CCHA, Report, 32 (1965), 47-62
Mother Mary Ann
Foundress of the Sisters of Saint Ann:
Her Contribution to the
Church
in British Columbia, Alaska and the Yukon.
Sister MARY
EILEEN, S.S.A. [Eileen Anne Kelly]
St. Ann’s
Academy, Kamloops, B.C.
In a circular
letter dated February 22, 1965, Mother Mary Claire des Anges, Superior General
of the Sisters of Saint Ann, informed her community that a decree on the
writings of Mother Mary Ann, foundress of the Sisters of Saint Ann, had been
forwarded from the Sacred Congregation of Rites. The document reads as
follows:
Sacred
Congregation of Rites
ARCHDIOCESE OF
MONTREAL
CAUSE OF
BEATIFICATION
AND OF CANONIZATION
of the Servant of God Mary Anne
(Marie Esther Blondin)
Foundress of the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Ann.
At the request of Very Rev. Father Angelo
Mitri, O.M.I., duly constituted Postulator in the Cause of Beatification and
Canonization of the Servant of God MARY ANNE (Marie Esther Blondin), Foundress
of the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Ann, an ordinary assembly of the
Sacred Congregation of Rites was convened in the Apostolic Palace of the
Vatican on December 15, 1964. At this meeting the Eminent and Very Reverend
Bishop Arcadio Marie Larraona, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Rites,
Ponent and Reporter of the said cause, proposed the discussion on the revision
of the writings of the said Servant of God.
The Most Reverend
and Eminent Fathers, appointed Custodians of the Sacred Rites, after having
collected the votes of the Prelate Officers (consultants) and seriously
considered the matter, judged it opportune to declare that nothing is opposed
to continued action hereafter, subject however to the right of the General
Promoter of the Faith to object as much as he is entitled to.
All these details
having been faithfully reported to His Holiness Paul VI by the undersigned
Cardinal, Our Holy Father deigned, on January 5, 1965, to approve and confirm
the decision of the Most Eminent Cardinals.
Arcadio Marie
Cardinal Larrona, Prefect of the
C.C.R.
†
Enrico Dante, Archbishop of
Carpasin Secretary
of the S.C.R.1
This first official
pronouncement from Rome, received seventy-five years after the death of Mother
Mary Ann, marks an important step in the advancement of her beatification. It
is a public testimony that her cause has been formally introduced.
More than one hundred fifty postulatory
letters were addressed to the Sovereign Pontiff by distinguished ecclesiastic
and lay leaders, requesting him to undertake the cause of this Canadian-born
foundress.2 These letters
constitute an important testimony on the mission accomplished by Mother Mary
Ann.
Typical of the sentiments expressed in
these written statements are those of E. Davie Fulton, Q.C.:
Through the
biographies, essays and treatises which have been published on her life, I have
admired her faith, her unshakeable confidence in Divine Providence, her
profound charity and humility, her perfect obedience and acceptance of rulings
otherwise agonizing, and the total dedication of her life and governance of her
conduct in accordance with the rules of the congregation which she founded.
Her heroic virtue
and her qualities of sanctity seem to be well established by the inspiration
that they have furnished to the members of her congregation, who have in turn
performed heroic and dedicated service in so many fields in our country.3
Marie Esther Sureau
dit Blondin, the child who was to become Mother Mary Ann, was born on April 18,
1809, at Terrebonne, Quebec, about fifteen miles northeast of Montreal. She was
the third in a family of twelve. Her father, John Baptist dit Blondin, was a
farmer imbued with a strong faith and dauntless courage. Her mother, Marie Rose
Limoges, a woman of sincere piety, fostered among her children a trust in
Divine Providence and a love for the Blessed Eucharist. She inculcated, too, a
spirit of compassion for those afflicted by suffering or sorrow.4
Three miles above the village of
Terrebonne, on the edge of the Thousand Island River is the site of the Blondin
farm.5 Here, Marie
Esther, the future foundress destined to endow the Church in Canada with a new
religious community, grew up in a truly Christian home where religion, toil and
sacrifice were held in honour.
