Marie-Victoire Baudry (12 December 1782 – 10 November 1846), named Mother de la Croix, was

Superior General A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of an 'order' of religious persons (nuns, priests, friars, etc) or, in other words, of a 'religious institute' in the Catholic Church, and in some other Christian denominations. The super ...

of the

Congregation of Notre Dame The Congrégation de Notre Dame (CND) is a religious community for women founded in 1658 in Ville Marie (Montreal), in the colony of New France, now part of Canada. It was established by Marguerite Bourgeoys, who was recruited in France to creat ...

Life

Baudry was born on 12 December 1782 in the town of

Pointe-aux-Trembles Pointe-aux-Trembles () was a municipality, founded in 1674, that was annexed by Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1982. This was the last city to be merged into Montreal until the 2002 municipal reorganization. On January 1, 2002 this neighbourhood ...

(now part of Montreal), the daughter of Toussaint Baudry and Élisabeth Truteau. Baudry went to a convent school in the town and later entered the

noviciate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monasticism, monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking Religious vows, vows ...

of the Congregation of Notre Dame which had taught her, at Montreal in 1799. She was the first native of the colony to enter the congregation. A year later, she took her

vow A vow ( Lat. ''votum'', vow, promise; see vote) is a promise or oath. A vow is used as a promise that is solemn rather than casual. Marriage vows Marriage vows are binding promises each partner in a couple makes to the other during a weddin ...

s and assumed her

religious name A religious name is a type of given name bestowed for religious purposes, and which is generally used in such contexts. Christianity Catholic Church Baptismal name In baptism, Catholic Church, Catholics are given a Christian name, which should n ...

, after which she began a teaching career at a mission on the

Island of Montreal The Island of Montreal (, ) is an island in southwestern Quebec, Canada, which is the site of a number of municipalities, including most of the city of Montreal, and is the most populous island in Canada. It is the main island of the Hochelag ...

. She later moved to Lower Town mission at

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. Because of circumstances within her congregation, she left teaching and became involved in the internal administration of the institute. She became Superior General in 1822 for a six-year term and was succeeded by Mother

Marie-Catherine Huot Marie-Catherine Huot (30 April 1791 – 7 January 1869), known as Sainte-Madeleine in her vocation, succeeded Marie-Victoire Baudry as superior of the Congregation of Notre Dame with its motherhouse in Montreal Montreal is the List of to ...

. She was elected councillor at that time and continued in that post until her death. Mother de la Croix went on to set up new missions and strongly influenced the curriculum in the schools of the congregation. She died at the

Motherhouse A motherhouse or mother house is the principal house or community for a Catholic religious community.YourDictionaryMotherhouse/ref> One example is the Missionaries of Charity's motherhouse in Kolkata, which functions as the congregation's headquart ...

of the congregation in Montreal in 1846.

References

* 1782 births 1846 deaths Leaders of Catholic female orders and societies 19th-century Canadian nuns People of New France People from Montreal {{RC-bio-stub