Marguerite Bourgeoys sculpture stands between Montreal City Hall and Montreal Courthouse. The Congrégation de Notre-Dame, the Quebec Ministry of Cultural Affairs, and the City of Montreal worked to place the statue and inaugurated it in 1988.
The artist Jules Lasalle created the monument; it consists of three life-size bronze figures – two children who stride toward Bourgeoys while she is waiting for them with open arms. Her left arm offers to connect with her while her right points to the direction she is leading.
Marguerite Bourgeoys (1620-1700) was a French nun who was one of the founders of Montreal. She was born in Troyes, France, and at 15 joined the confraternity of the Congregation Notre-Dame. In 1652, she followed the request of the Governor of the French settlement in New France to establish a convent in Ville-Marie (which later became Montreal). The following year, at 32, she left France and sailed to the new world. She founded the Congregation of Notre Dame and built the city’s first permanent church – the Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours Chapel (the Chapel of Our Lady of Good Counsel). Over the years, she established the first public school in the city, a boarding school for girls, a school for the poor in Quebec, and schools in nearby villages.
In 1982, she was declared a saint by the Catholic Church, becoming the first female saint of Canada.
A short walk from the monument is Marguerite Bourgeoys Museum. It stands on the site of the first pilgrimage chapel and offers exhibitions about the life and achievements of Bourgeoys and the highest view of Old Montreal.
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