COURSE PLAN BLESSED MARIE OF NEW FRANCE

COURSE PLAN BLESSED MARIE OF NEW FRANCE COURSE PLAN METHODOLOGY: is represented by the abbreviation MNF. Each weekly assignment is summarized in the first line of the week s daily course plan. The specific daily assignments are outlined in the following lines indicated by the MON, TUES, WED and THURS abbreviations. We suggest assigning the weekly written assignment at the beginning of the week to be completed by the following Monday. This will allow the student to think about the assignment while he is reading. The chapter study questions, chapter vocabulary and glossary are located in the Literature Study Question booklets available for purchase from. Answers should be given in complete written or oral sentences. Geographical Places, Historical figures, and Native American tribes to research: Tours, France; Quebec City, Canada; St. Lawrence River; the Huron; Iroquois; Algonquin; St. Vincent de Paul; Samuel de Champlain; North American Martyrs. Characters Mère Marie de l'incarnation: Marie Martin, the widow who enters a convent and goes to Canada as a missionary, becoming Claude Martin: Mère Marie's son Archbishop Bertrand d'eschaux: the Archbishop of Tours Pierre Duplette: The Archbishop's young servant Claude and Paul Buisson: Mère Marie's sister and her husband, who care for Claude when his mother enters the convent Florent Guyart: Mère Marie's father, a baker Mère Françoise de Saint Bernard: the prioress of the Ursuline convent that Mère Marie enters Dom Raymond: The priest who is Mère Marie's confessor in Tours Père Jacques Dinet: Mère Marie's Jesuit confessor Mère Marie de Saint Bernard: The frail young nun who accompanies Mère Marie to Canada; she changes her name to Mère Saint Joseph Père Antoine Poncet: One of Claude's Jesuit teachers, who sends Mère Marie information about Canada Madame Marie Madeline de la Peltrie: Mère Marie's benefactor, a widow, who goes to Canada with her Monsieur Jean de Bernières: A wealthy treasurer who is Madame de la Peltrie's advisor Charlotte Barré: Madame de la Peltrie's maid, who takes the name Mère Saint Ignace when she joins the Ursulines Mère Cécile de Saint Croix: An Ursuline from Dieppe who journeys with the original group of missionaries Captain Bontemps: The captain of the ship, Saint Joseph, which takes Mère Marie's group to Canada Charles de Montmagny: Governor of Quebec Père Paul Le Jeune: Superior of the Jesuits in Quebec Père Barthélemy Vimont: The priest who succeeds Le Jeune as superior of the Jesuits Paul de Chomédy de Maisonneuve: The young man who is called by God to start a colony in Montreal Jeanne Nance: The woman who assists Maisonneuve Mère Catherine de Saint Augustin: A young, saintly nun who works at the hospital in Quebec Monseigneur François de Montmorency-Laval: The young, aristocratic Bishop of Quebec NN1

COURSE PLAN MNF MON TUES WED WEEK 1 Chapter 1-5. Note there are NO vocabulary words for.. Study questions may be completed as the student reads or at the end of the week when reading has been completed. Written Assignment: List the obstacles which face Mère Marie as she attempts to fulfill her God-given mission to Canada. What is Mère Marie's attitude towards these obstacles? Read Chapter 1-2 and answer Study Questions. Chapter 1. The story opens with the Archbishop awaiting the arrival of Marie Martin, a young, prayerful widow with an 11-year-old son. She tells the Archbishop that she has always wanted to be a nun, and now feels called to enter the Ursuline convent. She has been living with her sister and brother-in-law and helping to run their business, so they are not happy that she wants to enter the convent. The Archbishop supports her plans and urges her to ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to help her tell her son what she plans to do. When Marie gets home, she finds that her son Claude has already guessed that something is going on and is worried. She tells him that she wants to enter the convent, and he eventually agrees that it will not be a bad thing. Before long, Marie has joined the ranks of novices at the Ursuline convent. Chapter 2. The Buissons, angry that they no longer have Marie to work for them, encourage Claude to make a fuss at the convent, begging his mother to come back. The problem is solved when Claude gets into a Jesuit school in Rennes. Later, he goes to a different Jesuit school in Orléans. After two years, Marie takes permanent vows and becomes assistant Novice Mistress at the convent, taking the name Mère Marie de l'incarnation. She has a dream of going to a place of rocks and forest along with a fairhaired woman. There, a statue of Our Lady kisses her. Père Dinet, her confessor, helps her to understand that the dream means that she is to be a missionary to Canada, called New France. Later, Jesus speaks to her heart and confirms that this is true. She begins to eagerly research the state of the missions in New France, and finds that they are greatly in need of teaching nuns. Read Chapter 3-4 and answer Study Questions. Chapter 3. The Archbishop agrees to allow Mère Marie to go to Canada, if she can find a benefactor. While she is waiting for the benefactor to appear, Mère Marie becomes headmistress of her convent's boarding school. After three years, a widow named Madame de la Peltrie expresses interest in helping Mère Marie's cause. When Madame de la Peltrie arrives, Mère Marie sees with delight that this is the same woman from her dream. Madame explains that she also was told to go to Canada in a dream, and that she was later cured of an illness after she promised St. Joseph that she would go there. The community does not waste time in preparing to set off. They vote on who will go to Canada, and one of the nuns chosen is Mère Saint Bernard, who changes her name to Mère Saint Joseph in thanksgiving that St. Joseph answered her petitions to be able to go on the mission. Chapter 4. The group of missionaries heads to Orléans. There, Mère Marie is going to tell her son that she is leaving. However, once she gets there she finds out that her sister Claude, who disapproves of the mission to Canada, has already told the boy Claude about the mission and has also cut off her financial support for him. He is angry when his mother arrives, but after she explains to him the value of her work and asks him to offer up the sacrifice of her departure, he calms down. He asks his mother to pray for a special intention. Next the group goes to Paris, to complete some preparations for their trip to Canada. While there, they find out that Claude has applied to become a Jesuit priest. Read Chapter 5 and answer Study Questions. Chapter 5. Claude does not get accepted by the Jesuits, but Mère Marie still feels that he will be well taken care of in her absence by Jean Bernières. The group travels to Dieppe, from where the Saint Joseph will set sail to New France. There are 13 missionaries aboard the ship. After a few days of sailing, the ship must weather a terrible storm. All NN2

