LES URSULINES DE QUÉBEC
Ursuline Community

• Ursuline Chapel 
• Ursuline Museum
• Information Centre on the life of Marie de l’Incarnation
• The Blessed Marie de l’Incarnation

The Ursuline community, once known as La Compagnie de Saint-Ursule, was founded in Italy in 1535 by Sainte Angèle Mérici.  In 1639, at the request of the Jesuits, three Ursulines, including Marie de l’Incarnation, the community’s spiritual founder, and Madame de la Peltrie, temporal founder, arrived in Québec City.  The Ursulines, who were cloistered at the time, founded the first school in North America to be devoted to the education of young Amerindian and French girls.  As years went by, pastoral animation began to rise above their educational mission.  The Ursuline community was the first female Order of teachers within the Canadian Church. 
 
Website : www.ursulines-uc.com

CHAPELLE DES URSULINES
Ursuline Chapel 

One of the most beautiful ensembles of sculpted wood that exists in the province of Québec is found at the Ursuline chapel.  The objects were created by Pierre-Noël Levasseur between 1723 and 1739 and were transferred to the present-day chapel, which was constructed in 1902.  The objects were gilded by the Ursulines themselves.  L’ange à la trompette and the retable, the two being important pieces of the décor, bring out the exceptional richness of the chapel.  The nave is adorned with paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries that were brought over from Europe during the French Revolution.

Chapel Hours
May to October
Tuesday – Saturday: 10:00am – 11:30am, 1:30pm – 4:30pm
Upon reservation at all other times.
 

Chapelle des Ursulines
2, rue du Parloir
Québec (Québec)
G1R 4M5

Telephone : (418) 694-0413

MUSÉE DES URSULINES DE QUÉBEC
Ursuline Museum

Until November 2007, the exhibit Red and Black, the Colours of the Passion will reveal the rites and the objects through which the Ursulines remember the Passion of the Christ. Black, the colour of sorrow and mourning, contrasts with red, the colour of love and the sacred, giving the exhibit strength and originality.  Chasuble Atelier des Ursulines de Québec, vers 1724 Musée des Ursulines de Québec Photo : MNBAQ, Patrick Altman

Guided tours available upon reservation, for groups, in French or in English. Choice of different themes (ex: girls’ education from the 17^th to the 19^th century, sacred art workshop, relations with the English-speakers of Quebec City, etc.)


Points of Interest :

• Teaching material used by the nuns
• Furniture and personal objects from daily life in the 17^th and 18^th centuries
• Sacred art workshop
• The magnificent collection of vestments and liturgical ornaments embroided with gold, silver and silk threads

Museum Hours May to September Tuesday – Saturday:  10:00am – noon and 1:00pm – 5:00pm Sunday: 1:00pm – 5:00pm October to April Tuesday – Sunday: 1:00pm – 5:00pm December and January: Open for groups, upon reservation Price  Adults: $6.00 Seniors: $5.00 Students (17 years old and over): $4.00 Childrens (12 – 16 years old): $3.00 Under 12 years old: Free            Parement d'autel dit de l'Immaculée Conception Atelier des Ursulines de Québec, vers 1700 Musée des Ursulines de Québec Photo: MNBAQ, Patrick Altman

Musée des Ursulines
12 rue Donnacona
Québec, (Québec)
G1R 3Y7

Telephone: (418) 694-0694
Fax: (418) 694-2136
Email: murq@bellnet.ca
Website: www.museocapitale.qc.ca/014.htm



Guided tours that provide interpretations of various objects in the museum are offered in French and English upon reservation. A variety of themes and itineraries are available. 
 

