Blessed Francois-Xavier de Montmorency Laval (1623-May 6, 1708)

Francois grew up in a good Catholic family and he studied with priests as he grew up.  So it wasn’t surprising that Francois felt called by God to become a priest too, even when he was very young.  Francois became a priest and then a Bishop who travelled all the way to New France (which is now the province of Quebec in Canada) to lead the Church in the new country.  Bishop Laval was a great missionary, he helped build the Church in the new country; he built a seminary to train more priests; he started Catholic schools; and he also built the beautiful Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.  When he finally retired, he lived as a hermit (alone with God) in Quebec; he spent his time helping the poor and encouraging people to become more like God.  After he died, many miracles happened for people who asked for his prayers.