In early childhood, Marie Esther displayed
a resolute will and decided tenacity.6 At four she surprised the household by reciting the long formula
of the family’s evening prayers. In early adolescence, the young girl
experienced a period of moral anguish and distress.7 Grave and pensive,
she gave herself to prayer, mortification and penitential practices. Though
the childhood of Mother Mary Ann was spent in a home blessed with human joys, it
was not a period of unalloyed happiness or unbroken peace of soul.
Because of the educational depression which
afflicted Quebec after the fall of the French régime,8 Marie Esther
Blondin, in common with her compatriots, suffered from illiteracy.9 At the age of twenty,
the future foundress could neither read nor write. In 1829 she finally had the
opportunity for study when she entered the service of the Sisters of the
Congregation of Notre Dame at Terrebonne in return for lessons in reading and
writing.10 Two years later, at the age of twenty-two, Marie
Esther enrolled as a resident student in the same boarding school. Although her
academic record was very average, her constant docility and diligent
application were an inspiration to her classmates.11
Early in 1832, Marie Esther left her
teachers to enter the novitiate of the Congregation of Notre Dame. The young
candidate had no difficulty in submitting to the religious rule.12 The life of
prayer and recollection and of organized community living satisfied her
desires. As a novice, however, Marie Esther, now Sister Christine, became ill
and, to her regret, was obliged to return to her home. Her naturally delicate
health had eventually been undermined by her excessive selfimposed
mortifications.13
After a period of recuperation at home in
1833, Marie Esther regained her health. Wishing to devote herself to the
education of children, the former novice (who chose to retain her religious
name, Christine) joined Miss Suzanne Pineault, directress of the independent
village school in Vaudreuil, a historic little settlement twenty-four miles
west of Montreal. For six years, the two young women worked together with
efficiency and devotedness to the great satisfaction of the pastor, Reverend
Paul Loup Archambeault.14
In 1839, direction of the girls’ academy
was assigned to Christine, when Miss Pineault moved to a neighbouring parish.
The transfer did not alter the lasting friendship between the two teachers.15
To assist her with the operation of the
school, Christine chose some of her former pupils, whom she trained, instructed
and encouraged. She extended the interests of the school to make it a most
attractive and successful centre of education. Under her capable direction,
Blondin Academy became one of the most progressive schools in the district.16
In addition the devoting herself
whole-heartedly to her duties of teaching, Christine became actively involved
in the parish sodality. In 1843 she was chosen president of the “Daughters of
Mary Immaculate.” While in this office, Christine consecrated her person and
life to the Mother of God.
During the school year 1847 - 1848, failing
health curtailed the activities of the zealous teacher. Despite her physical
trials, however, Christine Blondin seriously concerned herself with the sorry
plight of the children, both boys and girls, in the country districts of
Quebec, who were growing up without the opportunity to attend school. She felt
impelled to do something about the situation.17
After prolonged and fervent prayer,
Christine clearly perceived the course of action she should follow. She sought
advice from her spiritual director, Father Archambeault, and presented to him
her project of establishing a religious community. While forming young women to
the religious life, she would give them sufficient instruction to enable them
to direct the “mixed schools” of the rural districts. Almost prophetically,
the good Father warned her: “You wish to found a community? Very well! Expect
the suffer what the Mother of Sorrows suffered at the foot of the Cross.”18
Father Archambeault directed Christine to
present her plan to Bishop Ignace Bourget of Montreal for his judgment and
approval. In early June, she set out for the episcopal city bringing a letter
of recommendation from her pastor. The letter explained briefly the project.
This young lady
wishes to gather around her a certain number of girls to teach now at Vaudreuil
and, later, in the neighbouring parishes. They would undertake schools not only
for girls, but also for mixed classes, as demanded by the law which it is
impossible to annul.
Any other
explanation required will be given by Miss Blondin herself. She is a woman of
solid piety.19
The zealous
prelate, renowned for his keen judgment and practical genius, had a background
of extensive experience with religious communities.20 He questioned
his visitor about her plans and pointed out the difficulties involved.
Manifesting a strong faith and confidence in God, Christine Blondin won from
the bishop permission to try her project. He authorized her to seek out quietly
suitable companions for the enterprise and to pray for God’s blessing on her
work.