COURSE PLAN THUR of the nuns pray fervently below decks and suffer severe seasickness. Once the storm passes, the Captain throws a party for the passengers, with good food and fireworks. Before long, however, danger looms again in the form of a giant iceberg. The ship manages to escape being crushed by it, thanks to the litany to Our Lady which the missionaries pray. Finally, after two and a half months of travel, the ship reaches Canada. The sisters go ashore to see the Native American children, and are amazed at how dirty they are, but are also impressed with their sweetness. Work on written assignment, due Monday. Notes MNF MON TUES WEEK 2 Chapter 6-11. Note there are NO vocabulary words for St. Dominic. Study questions may be completed as the student reads or at the end of the week when reading has been completed. Written Assignment: Describe the good things which come about in New France as a result of the missionaries' prayers and works. Read Chapter 6-7 and answer Study Questions. Chapter 6. The travelers take a boat called the Saint Jacques for the 150 miles down the St. Lawrence river to Quebec. The boat is full of codfish, and it rains during the trip, so the missionaries arrive at the city soggy and smelling of fish. The people of Quebec give the missionaries a grand welcome, complete with fireworks and speeches. However, the only housing available for the sisters at present is a two-room cottage. Nonetheless, Mère Marie rejoices at finally having arrived in New France. Chapter 7. The sisters take one Native American girl into their convent, and then become flooded with visitors when a smallpox epidemic hits. They nurse most of their patients back to health. Throughout the first winter in Quebec, the sisters thrive miraculously, and also learn the Native American languages with astonishing speed. In the spring, the ships arrive from France, bringing news that Mère Marie's son is doing well. They also bring more Ursulines, who announce that a group is preparing to found a colony in Montreal. The governor of Quebec opposes the plan, thinking it too dangerous because of the Iroquois. However, Paul de Maisonneuve is determined to do it, feeling he has been called by God. Madame de la Peltrie becomes enthused with the plan as well, and decides to leave Quebec in order to help the settlers in Montreal. Mère Marie is sad, but she offers up the loss of Madame de la Peltrie for her son, who has joined the Benedictines back in France. Read Chapter 8-9 and answer Study Questions. Chapter 8. Madame de la Peltrie leaves for Montreal, taking all of her nice things with her. The neighbors help supply what the sisters are missing. Mère Marie is concerned for the Montreal settlers when she hears that the Iroquois have captured and tortured priests and killed a doctor, named René Goupil. Madame de la Peltrie remains where she is, and all the sisters pray for her. The beautiful convent is finally finished, and it includes a shrine to the Sacred Heart, the first of its kind in the world. Soon, the governor orders Madame de la Peltrie to return to Quebec. She builds her own house near the convent, where she throws parties for the little Native American girls and makes dresses for them. She wants to join the Ursulines along with her maid, but Mère Marie discourages her, believing that she does not actually have a vocation. Chapter 9. For four years, Madame de la Peltrie lives happily alongside the nuns at the convent. Then, one winter night, the convent burns down. Though no one is hurt, the sisters lose NN3

