Les Samedis de l'histoire

Through a partnership with the Société historique de Montréal, we are presenting The great spiritual currents that led to the founding of Ville-Marie (in French) as part of our Samedis de l'histoire lecture series.

Our guest speaker, Marcel Lessard, is a priest and secretary to the Archbishop of Montréal. A researcher who is passionate about the history of New France, he organized a Franco-Québécois exchange held in Montréal from July 13 to 27, 1992, as a “pilgrimage to the wellsprings of Ville-Marie,” and, in August 1993, in La Flèche, in the former Anjou region. Marcel Lessard took to the road along with thirty-six young students from the region and an equal number of students from Québec, celebrating the 350th anniversary of the founding of Montréal.

The lecture is held in French