Marie Raizenne (Sister Saint-Ignace)

Marie Raizenne, named sœur Saint-Ignace, was born on July 14, 1735 at the mission of Lac-des-Deux-Montagnes (Oka, Quebec) and died on April 20, 1811 in Montreal. Marie Raizenne’s parents were both born in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Captured by Indians during the War of the Spanish Succession and taken to Sault-au-Récollet, they were baptized in the Catholic faith. They attended the mission schools run by the Sisters of the Congregation and the Sulpicians. At the end of the war they decided not to return to New England and married on July 29, 1715. Three of their children were to dedicate their lives to God, including Marie who entered the novitiate in 1752. Having made her profession in 1754, she lived through the events of the Seven Years’ War in Montreal. In 1761 she helped restore the Sainte-Famille mission on Île d’Orléans. She occupied several administrative positions in Montreal and Quebec before being elected Superior of the Congregation in 1778 and again in 1790. During her second term in office the French Revolution affected the Congregation’s financial situation following the plunder of the properties belonging to the clergy and the religious communities in France. There was no contact with the community’s Procurator. In 1796, at the end of her second term, she again became Novice Mistress. She carried out this position until 1802 and then lived in retirement for the last nine years of her life.