Joseph Denis (baptismal name Jacques) (6 November 1657, at

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River across from the city of ...

, Canada – 25 January 1736) was a Canadian

Récollet The Recollects (french: Récollets) were a French reform branch of the Friars Minor, a Franciscan order. Denoted by their gray habits and pointed hoods, the Recollects took vows of poverty and devoted their lives to prayer, penance, and spiri ...

priest.

Life

He was the first Canadian to join the Recollects of the Friars Minor. His father, Pierre Denis de la Ronde and his mother Catherine Leneuf de la Poterie, were natives of

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

. In 1669 he entered the seminary at

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

and on 9 May 1677, joined the Recollects in the same city, taking in religion the name of Joseph. When professed he went to France to study theology. After being ordained he returned to Canada in 1682, where in 1685, he completed the installation of the Recollects at

Ile Percée Ile may refer to: * iLe, a Puerto Rican singer * Ile District (disambiguation), multiple places * Ilé-Ifẹ̀, an ancient Yoruba city in south-western Nigeria * Interlingue (ISO 639:ile), a planned language * Isoleucine, an amino acid * Anothe ...

. He founded the house of the order at Plaisance in 1689 and that at

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

in 1692. After holding the office of provincial commissary, superior of the convent of Quebec, and master of novices, in 1709 he was namedsuperior of the Recollects and parish priest of Three Rivers, where he rebuilt the old church in stone. In 1719 he carried to France, to be forwarded to Rome, the ''Acts of Brother Didace'' (''Les actes du tres-religieux Frere Didace''), a Canadian Recollect whose confessor he was for many years. He died shortly after his return to

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spa ...

References

;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Denis, Joseph 1657 births 1736 deaths Canadian Friars Minor Roman Catholic priests in New France