Before school reopened in September,
Christine and six companions began a retreat under Father Archambeault’s
direction to initiate their new life under a common rule. At the close of their
retreat, the aspirants petitioned the pastor to outline for them a rule of
life, to appoint officers and to select a name for their congregation. The
pastor-founder acceded to their requests. Miss Blondin was named directress of
the group to be known as the Daughters of Our Lady of Good Help and of St. Ann.
Father Archambeault kept Bishop Bourget
informed on the progress of the new institute. A letter dated November 1848
expressed his hope for the success of the new undertaking.
Your Lordship
will be astonished to learn that thirty-eight have presented themselves –
fifteen have already arrived – some are excellent subjects, both in talent and
virtue.
I do not know the
designs of Divine Providence, but if I judge ab initio, Providence is
favourable to the project.21
The blessing of
Providence was manifested in the poverty of the little establishment. The
liberality of Lady Harwood of the seigneurial mansion in Vaudreuil did much to
alleviate the needs of the Sisters. Despite hard work, discomfort and lack of
convenience, there was a cheerful dedication to duty in the Vaudreuil convent.
Caught up as he was in parish activities,
Father Archambeault could give but limited attention to his “Daughters.” It was
Sister Blondin who personally formed, directed and inspired the first members
of her religious family.
The results of the first school year,
enriched with an intensive religious life, were very gratifying. Even during
their novitiate, Sister Blondin and her companions followed a schedule of
teaching and studying in addition to their religious exercises and household
duties.
In August 1849, Coadjutor Bishop Prince
came from Montreal to preach the investiture retreat for the postulants. He had
been commissioned by his Ordinary “to examine whether the prospective
institute was the work of God or of man, and whether it could withstand the
vicissitudes and obstacles which were bound to assail it.”22 To this end, he
tested rigorously the humility and spirit of renunciation of the aspirants.23 That he was
satisfied with what he found is evidenced by his report to Father Archambeault.
“I believe that these Sisters are doing the work of God. They are saints.”24 On August 15,
1849, nine postulants were admitted to investiture. By the choice of the
bishop, Marie Esther (Christine) Blondin received the name Sister Mary Ann.
Continuing the precedent established three months earlier during Bishop
Bourget’s first visit to the Vaudreuil convent, Bishop Prince appointed the
youngest professed Sister, Sister Mary Elizabeth, as directress of the
community. Sister Mary Ann retained the positions of bursar and mistress of
novices assigned to her in May by Bishop Bourget. As mistress of novices, the
foundress had to send her superior back to the world three months later! Though
others were assigned to the position of authority during the first two years of
the community’s existence, Sister Mary Ann had the more important task of
forming to religious life the first professed Sisters of her institute.25
When the canonical year came to an end,
five Sisters were admitted to religious profession. Bishop Bourget himself came
to conduct the preparatory retreat. He preached, gave spiritual direction,
presided over all the retreat exercises and privately interviewed each future
professed. Such personal attention indicated his estimate of the importance of
the coming event. It was to mark the definitive foundation of a religious
institution and the integration of a new teaching order into the Church of
Canada.
On September 8, 1850, the ceremony of the
profession of first vows was held in the parish church at Vaudreuil with all
possible Solemnity.26 The Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Ann
was founded. Bishop Bourget conferred canonical existence on the new institute
by reading the Charter of Erection. This document, addressed to the five
professed Sisters by name, decreed that the Sisters would devote their lives to
“the instruction of children of both sexes.” The official mandate had modified
the name of the new religious congregation, “Daughters of Saint Ann.”
“In giving you
place in the Church of God, among the communities destined to be its most
beautiful ornament, we are happy to be able to consecrate you to Saint Ann as a
family especially devoted to her honour. Public gratitude, it would seem,
demanded the foundation of just such a community. Nothing less than a religious
monumen of this type could best pay our country’s tribute of gratitude, for the
glorious Saint Ann has been truly good towards all the people of Canada!”27
At the close of the
retreat, Bishop Bourget appointed an administrative council for the new
community. He constituted superior and mistress of novices of the Daughters of
Saint Ann, their foundress, to be known now as Mother Mary Ann.