CENTRE MARIE-DE-l'INCARNATION
Information Centre on the life of Marie de l’Incarnation
 
The Centre Marie-de-l’Incarnation was created in order to make the life and missionary works of Blessed Marie de l’Incarnation (1599-1672) known to the public.  This devote woman founded the Ursuline community of Québec, opened the first school for girls in North America and is considered the mother of the Canadian Church.  Several portraits and memoirs, numerous documents, and even a pair of rosary beads that once belonged to Marie de l’Incarnation can be found at the Centre.  You can also pray at her tomb, which is located in the chapel. There are several books available for visitors to purchase, so as to improve your knowledge about her many works and undertakings. 

Centre Hours Monday: 10:00am – 11:30am Tuesday to Saturday:  10:00am – 11:30am and 1:30pm – 4:30pm Sunday: 1:30pm – 4:30pm The Centre is closed in December and open only by request in January. Group animation available upon reservation. Free admission

 
Centre Marie-de-l’Incarnation
10 Rue Donnacona
Québec (Québec)
G1R 3Y7

Telephone : (418) 694-0413
Fax : (418) 692-4741

LA BIENHEUREUSE MARIE-DE-L'INCARNATION (1599-1672)
The Blessed Marie de l’Incarnation

Born in Tours, France on October 28, 1599, Marie de l’Incarnation, born Marie Guyart, married Claude Martin in 1617.  She became a mother in April, 1619, and lost her husband in the same year, after only two years of marriage.  Therefore, in addition to taking care of her father and her son, she also began to work in order to settle her husband’s debts.  On March 24, 1620, after having received several mystical graces, she came to the realization that God had given everything to save the world. Moved by this revelation, she wrote the following to her son in 1654: “I have returned to my dwelling, transformed into another creature, but so greatly so that I don’t even recognize my own self anymore.”  After this occurrence, Marie de l’Incarnation decided to make a vow of chastity, poverty and obedience to God.  From then on, she decided to dedicate herself to those in need.  Secluded at her sister’s home, she accepted to take care of their house and of her brother-in-law’s business.  However, she did not distance herself from God.  She concentrated on the mission that He had entrusted to her: to introduce God and His Son to people of all backgrounds.  With this in mind, she continued to bring herself closer to God through prayer and never missed an opportunity to follow the Gospel of Jesus.

 In 1631, she entered the community of Les Ursulines de Tours because she felt that God had a new plan for her.  Though filled with the desire to follow God’s plan, she found it extremely difficult to separate herself from her son.  On August 1, 1639, she arrived in New France accompanied by two friends and Madame de la Peltrie, a benefactress who took care of the cost of the founding of the community New France.  The goal of this mission in New France was to evangelize and educate the young French and Amerindian children.  Though faced with many obstacles that were against her settlement in New France, Marie de l’Incarnation steadfastly continued to carry out the plan that God had set for her.  She died on April 30, 1672, following a brief illness.  The extraordinary life of this woman, who founded the Ursuline community in New France, is known to us today thanks to her voluminous correspondence with her son, as well as to her autobiography that she wrote for him as well.  

Mgr. de Laval shared the following with respect to the spirituality of Marie de l’Incarnation: “She was adorned with all the virtues in a very distinguished degree, especially with such an elevated gift of prayer and such a perfect union with God that she was able to maintain her presence among the different occupations into which her vocation led her as well as among the most difficult affairs. She was so dead to her own human being and Jesus Christ so fully possessed her that one could most certainly say this of her: that she was not living, but that Jesus Christ was living in her, and that she didn’t live or act but by Jesus Christ… Her life, like that of everyone else’s on the outside, was animated by something completely divine on the inside, and therefore was a living example for her entire community.  Her enthusiasm for “le salut des âmes » and, above all, for the conversion of the Amerindian people was so great and so extensive that it seemed that she was carrying them all in her heart, and we never doubted that she greatly contributed by her prayers to obtain from God the blessings that He placed upon this budding Church.”

Marie de l’Incarnation was beatified on June 22, 1980, by Pope John Paul II.  The role that she played in the evangelisation of the colony, her determination and her ability to overcome the difficulties she faced in New France make her a true example of perseverance.