Present in the country since 1884, we are part of an international congregation active on five continents. From East to West, at the heart of mostly French-speaking local communities in Canada, the charism of Wisdom has taken shape in countless ways: care, education, solidarity, and a compassionate presence alongside the most vulnerable. Simplicity, joy, and committed action have shaped our history and continue to inspire our daily lives. This presentation invites you to discover our roots, our founders, and what still animates us today.

Some of the sisters living at Maison Accueil-Sagesse during Mass, also broadcast via closed-circuit television for sisters with limited mobility.

The driving force behind the founding of the Daughters of Wisdom, Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, relied on the collaboration of Marie-Louise Trichet as co-founder of the congregation, established in Poitiers in 1703.

The Blessed Marie-Louise Trichet and Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort joined their efforts in founding and strengthening the Congregation of the Daughters of Wisdom.

 

Their meeting in 1701 marked a decisive turning point. A young woman from a stable Christian family, Marie-Louise was deeply moved by Montfort’s preaching and by his radical Gospel commitment as a missionary wholly devoted to the poor. Under his spiritual guidance, she made the bold choice to leave her social environment and live in a hospital among society’s most vulnerable, sharing their daily lives with great discretion.

While Montfort envisioned the work with prophetic and sometimes unsettling energy, Marie-Louise became its patient and practical architect. She internalized his message, gave it lasting form, and ensured the stability of the emerging community. Appointed leader of the first sisters, she exercised a style of leadership marked by humility, discernment, and deep human closeness. After Montfort’s premature death in 1716, she alone carried forward the foundation amid material poverty and significant opposition.

For more than forty years, Marie-Louise expanded the Daughters of Wisdom through the establishment of schools, hospitals, and houses of charity, often with very limited resources. Despite fragile health, she traveled extensively to support communities, form novices, and safeguard fidelity to the founding charism. She died in 1759 in Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre and is remembered for the quiet fruitfulness of her lifelong commitment. Her beatification in 1993 highlights the essential role she played in the birth and lasting foundation of the Congregation.

Founded in Poitiers, France, on February 2, 1703 by Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, the Congregation of the Daughters of Wisdom has been animated from the very beginning by a single driving force: to make God’s inclusive love known through committed service to the most vulnerable.

Rooted in a spirituality centered on Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom, the Daughters of Wisdom seek to reveal this Wisdom at the heart of the world, while also challenging the “false wisdoms” that weaken individuals and societies. Members of the Montfortian family, alongside the Montfortian Missionaries and the Brothers of Saint Gabriel, they are actively engaged in the fields of health care, education, and social action.

In Canada, their story begins in 1884 in Montfort, Quebec, in response to the call of the Montfortians. From Ontario to New Brunswick and later to Western Canada, they helped establish institutions and initiatives deeply rooted in local communities. The opening of a novitiate in Ottawa in 1904 enabled more than 1,300 Canadian women to join the congregation.

Today, the Canadian Province numbers fewer than 100 members. It continues its mission in new ways, remaining faithful to the spirit of Wisdom.

Overview of the Charism and Activities of the Daughters of Wisdom