Marie Paule Giguere -Mother Paul Marie, Foundress of the Army of Mary--Obituary and Biography

Mother Paul-Marie (Marie-Paule Giguere) age 59

Obituary: Marie-Paule Giguere (Mother Paul-Marie), Foundress of the Army of Mary (L'Armée de Marie), the Community of the Sons and Daughters of Mary & three other religious Associations, passes from this life at age 93.

April 25, 2015: Community of the Sons & Daughters of Mary, Spiri-Maria Chapel, Lac Etchemin, Quebec.

Saturday April 25, 2015 marked the passing at age 93 of a well known alleged mystic and visionary Marie-Paule Giguere, known as Mother Paul-Marie to the members of the religious Communites of which she founded.

Marie-Paule Giguere was born in Lac-Etchemin, Quebec on September 14, 1921, the first girl of ten children born to Ernest and Laura (Begin) Giguere, a devout Catholic family. She married Geroges Cliche in 1944, and together they had five children, however she eventually separated from her husband in 1957.

After the separation from her husband, she was purportedly inspired by heaven to successively found five religious Associations or "Works", beginning with the Army of Mary (August 28, 1971) (known as L'Armée de Marie in French) and later the Community of the Sons and Daughters of Mary which consists of a Community of religious priests, deacons and professed religious sisters and brothers, and also a lay branch called the Family of the Sons & Daughters of Mary, along with two other Associations--the Oblate Patriots and the Marialys Institute. The combined membership of these five Associations numbers well into the thousands throughout the world, the majority of which are centered in Lac Etchemin, Quebec at the Communities 'Spiri-Maria Chapel and retreat center'.

By far the most popular of the Associations founded by Marie-Paule Giguere is the Army of Mary, which was founded on August 28, 1971. From the 1970's to the 1990's, the Army of Mary often held very popular days of prayer in Catholic churches throughout Canada, USA and Europe, many of which were often attended by thousands of persons. Led by Marie-Paule, the group made numerous large pilgrimages to Catholic churches and shrines throughout the world, most notably were pilgrimages to the Vatican, Lourdes, Fatima and Garabandal. 

Marie-Paule Giguere (Mother Paul-Marie), age 33

Difficulties with the Catholic Church leading to an eventual excommunication of the Community
For the Catholic church, one of the first "very troubling" revelations from Marie-Paule came through the Army of Mary's newspaper, which at that time was titled "Marie" (nowadays it is titled "Le Royume" or "The Kingdom" in English) wherein Marie-Paul herself wrote a special article entitled "I am the Lady of All Peoples" --an article which according to Marie-Paule was "ordered by On-High" and in which Marie-Paule declares herself to be "The Lady of All Peoples".

Another early example of an astounding revelation concerning the person of Marie-Paule can be found in her autobiography "Live of Love", Vol XII, page 102, where concerning her sufferings at that time, and also having foreseen certain trials that were forthcoming in her 'mission', the Lord purportedly tells her in an inner locution:
"Accept; the fate of humanity hinges upon your 'fiat'.

These two examples were only the beginning of many astounding revelations over the years concerning the person of Marie-Paule; revelations that would put her, the Army of Mary and the religious and lay Communities that she founded at odds with the Catholic Church, eventually leading up to a formal excommunication by the Vatican. 

On May 4, 1987, Cardinal Louis-Albert Vachon, who was at the time the Archbishop of Québec, formally revoked the decree declaring the Army of Mary as a Pious Association. This was done after a committee of theologians examined the writings of Marie-Paule and other members of the Army of Mary and determined that they contained grave doctrinal errors. In addition, the Cardinal sanctioned the group from holding its days or prayer or any other meetings in any of the Catholic churches within the diocese.

Thus unable to hold days of prayer within the Quebec churches, Mother Paul-Marie was allegedly inspired by heaven to build a chapel in Lac Etchemin, Quebec, known as "The Eucharistic and Marian Center Spiri-Maria" which was completed in the year 2000.

Spiri-Maria Chapel -Eucharistic and Marian Center

As the years progressed, an increasing number of doctrinal beliefs primarily concerning the person and alleged mission of Marie-Paule (Mother Paul-Marie), which were based on her alleged heavenly locutions as found in her autobiography"VIE D'AMOUR" (or "Life of Love" in English) and revealed in the Army of Mary's newspaper "Le Royume", caused much concern in both the Quebec archdiocese, and also in the Vatican, as the additional beliefs --especially those concerning the person and alleged mission of Marie-Paule as the "Lady of all Peoples" and the "Coredemptrix" --were not seen as being in conformity with Catholic theology and doctrine. Because of this, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) issued a Doctrinal Note on August 15, 2001 warning the Catholic faithful of the doctrinal errors that were being promulgated by the Army of Mary and its affiliated branches.

The Lady of all Peoples statue inside of the Spiri-Maria Chapel

Four years after the Canadian Bishops Doctrinal Note came a Pastoral Letter by the Quebec Cardinal Marc Ouellet on April 4, 2005, and also a Pastoral letter to the Sons of Mary priests from the Pontifical Commissioner, Archbishop Prendergast on April 4, 2005, followed by a letter to Mother Paul-Marie from the Pontifical Commissioner, Archbishop Prendergast on June 4, 2005 and two years later on March 26, 2007 , Cardinal Ouellet issued a "Declaration on the Army of Mary" to name just a few of the many public and private attempts by the Catholic church to guide the Army of Mary and its associated branches to reject the new revelations concerning Mother Paule-Marie that were being promulgated within the Community, and to accept only the explicit doctrines of the Catholic church.

