Marie-Anne-Marcelle Mallet

In May 1849, Mgr Pierre-Flavien Turgeon requested the Sisters of Charity of Montreal to take charge of an orphanage and schools in Quebec. Sister Marcelle Mallet volunteered and arrived in Quebec on August 22, 1849, with five companions. Faced with typhus and cholera epidemics, they cared for the sick, welcomed orphans and the elderly, and opened a dispensary. In 1854, the community became autonomous under the name Sisters of Charity of Quebec. Mother Mallet founded five educational houses outside of Quebec. In 1863, new constitutions of Jesuit inspiration were imposed by Mgr Charles-François Baillargeon. Not re-elected as superior in 1866, she accepted this decision with humility and died of cancer on April 9, 1871.

After her death, the memory of Mother Mallet's holiness and devotion remained vivid. In 1941, an official prayer to obtain favors through her intercession was approved. Her cause for beatification and canonization was officially introduced by the Archdiocese of Quebec on March 26, 1983. On November 26, 1993, the Holy See validated the diocesan inquiry into her life, virtues, and reputation for holiness.

On January 27, 2014, Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic virtues of Marie-Anne-Marcelle Mallet, after receiving Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. She was thus declared venerable. The recognition of a miracle is now required for her beatification.

The spirituality of Marie-Anne-Marcelle Mallet is based on devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a source of charity and consolation. Her legacy continues today through the Sisters of Charity of Quebec, active in Canada, the United States, Japan, and Paraguay. Her tomb is located at the motherhouse in Quebec City. Several works bear her name, such as the Maison Mère-Mallet, the Marcelle-Mallet High School in Lévis, the Maison Marcelle-Mallet in La Pocatière, as well as the Institut Mallet and the Marcelle-Mallet Research Chair at Laval University.