Six months later, in February 1851, the
bishop returned to Vaudreuil for a three day canonical visit to initiate a
period of special prayer in preparation for the writing of the rules. The
following month he returned again to continue the work of drawing up the code
of rules. Before leaving, he had settled the essential points of the
constitution of the Daughters of Saint Ann.28
During its first five years of existence,
the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Ann suffered keenly from not having a
chaplain. Because of his numerous duties, Father Archambeault did not have
sufficient time for the spiritual care of his “Daughters.” In September 1850,
Father Chevigny from a nearby parish had been appointed the first official
chaplain, but because of parish duties, he too, was forced to resign after
three weeks. Distressed by the situation, Mother Mary Ann wrote to Bishop
Bourget. Since the bishop had no one to send, he requested the prayers of the
Sisters that he would “find the man destined by God to minister to the
community.”29
One year later there was still no chaplain.
However, at the recommendation of Bishop Bourget, Mother Mary Ann wrote often
for advice and direction.30 During the years 1851 to 1853, the foundress
and the bishop exchanged about thirty letters.31 These documents
clearly reveal two souls cooperating closely in God’s work.
His letters reveal the bishop as a master
of the spiritual life. They depict him as a zealous shepherd concerned about
his pastoral duties and the interests of the universal Church. In addition,
they manifest his complete confidence in Mother Mary Ann. He supported her, encouraged
her and showed a respect for her mission as foundress. One exchange of letters
indicates that the bishop had asked Mother Mary Ann to complete the writing of
the rules of the institute that he had left unfinished in March 1851.
Your humble and
obedient daughter works as much as her strength allows to fulfill the task
imposed on her by your Lordship; she has made great efforts to accomplish this
duty; for three weeks she could not write a single word.32
Mother Mary Ann’s
letters reveal that the foundress was deserving of the bishop’s confidence. Her
good judgment, her sense of responsibility and her religious spirit are
manifested in her correspondence.33
A year after the first profession, the new
institute was ready to accept a foundation outside Vaudreuil. With thirteen
professed Sisters and fifteen novices and postulants, the congregation was in a
position to expand. At the request of Father Lefebvre and by the authorization
of Bishop Bourget, three Sisters undertook to direct the village school in the
parish of Saint Genevieve, ten miles distant from Vaudreuil to the north-east.
In accepting this poor mission, the institute had the assurance of Bishop
Bourget: “Remember that the poorest children are those that pay the best,
because God undertakes to pay for them. They are also a source of blessings for
the community.”34
At Vaudreuil, conditions were becoming
seriously overcrowded because of the ever-increasing number of novices and
pupils. The near-destitute financial state of the young community, however,
made impossible any ideas of expansion at its own expense.35 Though the people
of Vaudreuil appreciated the work of the Sisters among them, they did not want
to sacrifice much for the organization or development of the institute.36 In opposition to
the pastor’s suggestion, they refused to donate parish land for a new convent.
The impasse was settled by Bishop Bourget who decided that the community would
be transferred to St. Jacques, a Laurentian village seventy-two miles
north-east of Vaudreuil.
Father Archambeault, who had played a role
of prime importance in the foundation of the institute, was deeply affected by
the news of the transfer of the Sisters. He received the official notice of
withdrawal in a letter from the bishop.
Before arriving
at Vaudreuil, I deem it a duty to inform you that I shall definitely withdraw
the Community of Saint Ann from the parish and establish it at St. Jacques de
l’Achigan. A spacious house, a beautiful chapel, one or two sections of farm
land and a large estate await them there, and they will not have to contract a
cent of indebtedness.37
The Religious of
the Sacred Heart had recently moved from their St. Jacques convent to establish
a boarding school in Montreal. The bishop saw the vacated building as a
providential refuge for the Daughters of Saint Ann.
In a letter dated July 8, 1853, the bishop
officially communicated to Mother Mary Ann the news of the change in residence.38 Though it was
understood that some Sisters would be left at Vaudreuil to conduct the village
school, the removal of the motherhouse to another centre was not without
heartbreak. For Mother Mary Ann, it meant leaving the scene of twenty years of
her life’s work; for all the Sisters, it involved a separation from the place
of their religious consecration and from the cradle of their congregation. The
sympathetic bishop understood the sacrifices that the move entailed, but he
had confidence in the generosity of the Sisters.39
Reverend Louis Barrette, curate of the
parish of Saint Jacques, who had already been designated as their chaplain by
Bishop Bourget, assisted the Sisters in their transfer. The bishop himself
arranged the details of the itinerary. Thus on August 23, 1853, twenty-eight
Sisters of Saint Ann – sixteen professed sisters, six novices and six
postulants – set out on their journey to St. Jacques.
