When the island of Montreal became "Ville-Marie"

Jerome Le Royer, lord of La Dauversière (1597-1659), is the founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of La Flèche (in 1636), and one of the founders of Ville-Marie, the future Montreal (Canada).

Born into a Breton family, Le Royer was admitted in 1608 to the Royal College of La Flèche (France), run by the Jesuits, where he first heard about New France. On February 2, 1630, after Candlemas (feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple and the Purification of Mary), as he prayed before a statue of Our Lady, Le Royer felt called to found a nursing religious congregation to serve the poor and the sick and to establish a Hôtel-Dieu (or hospital) on the island of Montreal, in New France.

With Father Jean-Jacques Olier, he decided to create a society of partners, the Notre Dame Society of Montreal. He and his associates acquired the island of Montreal, which then belonged to the intendant of the Dauphine region in France, Jean de Lauzon. On February 27, 1642, in Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris, the members chose the name of the future colony, which would be called "Ville-Marie," in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

They entrusted the civilian and military government of the future colony to Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, who landed on the island on May 17, 1642, the date of the founding of Ville-Marie.

Jerome Le Royer of La Dauversière later returned to La Flèche, where he died on November 6, 1659. His cause of beatification was opened in Rome and Benedict XVI proclaimed him venerable.

The Marie de Nazareth Team