Commanded by a vision to become a missionary in Canada, in 1639 Marie Guyart de Incarnation (Herstory 1978) arrived in what would become Quebec City. By 1642, Marie had built a convent, establishing the first Ursuline school in New France. Her talents as a business administrator enabled the convent to survive against enormous financial odds. Marie learned Algonkin and Iroquois, and wrote dictionaries for both languages. Her 1654 Relation ranks her among the greatest mystics of the Catholic Church. Regularly consulted on political and economic matters, Marie's correspondence--over 12,000 letters--is an irreplaceable document of colonial history.
