List of Canadian Catholic saints
The history of the Catholic Church in Canada extends back to the arrival of the earliest European explorers. A French priest accompanied the great explorer Jacques Cartier, performing the first ever recorded Holy Mass on Canadian soil on July 7, 1534, on the shores of the Gaspé Peninsula. It was followed by deliberate conversion of the First Nations into the fold of Catholicism. Soon after, more and more religious congregations set foot in Canada especially among French-speaking present-day Quebec.
In this long history of the Roman Catholic Church in Canada, a number of deceased persons of the Church have had their life and work declared worthy of achieving one of the four stages of canonization in the Catholic Church: Servants of God; Venerable; Beatification (Blessed); and, for some, full recognition as a Saint.
Fondateurs
The list of Canadian Roman Catholic Saints (St.), Blesseds (Bl.) and Venerables (Ven.) includes six individuals called the Fondateurs, or Founders. These people are particularly venerated for establishing the Church in Canada. Generally, these are: St. Marguerite Bourgeoys, St. Marguerite d'Youville, St. François de Laval, St. Marie de l'Incarnation, Bl. Catherine de Saint-Augustin and Ven. Jeanne Mance. Sometimes, Ven. Jérôme Le Royer de la Dauversière is also included.
Saints
The Canadian Martyrs
The first Canadians to be canonized as saints were the Canadian Martyrs, eight Jesuit missionaries from Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, who were martyred in the mid-17th century in Canada and upstate New York. They comprised the six priests and two companions missioning to the Huron during colonial days of New France. These holy men were canonized by Pope Pius XI on June 29, 1930, for having been martyred for their faith. Their feast day is celebrated in Canada on September 26.
- St. Jean de Brébeuf (1593–1649)
- St. Noel Chabanel (1613–1649)
- St. Anthony Daniel (1601–1648)
- St. Charles Garnier (1605–1649)
- St. Isaac Jogues (1602–1646)
- St. Gabriel Lallemant (1610–1649)
- St. René Goupil (1607–1642)
- St. Jean de Lalande (1620–1646)
Other Canadian saints
St. Marguerite Bourgeoys (1620–1700) founded the Congregation of Notre Dame who are involved in providing Christian education to many parts of the world. She worked tirelessly to ensure the rights and welfare of women and children in New France and to ensure that young people received an education. Marguerite was canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 31, 1982; her feast day is celebrated on January 12.
St. Marguerite d'Youville (1701–1771). This pious woman founded the religious congregation called the Grey Nuns (originally called The Sisters of Charity of the Hôpital Général of Montreal). The first Canadian-born saint. Pope John Paul II canonized her on December 9, 1990. Her feast day is celebrated on October 16.
St. André Bessette, C.S.C. (French: Frère André, born Alfred Bessette) (August 9, 1845 – January 6, 1937) was a Holy Cross Brother and a significant figure of the Roman Catholic Church among French-Canadians, credited with thousands of reported miraculous healings. He was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 17, 2010, the first Canadian alive after Confederation to be canonized. His feast day is celebrated January 7.
St. Kateri Tekakwitha (Born in 1656, died in 1680) was a layperson and a significant aboriginal figure in Canada with credit to numerous miraculous healings. The Roman Catholic Church's first Western Hemisphere Aboriginal saint. She was beatified on June 22, 1980 and was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 21, 2012. Her feast day is celebrated on April 17.
St. Marie de l'Incarnation (Born in 1599, died in 1672). Founder of the Urselines Sisters in Québec. Beatified on June 22, 1980. Declared a saint through equivalent canonization by Pope Francis on April 3, 2014.[1] Her feast day is celebrated on April 30.
St. François de Laval (Born in 1623, died in 1708). First Bishop of Québec. Beatified on June 22, 1980. Declared a saint through equivalent canonization by Pope Francis on April 3, 2014.[1] His feast day is celebrated on May 6.
Blesseds
Blessed André Grasset de Saint-Sauveur (Born in 1758, died in 1792). Born in Montréal. Martyred in Paris on September 2, 1792 during the French Revolution. Beatified on October 17, 1926. Feast celebrated on September 2.
Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher (Born in 1811, died in 1849). Founder of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. Beatified on May 23, 1982. Feast celebrated on October 6.
Blessed Marie-Léonie Paradis (Born in 1840, died in 1912). Founder of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family. Beatified on September 11, 1984 in Montréal. Feast celebrated on May 4.
Blessed Louis-Zéphirin Moreau (Born in 1824, died in 1901). Fourth Bishop of Saint Hyacinthe. Beatified on May 10, 1987. Feast celebrated on May 24.
