frequently disappeared for long stretches, leaving Marguerite to carry the burden of the household alone.
The couple had six children together, but four died in infancy. In 1730 François himself died, leaving Marguerite a widow at just thirty years old, responsible for raising the two surviving children after years marked by loss and instability.
Founding the Grey Nuns
After her husband’s death, Marguerite turned toward charity work.
In 1737, she and three other women founded a small religious association in Montreal dedicated to helping the poor. Their work eventually grew into a religious order known as the Grey Nuns.
The group later took responsibility for the General Hospital of Montreal, which had fallen into severe debt and neglect. Under Marguerite’s leadership the hospital was revived and expanded.
Despite ridicule and hostility from some members of society, the Grey Nuns continued their charitable work and gradually gained influence.
Slave ownership
While Marguerite d’Youville became known for caring for the poor, historical records show that she and the religious community she led owned enslaved Africans and natives.
Historians studying Montreal archives have described her as one of the more prominent slaveholders in eighteenth century Montreal.
Enslaved individuals were used in the operations of the hospital and other properties managed by the Grey Nuns. They performed domestic work, manual labor, and other tasks necessary for running the institution.
Records also show that enslaved people were bought and sold by the order. Among those enslaved were Indigenous captives as well as others obtained through colonial trade networks. In some cases British prisoners captured during wartime were also held and forced to work.
These transactions show that the institution depended partly on enslaved labor.
Death and canonization
Marguerite d’Youville died on December 23, 1771, at the General Hospital in Montreal. In the years that followed, her reputation within the Catholic Church continued to grow, as many believers credited her with answered prayers and miracles. Devotion to her memory gradually spread, and church authorities eventually began the long process that could lead to sainthood.
Over time that process moved forward step by step. She was declared Venerable in 1931, beatified in 1959 by Pope John XXIII, and finally canonized in 1990 by Pope John Paul II. With that declaration, Marie-Marguerite d’Youville became the first Canadian born person to be recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church.
Her canonization, however, drew criticism. Members of Montreal’s Black community protested the decision, pointing to historical records showing that she and the institution she led owned enslaved people. For them, celebrating a slaveholder as a saint ignored a painful part of Canada’s history and raised difficult questions about how such figures are remembered.
Today, Marie-Marguerite d’Youville is widely honored as the founder of the Grey Nuns and a woman remembered for caring for the poor, the sick, and the abandoned. Her name appears on churches, schools, and charitable institutions across Canada, and her canonization secured her place in the history of the Catholic Church.
Her legacy, however, carries a difficult truth. The records show that the religious community she led held people in bondage and relied on their forced labor. The story of Marie-Marguerite d’Youville therefore raises an uncomfortable question that history cannot ignore: how should society remember a figure praised for compassion while others lived and worked under her authority without freedom?
Sources:
Saint of the Day – 16 October – Saint Marie Marguerite d’Youville (1701-1771)
https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1990/12/22/blacks-protest-elevation-of-nun-who-owned-slaves/
https://www.cdnmedhall.ca/laureates/margueritedyouville
