Marie-Anne-Marcelle Mallet (March 26, 1805 – April 9, 1871) was a

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nun and founder of the Sisters of Charity of Quebec. Her surname also appears as Maillet or Maillé.

Biography

Marie was born to Vital Mallet and Marguerite Sarrazin in

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. Her father died when she was five and she spent the rest of her childhood living with an aunt and uncle in Lachine and in boarding with the

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. Mallet joined the

Sisters of Charity of the Hôpital Général of Montreal The Sisters of Charity of Montreal, formerly called The Sisters of Charity of the Hôpital Général of Montreal and more commonly known as the Grey Nuns of Montreal, is a Canadian religious institute of Roman Catholic religious sisters, founde ...

as a novice in 1824 and became a nun in 1826. During the 1847

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epidemic in Montreal, she assumed full responsibility of the hospital. In 1849, she was chosen to be the founder and mother superior for a new congregation at

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. Mallet established a relief service for needy children. The Sisters also provided a home for orphan children, as well as aged and infirm people. They also operated boarding schools for girls and an out-patient service for the poor. As well, the Sisters of Charity took in new immigrants who had no place else to stay and people who lost their homes to fire. The congregation went through a change in philosophy after adopting a new framework based on

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order, replacing the earlier rule based on the

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school. Mallet was not re-elected as mother superior in an election held in 1866 and returned to live life as a simple nun. She died in Quebec City on

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at the age of 66 after suffering from cancer for two years. She was declared

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in January 2014. The former convent of the Sisters of Charity of Quebec, known as the Maison Mère-Mallet, has been designated a Quebec heritage building. The Institut Mallet has been established with the aim of promoting a culture of philanthropy in Quebec. A research chair has been established in her name at

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to study the impact of philanthropy on society.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mallet, Marie-Anne-Marcelle 1805 births 1871 deaths Canadian Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns 19th-century venerated Christians Founders of Catholic religious communities Venerated Catholics by Pope Francis