By Ryan LeBlanc
What if we had a patron saint who understood what it was like to struggle to find and follow their purpose in life, experience intrusive thoughts, be caught between two cultures far from home, and trust in God when sacrificing for the poor and vulnerable seemed too much to bear?
At the very foundation of Canadian Catholicism lives a young woman whose experience of mental, physical, spiritual and social evils gives us in our time an example, an inspiration, an ally and a friend who understands.
Blessed Catherine de Saint-Augustin lived in the 17th century as one of the Augustinian nuns who founded and established the first Canadian hospital in Quebec.
At the age of 15, before she was old enough to take vows to be a nun, Catherine insistently volunteered to leave her home country of France to support the faltering Hotel-Dieu hospital in Quebec. She had to overcome hesitancy and opposition from church officials and her family, but she knew in her heart that God made her to serve the sick across the ocean. Nothing would dissuade this determined and gifted young woman.
Crossing the Ocean, Crossing a Threshold
The voyage itself nearly killed her. Besides the regular dangers of storms, pirates, shipwreck and malnutrition, Catherine contracted the Black Death from another passenger. While she lay dying, she saw the Blessed Virgin appear to her and offer her a choice: Mary would bring her straight to heaven right there, or if she wanted, she could continue to live on Earth where God would sometimes be hidden from her, but she would participate in God’s will by loving with tangible care the poor and the sick who are special to God. Answering our Lady, she said, “I can only want what you and your Son love best!”
Arriving in Quebec, Catherine worked hard and inspired others. She was so intelligent and capable that she supported every aspect of hospital governance, including managing the budget, building a new hospital, and directing care.
Her natural gifts of beauty and charm were upgraded by her faith and charity, so that every patient and colleague was seen and uplifted in her presence. She learned Indigenous languages and by the Indigenous community there, she was given the name Iakonikonriiostha which means “she who beautifies the soul.”
An image of Blessed Catherine from the Catherine-de-Saint-Augustin Centre in Quebec City.
The Hidden Battle
Behind her outward disposition and competence, Catherine went through extreme interior strife.
Under the exhausting demands of frontier nursing, she experienced what she called temptations, chronic intrusive thoughts about forsaking her vow of chastity, her shared life with the nuns, and her commitment to live and die in Canada. The more she struggled against these thoughts, the more power they had to discourage her and leave her convinced of her own sinfulness.
Her trust in God and continued service to his poor and sick opened her to mystical experiences. Quite regularly towards the end of her life, she saw demons seeking to harm, along with encouraging visions of Jesus, Mary and the saints. A living spiritual director guided her through these experiences, and when she needed more support, God sent St. Jean Brebeuf, who was martyred in 1649, to appear to Catherine and guide her as well.
Catherine lived during a time of significant upheaval, corruption and suffering for European nations such as France, which deeply affected international relations and realities for Indigenous peoples. Both the state and the church authorities of France strove to consolidate absolute power, while common people faced the war, disease and famine that resulted from the choices of the powerful.
Standing With the Vulnerable
War in Canada between the Iroquois and the French and their First Nations allies left the hospital nuns with malnourished refugees and wounded soldiers to care for. Among the French settlers themselves, the tightly controlled social order of France gave way to a lawlessness that exploited the vulnerable, as with the sale of alcohol and the abuse of women.
Rather than hiding in a convent which sheltered her from these harsh realities, Catherine and her sister nuns existed to reach out to alleviate the victims of such cultural evils. They stood with the vulnerable, signalling human dignity through the unconditional care they offered.
Catherine herself expressed this when she prayed that she would be a sacrificial victim to Divine Justice for sinners, refusing to withdraw love from any person, no matter their nation, class or gender.
All My Troubles Are Over
Throughout her life, Catherine experienced chronically poor health. At the age of 36, she succumbed to illness. While her sisters gathered around her deathbed, she suddenly seemed to gather a final strength and calm.
