Jeanne Le Ber

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Jeanne Le Ber, (4 January 1662 – 3 October 1714), was a famous recluse in New France.

As a daughter of Jacques le Ber, Jeanne was raised within a wealthy and influential family. She took an early interest in the spiritual life of the community and was a frequent visitor with her godmother, Jeanne Mance at the Hôtel-Dieu. She also had a friendship with Marguerite Bourgeoys, the foundress of the Congregation of Notre Dame, who influenced her spiritual life.

In 1679, events within her religious experience caused her to enter seclusion for a five-year period. She lived in a cell at the rear of the church of the Hôtel-Dieu and left only to attend daily mass. When the sisters of the Congrégation de Notre-Dame decided to build a church on their property, Jeanne had a three-room apartment behind the altar built to her specifications, in return for a generous gift. Her amended vows, which covered perpetual seclusion, chastity, and poverty, had not caused her to divest herself of properties given to her by her family.

She became a well-known person in the colony she enjoyed a great fame and met with important visitors upon occasion. At her death the remainder of her estate was willed to the sisters of the Congrégation de Notre-Dame.