Blessed Frédéric Janssoone, Franciscan (Born in 1838, died in 1916). Beatified on September 25, 1988. Feast celebrated on August 5.
Blessed Catherine de Saint-Augustin (Born in 1632, Died in 1668). Augustinian nun at the Hôtel-Dieu de Québec. Beatified on April 23, 1989. Feast celebrated on May 8.
Blessed Dina Bélanger (Sister Marie Sainte-Cécile of Rome) (Born in 1897, Died in 1929). Beatified on March 20, 1993. Feast celebrated on September 4.
Blessed Marie-Anne Blondin (Born in 1809, Died in 1890). Founder of the Sisters of Saint Anne. Beatified on April 29, 2001. Feast celebrated on April 18.
Blessed Vasyl Velychkovsky, Bishop and Martyr (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church) (Born June 1, 1903, Died June 30, 1973). Oft jailed bishop of the underground church in communist era Lviv, Ukraine. Secretly ordained as bishop in 1963. Beatified on June 27, 2001.
Blessed Nykyta Budka (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church) (Born June 7, 1877 Poland, Died October 1, 1949 Soviet concentration camp). Ordained on October 25, 1905. First bishop for Ukrainian Catholics on July 15, 1912 in Canada. Beatified June 27, 2001.
Blessed Émilie Tavernier-Gamelin (Born in 1800, Died in 1851). Founder of the Sisters of Providence. Beatified on October 7, 2001. Feast celebrated on September 23.
Blessed Marie-Élisabeth Turgeon, (Born in 1840, died in 1881). foundress of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, Beatified on April 26, 2015. Feast celebrated on August 17
Venerables
Venerable Vital Grandin, Oblate of Mary Immaculate, (Born in 1829, died in 1902). Bishop of Saint Albert, Alberta. Declared Venerable on December 15, 1966.
Venerable Alfred Pampalon, Redemptorist, (Born in 1867, died in 1896). Declared Venerable on May 14, 1991.
Venerable Élisabeth Bergeron, (Born in 1851, died in 1936). Founder of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, Saint Hyacinthe. Declared Venerable on January 12, 1996.
Venerable Délia Tétreault, (Born in 1865, died in 1941). Founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. Declared Venerable on December 18, 1997.
Venerable Jérôme Le Royer de la Dauversière, layperson, (Born in 1597, died in 1659). Founder of Montréal and the welcoming religious of Saint Joseph. Declared Venerable on July 6, 2007.
Venerable Théophanius-Léo (Adolphe Chatillon), Brother of the Christian Schools, (Born in 1871, died in 1929). Declared Venerable on April 2, 2011.
Venerable Marie of the Sacred Heart (Marie Fitzbach) (Born in 1806, died in 1885). Founder of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd of Québec. Declared Venerable on June 28, 2012.
Venerable Antoine Kowalczyk, brother of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, (Born in 1866, died in 1947). Declared Venerable on March 27, 2013.
Venerable Rosalie Cadron-Jetté (Born in 1794, died in 1864). Founder of the Misericordia Sisters. Declared Venerable on December 9, 2013.
Venerable Marcella Mallet, foundress of the Sisters of Charity of Quebec, (Born in 1805, died in 1871). Declared Venerable on January 27, 2014.
Venerable Marie-Clément Staub, Assumptionist, (Born in 1876, died in 1936). Founder of the Sisters of Saint Joan of Arc and of the Canadian Montmartre. Declared Venerable on April 3, 2014
Venerable Jeanne Mance, layperson, (Born in 1606, died in 1673). Co-founded Montréal and founder of the "Hôtel-Dieu" of Québec. Declared Venerable on November 7, 2014
Venerable William Gagnon, (Born in 1905, died in 1972). Brother of the Hospitallers of Saint John of God. Declared Venerable on December 14, 2015.