The pastor, Reverend Romuald Paré, received
the Sisters with joy and installed them in the large convent building. Within a
short period of their arrival, the Sisters by their warm sympathy for the sick
and the poor won the affection of the people.40 Having been
without a chaplain for so long, the Sisters valued the spiritual guidance of the
experienced director, Father Barrette. Prospects augured well for the
transplanted community.
On September 4, 1853, twelve days after the
Sisters’ arrival in St. Jacques, Reverend Louis Adolph Marechal came to the
convent to introduce himself as the new chaplain. Since Mother Mary Ann had
received no official statement from Bishop Bourget notifying her of the
appointment, she was hesitant to accept the young priest in that capacity.
The chaplaincy of the convent at St.
Jacques was the seventh assignment for the twenty-nine year old priest in his
five years of ordination.41 Four years before the arrival of the Sisters
of Saint Ann, Father Marechal had worked as a curate with Father Paré in the
St. Jacques parish. In view of his previous experience, the aging pastor was
less than enthusiastic about the return of his former curate.42
Bishop Bourget, however, had discerned in
Father Marechal a clear-sighted and zealous priest. As early as November 1850,
he had intrusted to him the administration of the parish of St. Alphonse Rodriguez.
Mother Mary Ann, aware of the foreboding
with which the pastor viewed Father Marechal’s return, could have been on the
defensive when she first met the new chaplain. She was apprehensive of the
appointment, since she believed that it was detrimental to the spiritual
interests of her daughters.
In a letter, written the day of Father
Marechal’s visit, Mother Mary Ann represented to Bishop Bourget the community’s
esteem for Father Barrette and of their confidence in his direction. She
mentioned the estrangement from Father Marechal and the “ungracious reception”
she had extended to the young priest.
In his reply Bishop Bourget severely
reprimanded the foundress for her lack of confidence in the Providence of God.
You should have
told Father Marechal that you received him with respect and gratitude since he
came in the name of God, whose will was made known by that of the bishop. This
is a bad beginning for you; if you do not hasten to repair it by all kinds of
humiliations, you may be assured that a bad spirit will penetrate into your
community.43
The initial
misunderstanding between the young chaplain and the forty-four year old
foundress was but a prelude to a year of lack of harmony. The conflict of personalities
with its resultant differences of opinion between these two energetic souls who
so ardently desired the good of the community gave rise to discord and
disunity.44 In his ardent zeal, the chaplain was inclined to forget that the
congregation had its customs, its rule, its canonical legislation and its
administrative autonomy.45 Conscious of her mission and duties as
foundress, Mother Mary Ann showed determination in resisting whatever she
considered a threat to her community.46
In many ways, the appointment of Father
Marechal was timely at this critical stage in the development of the new
community. As chaplain, he employed initiative, strength, time and vigour to
promote the intellectual advancement of the Sisters of Saint Ann.47 In contrast to the
competency of the Religious of the Sacred Heart whom they were replacing at St.
Jacques, the majority of the newcomers had but limited knowledge and
experience. Financially, too, Father Marechal assisted the young community.
Besides devising means for raising funds, he used his influence to win the
support of benefactors for the convent.
Because of the lack of agreement between
the superior and the chaplain, the first year at St. Jacques was a period of
unrest and tension. In the conflict of rights and responsibilities, there
developed a partisan spirit among the Sisters. There were some, particularly
among the younger members, who were quite willing to concede to the chaplain
unlimited freedom of action in the internal concerns of the institute. The lack
of unity became seriously detrimental to community spirit.48
Despite the internal struggles, outsiders
were unaware of the conflict. The joys of the apostolate were a consolation to
the Sisters in the midst of their trials. The results of the first year were
gratifying to the pastor, parents and pupils. As a result of earnest effort,
the Sisters met success in their new educational endeavours.49
By directives and by personal interviews,
the bishop had hoped to reconcile the differences troubling the community at
St. Jacques. Grieved by the continued discord, the over-taxed bishop determined
to put an end to the division.50 On August 18, 1854, he ordered Mother Mary Ann
to relinquish her duties as superior.
