RAISIN, MARIE, one of the first nuns of the Congrégation de Notre-Dame (Montreal), baptized 29 April 1636 at Troyes (Champagne), daughter of Edmé Raisin, a master-tailor, and Anne Collet; d. 1691.

Her parents lived near the house belonging to the parents of Marguerite Bourgeoys. In 1659 Marie Raisin met Sister Bourgeoys, who had come to Troyes to recruit teachers. With her and two other companions she went to Paris. While there she obtained her father’s permission to go to Canada. The travellers left La Rochelle on 2 July 1659, and after a rough crossing they arrived at Quebec on 8 September, reaching Ville-Marie (Montreal) on 29 September. Until 1666 Marie taught in a stable converted into a school. Her name is found on the census list of Trois-Rivières for that year; in it she is called “a school-mistress to the girls of Trois-Rivières.” In this same year she entered the Ursuline convent at Quebec and spent three months there as a postulant. She came back to Ville-Marie in November with Sister Bourgeoys. From this time on she held important positions at Ville-Marie and in the surrounding missions. In 1670 she was assistant superior. She then taught at Champlain, but in 1678 and 1683 she was at Ville-Marie. Her brother Nicolas, a lawyer in the Parlement of Paris, died in 1687, leaving her all his fortune. She donated it to the Congrégation de Notre-Dame on 7 March 1688. She died on 5 Oct. 1691.

Saint Miriam of the Temple, c.n.d.