About > History > Our Foundress♦: Marie Anne Blondin

Esther Blondin, Marie Anne was born in Terrebonne, Quebec on April 18, 1809. She lived with her parents Jean Baptiste Blondin and Marie Rose Limoges, and her family. Her family of deeply Christian farmers who lived in the bordering river Côte Terrebonne. However, like many farmers back then, she was illiterate.

In the meantime to help her family financially, Anne began to do domestic work for a village merchant family. A few months later, she offered her services to the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame who directed the parish school. She became a servant there and registered to become a full-time boarder. At age 22, she entered the Congregation, but her weak health made her return home . She then had to leave because of her fragile health. After resting for a couple of months, she accepted the invitation of a former novice of the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame, Suzanne Pineault, who directed her to a school in Vaudreuil. This was the beginning of her teaching career. Many year later, she became the directress of the school that was renamed Blondin Academy. All this despite the fact that she was illiterate.

In 1833, Esther became a teacher at the parochial school of Vaudreuil. At that time, the church forbade the women to teach with the boys, and the men to teach with the girls.

In the spring of 1848, pushed by an irresistible call of the Spirit, Esther went to Montreal to submit to the bishop the project to found a religious congregation for the education of the poor children of the campaign. The project appeared to him as "bold and subversive to the established command. " When she was 41, she founded the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Anne due to the problems that arose in the schools of Quebec. She wanted to dedicate her livelihood to the education of poor children and planned to open co-education classes. However, co-education caused problems because it was frowned upon but Esther still pushed for it. Esther, who then became Sister Marie Anne, was named Superior of the congregation.