COURSE PLAN WED THUR everything. The sisters stay at first with the hospital nuns, and then relocate to Madame de la Peltrie's house. While they are in the process of rebuilding the convent, Mère Saint Joseph becomes ill with tuberculosis. Aided by the prayers of Mère Marie's son, who is now a Benedictine, Mère Saint Joseph dies a peaceful, holy death. Read Chapter 10-11 and answer Study Questions. Chapter 10. The Iroquois become increasingly hostile to the French settlers, so the governor orders the nuns to leave the convent for the Jesuit house. The soldiers are to use the convent as one of their forts. Mère Marie convinces the governor to allow her and some of the other nuns to stay in the convent to cook and clean for the soldiers. Tension builds in the city as the settlers wait for an Iroquois attack, until they find out that a group of men in a different part of Canada have fought the Iroquois with such valor that they no longer plan to attack French settlements. However, the danger doesn't completely abate until the Bishop of Quebec is able to go to France and request an army to fight the Iroquois. After that, an army led by Alexandre de Tracy subdues the Iroquois enough that the Jesuits are able to continue their mission work among them. Chapter 11. Ten years pass. The Iroquois chief has been converted, and Quebec has grown to a city of a thousand people. Mère Marie decides to step down as superior of the Ursulines because of her age and poor health. She continues with tasks around the convent, however, particularly teaching the languages. We find out that her son Claude has become the assistant superior of the Benedictines, thanks to his mother's prayers and sacrifices. Before long, Madame de la Peltrie becomes sick and dies unexpectedly. Mère Marie looks as though she will follow soon after, for her illness relapses. However, she holds on for several months, still finding the strength to visit with the Native American children and send messages to her son. She dies on April 30, 1672. Work on written assignment, due Monday. Notes MNF MON to WED THUR FRI WEEK 3 Written assignment: Congratulations! You have finished reading. Now you need to write a nice book report on the story. Written Assignment. Work on your book report. Review your paper to make sure everything you have written supports your thesis statement, and the entire paper has a gentle flow from one supported idea to the next. Check for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. Rewrite the paper neatly if you are writing it in long hand. Study for the Final Exam. Review all your Study Questions. Final Exam. NN4

ASSIGNMENT ANSWER KEY WEEK 1: Written Assignment: What obstacles face Mère Marie on her mission to Canada. What is Mère Marie's attitude towards these obstacles? The Novice Mistress thinks Mère Marie's feeling that she must go away from Tours is from the devil. Once her plan gets approved by the Archbishop, she cannot find a benefactor. When her sister Claude hears about the plan, she poisons Mère Marie's son Claude's mind against the mission. When Claude becomes reconciled to the plan, he finds out that he will not be able to join the Jesuits as he wanted to. Finally, on the ship to Canada, Mère Marie's group faces a storm and an iceberg. Mère Marie is faithful to the mission she knows God has given her. She prays constantly and never doubts that God will take care of everything. WEEK 2: Written Assignment: Describe the good things which come about in New France as a result of the missionaries' prayers and works. The Native American children learn how to read and write and be good Christians. The sick are nursed back to health, sometimes miraculously. The belligerent Iroquois become peaceful Christians. Beautiful churches and other buildings are built. Quebec becomes a great and beautiful city. NN5

FINAL EXAM Part I. Identify. Give a description and brief character analysis of each character. (3 points each) 1. Mère Marie de l'incarnation 2. Claude Buisson 3. Claude Martin 4. Madame de la Peltrie 5. Charlotte Barré 6. Mère Saint Joseph 7. Jean de Bernières 8. Paul de Chomédy de Maisonneuve 9. Mère Catherine de Saint Augustin 10. Monseigneur François de Montmorency-Laval Part II. Short Answer. Answer in complete sentences, giving as much detail as possible. (4 points each) 1. Why were Paul and Claude Buisson so opposed to Mère Marie entering the religious life? 2. Describe the dream which inspires Mère Marie to go to Canada. 3. List the steps of Claude Martin's journey to the priesthood. 4. List at least 3 miracles which take place in the course of the story. 5. What kind of person is Madame de la Peltrie, and what does she do to aid the missionaries in Canada? 6. How do the nuns nourish the minds, souls, and bodies of the Indian children? 7. Describe aspects of the way of life of the Huron and Algonquin Indians which you learned from the story. 8. Who were Isaac Jogues, Guillame Couture, and René Goupil? 9. How were the settlers saved from the threat of the Iroquois Indians? 10. Describe the final illness and death of Mère Marie. Part III. Essay. This should be at least one full paragraph with plenty of examples from the text to support your answer. (30 points) Mère Marie's situation is unusual for a religious because she had a son of her own whom she had to leave to become a nun. How does she continue to be a mother, both to her own son and to others, after she enters the religious life? NN