Servants of God
- Jeanne Le Ber (1662-1714), Layperson of the Archdiocese of Montréal (Québec, Canada)
- Stephen Eckert (Stephen of Dublin) (1869-1923), Professed Priest of the Franciscan Capuchins (Ontario, Canada - Wisconsin, USA)
- Vénérance Morin-Rouleau (Bernarda) (1832-1929), Founder of the Sisters of Providence of Chile [now part of the Sisters of Providence of Montréal] (Québec, Canada - Santiago, Chile)
- Gérard Raymond (1912-1932), Seminarian of the Archdiocese of Québec (Québec, Canada)
- Ovide Charlebois (1862-1933), Professed Priest of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate; Apostolic Vicar of Keewatin (Québec - Manitoba, Canada)
- Eugène Prévost (1860-1946), Priest and Founder of the Congregation of the Sacerdotal Fraternity and of the Oblate Sisters of Bethany (Québec - Maine-et-Loire, Canada)
- Albert L'Heureux (Alphonse) (1894-1947), Professed Priest of the Trappists; Martyr (Québec, Canada - Hebei, China)
- Victor Lelièvre (1876-1956), Professed Priest of the Missionaru Oblates of Mary Immaculate (Ille-et-Vilaine, France - Québec, Canada)
- Pierre Fallaize (1887-1964), Professed Priest of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate; Auxiliary Bishop of MacKenzie (Calvados, France - Northwest Territories, Canada)
- Dorian LaPlante (Flavian) (1907-1981), Professed Religious of the Congregation of Holy Cross (Québec, Canada - Chittagong, Bangladesh)
- Catherine de Hueck Doherty (1896-1985), Married Layperson of the Diocese of Pembroke; Founder of the Madonna House Apostolate (Nizhegorodskaya oblast’, Russia - Ontario, Canada)
- Carmelina Tarantino (Carmelina of the Cross) (1937-1992), Professed Religious of the Passionist Sisters of Saint Paul of the Cross (Naples, Italy - Ontario, Canada)
- Julienne Dallaire (Julienne du Rosaire) (1911-1995), Founder of the Dominican Missionary Adorers (Québec, Canada)
- Emiliano Tardif [Émilien] (1928-1999), Professed Priest of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart; Founder of the Community of the Servants of the Living Christ (Québec, Canada - Córdoba, Argentina)
Other possible causes
Other Canadians have been proposed for beatification, and may have active groups supporting their causes. These include:
- Nicolas Viel (d. 1625), Professed Priest of the Franciscan Friars Minor (Recollects) (Coutances, France - Montreal, Canada)
- Auhaitsique [Ahuntsic] (d. 1625), Layperson of the Archdiocese of Quebec (Montreal, Canada)
- Joseph Chiwatenhwa (1602-1640) and Marie Aonetta (d.1650?), Married Laypersons of the Archdiocese of Quebec (Canada)
- Barthélemy Vimont (1594-1667), Professed Priest of the Jesuits (Lisieux, France - Quebec, Canada)
- Marie-Madeleine de Chauvigny de la Peltrie (1603-1671), Professed Religious of the Ursulines of Quebec (France-Canada)
- Pierre-Joseph-Marie Chaumonot (1611-1693), Professed Priest of the Jesuits (France-Canada)
- Claude Pelletier (Didace) (1657-1699), Professed Religious of the Franciscan Friars Minor (Recollects) (Canada)
- Éléonore Potvin (Marie-Zita of Jesus) (1865-1903), Founder of the Servants of Jesus-Marie (Canada)
- Jean-Baptiste Rouvière (1881-1913) and Guillaume Le Roux (1885-1913), Professed Priests of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate; Martyrs (France-Canada)
- Alexis-Louis Mangin (1856-1920), Priest of the Archdiocese of Ottawa; Founder of the Servants of Jesus-Marie (Canada)
- Léon Pratte (1864-1930), Priest of the Diocese of Saint-Hyacinthe (Canada)
- Marie Rose Ferron (1902-1936), Layperson of the Diocese of Providence (Canada-USA)
- Rose Prince (1915-1949), Layperson of the Diocese of Prince George (Canada)
- Gilberte Lapierre (Marie-Claire) (1895-1979), Professed Religious of the Poor Clare Nuns (Canada)
- Claudia Murphy (Sybil) (1930-1996), Professed Religious of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa (Canada-Ghana)
- Jean-Luc Hudon (Bernardin-Jean) (1936-1998), Professed Religious of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (De La Salle Brothers); Martyr (Canada-Haiti)
- Martin John Royackers (1959-2001), Professed Priest of the Jesuits; Martyr (Canada-Jamaica)
- Richard Émile Joyal (1951-2013), Professed Priest of the Society of Mary (Marianists); Martyr
See also
- Roman Catholic Church in Canada
- List of American saints and beatified people
- List of Mexican Saints
- List of Central American and Caribbean Saints
- List of saints of the Canary Islands
External links
References
- "Pope declares by decree three new saints for the Americas". 3 April 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
- Ewald, Daniel P. (2009). Saints and Blesseds of the Americas. Xlibris. ISBN 978-1-4363-6761-5.
- Habig, Marion A. (1974). Saints of the Americas. Our Sunday Visitor. ISBN 0-87973-880-4.
- "Hagiography Circle"