LEGARDEUR DE REPENTIGNY, MARIE-JEANNE-MADELEINE, dite de Sainte-Agathe, Ursuline nun; baptized 31 Jan. 1698 at Montreal, daughter of Pierre Legardeur de Repentigny and Agathe de Saint-Père*; d. 25 Feb. 1739 at the Ursuline convent in Quebec.

After her studies at the boarding-school of the Ursulines of Quebec, Madeleine Legardeur returned to her family, and soon began to shine in Montreal society. She was to marry her cousin, an officer in the colonial regular troops, but he died accidentally. At first she was deeply afflicted; then she began once more to frequent balls and promenades. In July 1717, perhaps because she had not recovered her peace of mind, she asked to be admitted to the Ursuline order of Quebec.

The annals of the convent relate that during the first years she underwent “the most violent temptations to renounce her vocation.” To overcome them, she placed her trust in Notre-Dame du Grand Pouvoir; the annals add that her fits of anguish vanished. Mother Sainte-Agathe decided to offer a permanent testimony of her gratitude towards the Madonna. Thus, in 1724, was lighted “the lamp which does not go out.” Her brother Jean-Baptiste-René gave 300 livres for the maintenance of the light.

Mother Sainte-Agathe died on 25 Feb. 1739 following a long illness, the germs of which she had been carrying, according to the annals of the convent, since she entered the noviciate.

Marie-Emmanuel Chabot