<p>Antonio Ghislieri was born into an impoverished noble family in Italy, in 1504. He spent much of early life tending sheep. At the age of fourteen he entered the Dominican Order and became a professor. He was appointed bishop in 1556, and cardinal and inquisitor general in 1557. In 1566 he was elected pope and took the name Pius.</p>
<p>Kind and generous in his private life, Pius is nevertheless remembered as an austere and severe person. He is responsible for imposing the decrees of the Council of Trent, reforming the Roman Missal and the breviary, restoring moderation to the papal court, ordering a new edition of the works of Thomas Aquinas, fighting Protestantism, excommunicating Queen Elizabeth I, re-energizing the Inquisition, and supporting Christian monarchs against the Moslem tide. He died in 1572 and was canonized in 1712.</p>
<p><strong>Blessed Marie de l'Incarnation</strong></p>
<p>Marie was the first missionary woman to the "New World." She was born in Tours, France, in 1599, the daughter of middle-class parents Florent and Jeanne Guyard. In accordance with her father's wishes, Marie married Claude Martin in 1617, despite her own attraction to religious life. Her husband died three years later. Shortly after this, she began to receive revelations concerning the Incarnation, the Sacred Heart, and the Blessed Trinity. After seeking spiritual direction, she decided to enter the Ursuline monastery in Tours, leaving her 12-year-old son in the care of her sister; he later became a Benedictine monk.</p>
<p>Marie kept a full written account of her spiritual life<em>.</em> Encouraged by a dream, she set sail with two other Ursulines and arrived in Quebec City in 1639. There they opened their first school in Lowertown. The school grew despite sickness, poverty and strained relations with the Native peoples. When the Quebecers were threatened by the tensions with the Iroquois nation, Marie was recalled to France but she chose to remain in "New France." She composed catechisms in Huron and Algonquin, and a dictionary of French and Algonquin. Marie died in Quebec in 1672.©2011 <em>Living with Christ, </em>Novalis - Bayard Press Canada Inc., <strong>http://www.livingwithchrist.ca/</strong>. Reprinted with permission.</p>
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