“I have just been told that all my troubles are over, that all is finished, that there will be no more sorrows for me,” she said. In her joy, she requested food to eat and for those gathered to sing a song of praise to God! Her clear voice rose above and strengthened the voices of her grieving sisters. After this, she returned to sleep and died peacefully and painlessly.
Blessed Catherine of St. Augustine’s memorial is May 8.
Today the Hotel-Dieu she helped establish continues to heal the sick, and the Augustinian nuns have passed control of their monastery to an institution offering a wellness resting place, especially for caregivers, health workers and patients.
For Canadian Catholics, we live as Church defined in part by Blessed Catherine and the Augustinians heroically living out the Gospel. In a time of division, apathy and conflict, Blessed Catherine calls and confirms us to have complete trust in God, to care for all people, and to lay down our own will.
Prayer Novena
Day 1
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Holy Mother Mary, you cared for Blessed Catherine with tender love. We come to you now seeking to love you like she does, that you might lead all of us to your Son, Jesus Christ.
Blessed Catherine, you spent your whole life seeking to make God’s Will your only desire, focus and purpose. Following God’s Will led you to religious life, to Canada and to establish Hotel-Dieu, even in the face of immense trial and suffering.
Among your beloved sisters, you saw and revealed the dignity of the poor and sick, the First Nations and the Europeans, just as God wills it in his eternal kingdom.
Pray for us wayward sinners that we would receive the grace to see God’s Will as the perfect trustworthy path of abundant living.
Pray also for these intentions, that they may bring about God’s Will for me: (mention your intentions here).
Hail Mary, full of grace! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Blessed Catherine, pray for us!
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Day 2
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Holy Mother Mary, your Immaculate Heart was so set on the will of the God of Israel, that when the angel Gabriel came to announce God’s unbelievable plan, you believed it! Just so, as a gentle mother, you held young Blessed Catherine’s hand and led her to believe that God would take care of every aspect of her life, no matter what adventures might oppose her.
Blessed Catherine, at 12 years old and for the rest of your life, you entered the convent to find the community and career that you were made for. Especially young people, we all need more grace to see where our gifts are needed, to follow God’s Will and to lead amazing lives.
Pray for me and all those who are seeking, that through prayer and charity our hearts may grow bold and confident in our Father’s love for us. With this anointing, may we always turn to Jesus through Mary in all circumstances, and in doing so find our own small right way.
Pray for my intentions today, for all the ways in which I might know and do God’s Will in my life: (mention your intentions here).
Hail Mary, full of grace! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Blessed Catherine, pray for us!
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Day 3
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Holy Mother Mary, as you and St. Elizabeth rejoiced in God’s care for you, and your mothers’ care for the vulnerable persons inside you, so you gently led Blessed Catherine to a religious life of hospital service. As she asked you, “How would you do this task, Blessed Virgin?” she learned from you faithfulness and tender care.
Blessed Catherine, as a child you lived with your grandmother who opened her manor house to receive the sick and poor. From this early experience, you bound yourself to a religious family united in their mission to care for Christ in the sick and poor. You took on the burden and the suffering of those you loved, experiencing all the evil which the world inflicted, and transforming it into love.
Pray for all those called to religious life, and for all those called to serve the sick. Help all of us to see the beautiful face of Christ as our eternal companion, and in the wounded and ill persons we encounter. May your prayers with Mary touch the Sacred Heart of Jesus to bind and heal our unloving hearts..
Pray for my intentions today, that through my trust in Jesus for these intentions I might abide in his communion and restoration: (mention your intentions here).
Hail Mary, full of grace! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Blessed Catherine, pray for us!
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Ryan LeBlanc is a teacher with Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools and a parishioner at the Cathedral of the Holy Family. His writing is available on his blog at ryanleblanc.podia.com
Catholic Saskatoon News is supported by gifts to the Bishop’s Annual Appeal: dscf.ca/baa.