Marie Guyart, known latterly as Marie de l'Incarnation, (28 October 1599 – 30 April 1672), was an Ursuline nun who was the religious foundress of the Ursuline order in New France. Marie Guyart was also known as Marie Martin when she got married to Mr. Martin.
Born in Tours, France, Marie married Claude Martin and had a son before her husband died. He left behind a struggling business that Marie was able to make profitable before selling. Free to pursue her religious inclinations, she experienced a mystical vision on 24 March 1620, that set her on a new path of devotional intensity. After working with a Spiritual Director for many years, she decided to enter the Ursuline Convent in Tours to try her vocation. She abandoned her son to the care of her family, but the emotional pain of the separation would remain with her. Later, when her son became a monk, they corresponded candidly about their spiritual and emotional trials.
Sometime near 1638, Marie de l'Incarnation was guided by visions to go to Canada and found a convent. She had been introduced to Marie-Madeline de Chauvigny de la Peltrie who would be financially able to assist in that endeavor. Marie, along with two Ursulines and Madame de la Peltrie, landed at Quebec City in August 1639. The group managed to found the first hospital in Canada as well as an Ursuline Congregation. Her feast day in the Anglican Church of Canada is 30 April.
Joseph-Émile Brunet was granted a commission for a granite sculpture of “Marie de l’Incarnation and other key figures in the province of Quebec's history at the Parliament Building (Quebec) in 1965. Mr. Joseph-Émile Brunet designed a 7'6 stone sculpture of Marie Guyart (Marie de L’Incarnation in a niche as you enter the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré.
Guyart's life story was adapted into a 2008 docudrama by Jean-Daniel Lafond entitled Folle de Dieu (Madwoman of God). The film starred Marie Tifo as Guyart and was produced by the National Film Board of Canada. Tifo also played the role of Guyart in the 2009 stage production La Déraison d'amour.[1][2]