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Marie Marguerite d’Youville was born on October 15, 1701 in Varennes, Quebec. She was baptized the next day at St. Anne’s Parish. She was the first of six children born to Christophe DuFrost de Lajemmerals and Marie Renee Gaultier. Marguerite’s father died when she was only seven years old. Therefore she learned very early how to be a caregiver as she helped her mother provide for her family.

At the age of twenty, Marguerite married Francois d’Youville. The couple had six children although only two of them survived. Francios died eight years after they married, leaving Marguerite to pay off his enormous debts and to raise two young sons. Those two boys became priests.

Even in the midst of her own poverty, Marguerite was called to help others. She visited the poor in the hospital and mended their clothes. She helped anyone in need of food, clothing, or shelter.

Marguerite’s care for others inspired three other women. In December 1737, they joined Marguerite and devoted themselves to serving the poor. These women were the first Sisters of Charity of Montreal, the “Grey Nuns.”