Canadian Saints

St. André Bessette

André Bessette, C.S.C. (9 August 1845 – 6 January 1937), more commonly known as Brother André (French: Frère André), and since his canonization as Saint André of Montreal, was a lay brother of the Congregation of Holy Cross and a significant figure of the Catholic Church among French-Canadians, credited with thousands of reported miraculous oil healings associated with his pious devotion to Saint Joseph.

Bessette was declared venerable in 1978 and was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1982. Pope Benedict XVI approved the decree of sainthood for Bessette on 19 February 2010, with the formal canonization taking place on 17 October 2010. He is the first Canadian living after Confederation to be canonized.

St. Marguerite Bourgeoys

Marguerite Bourgeoys, CND (17 April 1620 – 12 January 1700), was a French nun and founder of the Congregation of Notre Dame of Montreal in the colony of New France, now part of Québec, Canada.

Born in Troyes, she became part of a sodality, ministering to the poor from outside the convent. The governor of Montreal recruited her to set up a convent in New France, and she sailed to Fort Ville-Marie (now Montreal) by 1653. There, she developed the convent. She and her congregation educated young girls, the poor, and children of First Nations until shortly before she died in early 1700.

She is significant for developing one of the first uncloistered religious communities in the Catholic Church. Declared "venerable" by the pope in 1878, she was canonized in 1982 as the first female saint of Canada.

Saint Marie-Marguerite d'Youville

Marguerite d'Youville, SGM October 15, 1701 – December 23, 1771, was a French Canadian Catholic widow who founded the Order of Sisters of Charity of Montreal, commonly known as the Grey Nuns. She was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1990, becoming the first native-born Canadian to be declared a saint. 

Sts. John de Brebeuf 

Isaac Jogues

Jean de Brébeuf French (25 March 1593 – 16 March 1649) was a Jesuit missionary who travelled to New France (Canada) in 1625. He worked primarily with the Huron for the rest of his life, except for a few years in France from 1629 to 1633. He learned their language and culture, writing extensively about each to aid other missionaries.

In 1649, Brébeuf and another missionary were captured when an Iroquois raid took over a Huron village (referred to in French as St. Louis). The missionaries were ritually tortured and killed with Huron captives on 16 March 1649. Brébeuf was beatified in 1925 and among eight Jesuit missionaries canonized as saints in the Catholic Church in 1930.

Isaac Jogues, SJ (10 January 1607 – 18 October 1646) was a French missionary and martyr who travelled and worked among the Iroquois, Huron, and other Native populations in North America. He was the first European to name Lake George, Lac du Saint Sacrement (Lake of the Blessed Sacrament). In 1646, Jogues was martyred by the Mohawk at their village of Ossernenon, near the Mohawk River.

Jogues, Jean de Brébeuf and six other martyred missionaries, all Jesuit priests or laypeople associated with them, were canonized by the Catholic Church in 1930; they are known as the Canadian or North American Martyrs. A shrine was built in their honour at Auriesville, New York, formerly believed to be that of the Mohawk village. Their feast day is 19 October in the General Roman Calendar and 26 September in Canada.

Bl. Marie-Rose Durocher

Marie-Rose Durocher, SNJM (6 October 1811 – 6 October 1849) was a Canadian Catholic religious sister who founded the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. She was beatified in 1982. 

Eulalie Durocher en religion Marie-Rose Durocher (Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu, 6 octobre 1811 — Longueuil, 6 octobre 1849) est une éducatrice catholique québécoise, fondatrice des sœurs des saints Noms de Jésus et de Marie et reconnue bienheureuse par l'Église catholique. 

Bl. Louis-Zéphirin Moreau

Louis-Zéphirin Moreau (1 April 1824 – 24 May 1901) was a Canadian Roman Catholic prelate who served as the fourth Bishop of Saint-Hyacinthe from 1875 until he died in 1901. He was also the co-founder of the Sisters of St. Joseph of St. Hyacinthe, a congregation he founded with Élisabeth Bergeron and the founder of the Sisters of Sainte Martha. Moreau was a frail child due to being born premature, so he could not help his farmer parents work on their land. He dedicated himself to his studies and later his ecclesial studies even though illness forced him to slow down his studies, which impeded his progress to ordination. But a benefactor, Jean-Charles Prince, Coadjutor Bishop of Montreal, saw him advance towards his ordination. He was an aide to several bishops in the diocesan secretariat and later as a diocesan vicar general.

As a bishop, he revitalized his diocese and erected several new parishes to bolster the diocese's strength further. He was known for his piousness and dedication to the religious life, as evident in the foundation of two religious congregations he set himself.

Moreau's beatification was celebrated in mid-1987.

Bl. Frédéric Janssoone

Frédéric Janssoone, O.F.M., (also known as the Blessed Frédéric of Ghyvelde or Frédéric of Saint-Yves) (19 November 1838, Ghyvelde, France — 4 August 1916, Montreal, Canada) was a French-born Franciscan friar and Catholic priest who worked in France, Egypt, Palestine and Quebec, where he died. He was a famous preacher who re-established the Order of Friars Minor in Canada. The Catholic Church has beatified him.