FINAL EXAM ANSWER KEY Part I. Identify. Give a description and brief character analysis of each character. (3 points each) 1. Mère Marie de l'incarnation The holy nun who is called by God to be a missionary in Canada; she becomes 2. Claude Buisson Mère Marie's sister, who opposes Mère Marie's vocation and desire to travel to Canada 3. Claude Martin Mère Marie's son, who starts out as an irresponsible boy and becomes a holy priest 4. Madame de la Peltrie The wealthy widow who gives not only her money, but her entire life to the mission in Canada 5. Charlotte Barré Madame de la Peltrie's maid and best friend, who becomes an Ursuline and takes on the name Mère Saint Ignace 6. Mère Saint Joseph The frail nun who is enthusiastic about traveling to Canada despite her poor health, and who dies of tuberculosis at a young age 7. Jean de Bernières Madame de la Peltrie's wealthy and influential friend, who ensures that Claude Martin is well taken care of 8. Paul de Chomédy de Maisonneuve The young man who is determined to start a colony in Montreal, despite the dangers, because he feels called by God to do so 9. Mère Catherine de Saint Augustin The holy nun who works at the hospital in Quebec and who has miraculous healing skills 10. Monseigneur François de Montmorency-Laval The aristocratic bishop of Quebec, who uses his influence in court to get troops sent to Canada to fight the Iroquois Part II. Short Answer. Answer in complete sentences, giving as much detail as possible. (4 points each) 1. Why were Paul and Claude Buisson so opposed to Mère Marie entering the religious life? The main reason was that they wanted her to continue her valuable work for their transportation company. Later, when she announced her intention to go to Canada, they thought the work was beneath her and too dangerous. 2. Describe the dream which inspires Mère Marie to go to Canada. She sees herself and a fair-haired woman arriving at a land of rock and forest, where they see a beautiful chapel. There, a statue of the Madonna kisses her. 3. List the steps of Claude Martin's journey to the priesthood. First, he studies at a Jesuit school in Rennes, but he is sent away from there. He later does well at a Jesuit school in Orlèans. From there, he applies to enter the Jesuits, but they reject him. He finally becomes a Benedictine, and the associate superior of their order no less. 4. List at least 3 miracles which take place in the course of the story. Mère Marie's dream and the fact that Madame de la Peltrie is in it; the fact that the ship is saved from the storm and later from the iceberg; the nuns' remarkable ability to learn languages; the fact that no one died in the fire; Mère Catherine's ability to heal the incurable 5. What kind of person is Madame de la Peltrie, and what does she do to aid the missionaries in Canada? She is a wealthy young widow, full of life and faith. She travels to Canada with the nuns and lets them use her nice things while she pays for them to build a convent. Later, she goes to Montreal and works with the settlers there, despite the danger from the Iroquois. When she comes back to Quebec, she lets the nuns live in her house when the convent burns down. 6. How do the nuns nourish the minds, souls, and bodies of the Indian children? They teach them to read and write; they baptize them and teach them about the Catholic faith; they make sure they have nice NN

FINAL EXAM ANSWER KEY food, parties, music, and dresses. 7. Describe aspects of the way of life of the Huron and Algonquin Indians which you learned from the story. The Indians are highly mobile, not liking to stay in one place for any length of time. They do not bathe, but use bear grease to keep their skin shiny. They trap animals to get furs to trade with the French. 8. Who were Isaac Jogues, Guillame Couture, and René Goupil? They were two Jesuit priests and a doctor who worked to convert the Iroquois. They were all captured, tortured, and killed by the Iroquois Goupil first, and the two priests, along with other priests, later. 9. How are the settlers saved from the threat of the Iroquois Indians? First, some valiant men at Sault Saint Louis fight the Iroquois and are defeated, but show such bravery that they Indians are cowed. Later, the King sends an army led by Alexandre de Tracy to stand against the Iroquois. They don't even need to fight just their presence defeats the Iroquois. Later, many Iroquois are converted, including their main chief. 10. Describe the final illness and death of Mère Marie. She steps down from her post as superior at age 71 because of general exhaustion. She becomes better after some rest, but later relapses and has abscesses. She is in much pain, but offers it all up for her son and for souls in the New World. She dies surrounded by her praying sisters. Part III. Essay. This should be at least one full paragraph with plenty of examples from the text to support your answer. (30 points) Mère Marie's situation is unusual for a religious because she had a son of her own whom she had to leave to become a nun. How does she continue to be a mother, both to her own son and to others, after she enters the religious life? Mère Marie offers up prayers and sacrifices for her son continually. Some of her last words are that she is praying for him to become a saint. Because of her devotion to him, even from across the ocean, he is able to become a good and holy priest. Mère Marie also is a mother figure to the other nuns in her convent, since she is their superior, and to the Indian children who attend the school she runs. NN