<p>Catherine de Longpré was born in France in 1632. At the age of 12, she entered the convent of the Hospitallers of Bayeux, a branch of the Augustinians, the first order to send missionaries to Canada. In 1648, she asked to go to Quebec City to help the sisters in the Hôtel-Dieu hospital, the first to be established in Canada. She contracted the plague on her voyage, but recovered. In the following years, she worked with the poor through famine, conflict and illness, even as other members of her community returned to France. Catherine was graced with several mystical experiences, but the people of New France remembered her more for her kindness and her great love for them all. She battled poor health all her life and died in 1668 at the age of 36. She is counted among the founders of the Canadian Church and was beatified in 1989.©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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