Army of Mary at Saint Peters Basilica, Rome. May 31, 1979

The culmination of events leading up to the official excommunication from the Catholic church was the attempted ordination of six men to the priesthood and the diaconate at the Spiri-Maria chapel on June 3, 2007. The attempted ordinations, performed by Father Pierre Mastropietro, a priest within the Community of the Sons and Daughters of Mary, was seen in the eyes of the Church as a openly schismatic act, and thus resulted in a formal Declaration of Excommunication from the Vatican , dated July 11, 2007.

As the Declaration of Excommunication states, any religious or lay member who fails to renounce their affiliation with the Community are thus formally excommunicated. This official public decree, approved by Pope Benedict XVI and signed by Cardinal William Levada, Prefect of the C.D.F., was publicly announced by the archdiocese of Quebec on September 12, 2007. Therefore due to the excommunication, current active members within the Army of Mary/Community of the Sons and Daughters of Mary, whether they be professed religious or laypersons are officially no longer considered as being in communion with the Catholic church. A  decree of excommunication is the severest judgement of the Catholic church against its Members, and is used only in extreme cases as a last effort to lead the errant faithful back into communion with the Church.

Marie-Paule Giguere (Mother Paul-Marie)

Aside from the grave doctrinal controversies and the separation from the Catholic church, there is nevertheless a significant amount of good that can be said about Marie-Paule Giguere, the Army of Mary, and the Community of the Sons and Daughters of Mary and affiliated branches. Throughout the early years especially, numerous persons were inspired by the Army of Mary's conservative and traditional Catholic beliefs and practices, and the days of prayer held throughout Canada, the United States, and abroad led many people into (or back into) the practice of the Catholic faith.

Also, because Marie-Paule was widely believed to be a visionary and mystic, she received countless letters over the years from various persons throughout the world seeking guidance and spiritual advice, and countless persons were greatly encouraged and helped by her replies. In the 1950's she was the host of a radio program on Catholic spirituality (CKRB, Radio Beauce) and often gave spiritual advice to callers.  During the Army of Mary's most popular time period (prior to the Canadian Bishops Doctrinal Note in 2001), the group made a number of generous donations amounting in hundreds of thousands of dollars which were given to the Pope/Vatican in support of the Church.  

There were also numerous monetary collections that were given to charitable organisations during times of need, such as a sizable donation to the Red Cross in 2004 for the Indonesian tsunami relief efforts, to mention just one of many possible examples. Additionally, a number of priests, brothers, religious sisters and laypersons from the Community of the Sons and Daughters of Mary spent a number of years in Jamaica setting up a school and caring for the poor villagers in several communities.


Marie-Paule Giguere has left behind a large number of persons who were greatly inspired and edified by her example of self sacrifice and of loving one's neighbor out of love for God. For her followers, her passing from this life has great spiritual significance--much more than just the passing of a saint; for her followers it is the earthly passing of the Lady of all Peoples, the Daughter of the Immaculate, the Coredemptrix and the Mother of the Kingdom. Aside from the doctrinal controversies with the Catholic church, she will be remembered as a individual who sincerely sought to love God and others out of love for Him, and like many other persons, this writer feels very blessed to have known her.

Funeral Mass of Mother Paul-Marie (Marie-Paule Giguere)

One very interesting fact concerning Marie-Paule's passing on the date of April 25 is that on April 25, 2009 she wrote:
"I see the Spiri-Maria chapel full of people dressed in white. It is my funeral. What joy!"
-Published in "Le Royume" newspaper, number 231, Jan-Feb 2015, page 22

This writer personally attended Marie-Paule's funeral and the Spiri-Maria chapel was in fact completely full of people dressed in white (men wearing white albs, and women wearing the white dresses, as is normally worn for special cermonies within the Army of Mary). So what she "saw" back on April 25, 2009 did in fact come true, and in fact she passed on the very same date of the vision (April 25).

Eternal rest grant unto her O' Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon her. May her soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. AMEN +  

Click here for part 2: A closer look at Marie-Paule Giguere and the Army of Mary
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For eleven years, the author of this article and host of this website was an active member of the Army of Mary, and was a lay Son of Mary in the Family of the Sons & Daughters of Mary--that is, two of the "Works" founded by Marie-Paule Giguere. I met Marie-Paule many times over the years, and read all of the volumes of her autobiography "Life of Love" and actively participated in the Army of Mary throughout the 11 years. After much soul searching, I left the Army of Mary and its associated branches in June 2007 out of obedience to the Catholic church, due to the schismatic ordinations that occurred in the Communities Spiri-Maria chapel earlier in that month. 

Three months afterwards (September 2007) the Archdiocese of Quebec announced the Declaration of Excommunication issued by the Vatican, as stated in the above article. In this, as in all things, the author and host of this website endeavors always to be in communion with the Catholic church and Its teachings. -Glenn Dallaire