He was a strong proponent of free education and also helped to found a religious congregation of canonesses regular dedicated to the care of poor children, developing a new pedagogy for this.

Fourier was born on 30 November 1565 in the village of Mirecourt, in what was then the Duchy of Lorraine, a part of the Holy Roman Empire (now the French department of Vosges), which was a bulwark of the Catholic Counter-Reformation.

[1] In 1585 Fourier was admitted to the novitiate of the canons regular of the Abbey of Chaumousey, where he made his profession of vows two years later.

He became a scholastic theologian who knew the Summa Theologica by heart,[1] and earned the great respect of both the university officials and the Count-Bishop of Metz, who offered him a high ecclesiastical post.

The care of local parishes in that region of France was routinely entrusted to the many abbeys and priories of canons.

His second innovation was in his preaching style, where he employed dialogues with small groups of his parishioners to explain better their Catholic faith to them.

The success of Fourier's pastorate in inspiring his flock to a greater fidelity to the Catholic faith was brought to the attention of the local bishops of the region.

[2] Together with Alix Le Clerc, in 1597, Fourier founded the Congregation of Notre Dame of Canonesses Regular of St. Augustine,[4] who were committed to the free education of children, taking a fourth vow to that goal.

He played an active role in their education, being credited with the invention of the blackboard and its use in the classroom, as well as the division of students into classes of a similar level of instruction.

In 1621 the bishop of Toul, Jean des Porcellets, chose him to organize the canonical communities in his diocese.

He therefore entrusted the ancient Abbey of St. Remy in that city to Fourier and six companions, where they could lead the way of life he envisioned.

Thus he and his community were forced to flee their monastery in 1636, taking refuge in the town of Gray in the neighboring County of Burgundy.

[7] The vision of Fourier was exported to Canada in 1654 by Marguerite Bourgeoys, who was the president of a sodality of volunteers associated with the work of the cloistered canonesses.