St. Jeanne Le Ber – Canadian Recluse and Contemplative of New France

ST. JEANNE LEBER

St. Jeanne Le Ber was a Canadian recluse and religious figure who lived a life of silence, prayer, and solitude within a convent chapel, earning reverence for her holiness and dedication to Christ.

St. Jeanne Le Ber was born on January 4, 1662, in Ville-Marie (present-day Montreal), in what was then New France, now Canada. She was the daughter of one of the wealthiest and most influential families in the colony. Her father, Jacques Le Ber, was a successful merchant, and her mother, Jeanne Le Moyne, came from a prominent family as well. From an early age, Jeanne showed a deep religious sensitivity and a desire for a contemplative life.

She received her education at the Ursuline convent in Quebec, where she became immersed in the Catholic spiritual tradition and developed a profound love for prayer and the Eucharist. Despite her family’s wealth and prominence, Jeanne felt no attraction to the social privileges her birth afforded her. She refused marriage proposals and instead longed for a life hidden in Christ.

In her early twenties, Jeanne made a radical decision: she would live as a recluse, entirely devoted to God, but not within a traditional convent. Instead, she arranged to live in a small cell constructed behind the altar of the chapel of the Congregation of Notre Dame in Montreal. There, with the permission of the local bishop and the support of the sisters, she took a private vow of perpetual enclosure, poverty, and chastity.

For the next several decades, Jeanne lived in total seclusion. She communicated with the outside world only through a small grille and received food and necessities from the sisters of the congregation. Her days were spent in prayer, especially Eucharistic adoration, and in embroidering sacred vestments for the Church. Despite her isolation, Jeanne remained spiritually engaged with the world, praying for the Church, the colony, and the suffering.

Her radical witness drew admiration from many, including clergy and laypeople. She inspired others to deeper faith through the intensity of her devotion. Though she lived in silence and hiddenness, Jeanne Le Ber became a spiritual figure for the fledgling Catholic Church in New France. Her choice of enclosure, not within a cloistered order but as a laywoman in voluntary reclusion, was almost unheard of in the New World and marked her as a unique and courageous soul.

She died on October 3, 1714, in the chapel where she had spent most of her life. Her reputation for holiness persisted, and devotion to her grew, especially in Montreal. Though she has not been officially canonized by the Church, she is widely venerated in Canada, particularly in Quebec, as a holy woman who embodied the contemplative spirit in the midst of an active, frontier society.

Feast Day

3-10-1714

Birth Date

4-1-1662

Died Date

3-10-1714

Canonised Date

--N/A

Chapel of the Congregation of Notre Dame, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

St. Jeanne Le Ber, who embraced solitude to be close to Christ, teach us the beauty of silence and prayer in a noisy world. May we seek God with your same fervent heart. Amen.
ST. JEANNE LEBER

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ST. JEANNE LEBER

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