BOUCHER, GENEVIÈVE, dite de Saint-Pierre, Ursuline, superior; b. 19 Aug. 1676 at Boucherville, Quebec, daughter of Pierre Boucher*, seigneur of Boucherville, and Jeanne Crevier; d. 30 May 1766 at Quebec.

Pierre Boucher was already 54 years of age when his last child, Geneviève, was born. Fearing that he would die before his daughter would be of an age to understand his last wishes, he composed a message for her, recommending that she seek the advice “of some worthy man” to “choose a condition in life,” and he added: “But in whatever condition you are, try to attain perfection in it.” Geneviève did not have to refer to this message, for her father was still living when she left the paternal roof in 1694 to enter the noviciate of the Ursulines of Quebec. Her mother, who accompanied her that day, obtained permission to enter the cloister and make a two-hour visit to the convent. On 14 Sept. 1694 Geneviève received the nun’s habit from Bishop Saint-Vallier [La Croix*], and on 18 Sept. 1696 she made her profession. Her dowry was paid in money and in land.

During her long career Geneviève de Saint-Pierre held various offices in the order; she was in turn bursar, mistress of novices and boarders, zelatrice, and assistant superior. In 1750, when she was 74, she was elected superior and held this office for three years; she again became assistant superior and occupied the position for two terms, from 1753 to 1759. By then she was 83 years of age, and her physical disabilities forced her to retire to the infirmary. On 30 May 1766 she died in her 90th year, after 72 years as a nun; her father had died when he was more than 94.

The annals of the order, which called Geneviève de Saint-Pierre “the Methuselah of our history,” praised this “perfect Ursuline” who worked for over 60 years for the welfare of her sisters.

Gabrielle Lapointe