As for you, my good
Mother, you will resign willingly and you will tell your Sisters that you are
authorized never again to accept the superiorship even if they wish you to
assume it.
I will pray and
have others pray that the Holy Spirit will guide you in perhaps the most
important act that you have ever had to perform.51
Mother Mary Ann
accepted the mandate with heroic submission. After enjoying for five years the
confidence and support of Bishop Bourget, the foundress experienced a severe
trial in his change of attitude. Circumstances, events and persons had
succeeded in lowering her in his esteem.52
On August 20, 1854 she dictated her reply to
the bishop.
Most Reverend Father in Jesus
Christ:
Behold I am at last
relieved of the heavy burden of superiorship. I pity in advance her on whose
shoulders it will fall. After having borne it for four years amidst continual
contradictions, I am able to judge the weight of this charge. I praise God and
thank you very respectfully for the mandate in which Your Lordship bids me not
to accept this office in the future.
What hurts me
particularly at this moment is that I did not do all the good that I would have
liked to accomplish for the glory of God and the good of the community, and
that I have done the wrong that I certainly did not wish to do.53
Six years after she
had founded her institute, Mother Mary Ann was relegated to its lowest rank.
For a time even, she was excluded from active duty. To a young novice who
expressed shock at such humiliation, the foundress made a profound observation:
“The deeper a tree sinks its roots into the soil, the stronger it becomes.”54
For thirty-six years she saw her
congregation grow and spread while other hands were directing its progress. She
lived out her life in her community in the shadow of retreat. Until her death
on January 2, 1890, Mother Mary Ann performed her round of humble tasks in the
infirmary, the sacristy, the sewing-room, the laundry and the ironing-room.
In the preface of the “History of the
Sisters of Saint Ann,” Father Lionel Groulx has written:
The debasement of
the foundress, which could have occasioned a fatal crisis in the newly-founded
community, served, on the contrary, to give extraordinary impetus to its
growth. There exists more than a simple parallelism between her life of
annihilation and sacrifice and the development of her work.55
Since September
8, 1850, when Mother Mary Ann and her first four companions pronounced their
vows of religion, more than 3,700 Sisters have signed their contract as members
of the Sisters of Saint Ann. After one hundred fifteen years of existence, the
community now numbers one hundred sixty-five establishments, dispersed over
twenty-five dioceses and two apostolic vicariates in Quebec, British Columbia,
Yukon Territory, Alaska, United States, Haiti and Chile.
Viewing the congregation’s growth at the
time of its fiftieth anniversary, historian Abbé Elie Auclair expressed the
conviction that “the institute grew without Mother Mary Ann, it is true, but it
is Mother Mary Ann who merited its growth.”56
Among the seven religious provinces and one
pro-province that now constitute the administrative organization of the Sisters
of Saint Ann, St. Joseph’s Province is the final concern of the present paper.
Its history records the growth of the congregation in British Columbia, Alaska
and the Yukon. Its development is a tribute “to the valiant woman upon whose
faith and courageous determination the community was founded.”57
In 1857 Bishop Modeste Demers, the first
Bishop of Vancouver Island, approached the young community at St. Jacques for
Sisters to assist him in his frontier diocese which included the present
province of British Columbia and the territory of Alaska. Although the congregation
was not yet eight years old, the entire community of-thirty-eight
professed Sisters were ready to volunteer for the far-away mission.58 In a letter to
Mother Mary Jeanne de Chantal, Superior General, Bishop Demers spoke of the
missionary endeavours of the Sisters in his diocese.
The young Community
of Saint Ann should be praised; rather it should glorify God for having been
able to send some of its members to the distant shores of the Pacific. I
believe that the story of this foundation will be one of the most beautiful
pages of its history.59
Four Sisters –
Sister Mary of the Sacred Heart, Sister Mary Angele, Sister Mary of the
Conception and Sister Mary Lumena – were chosen for the western mission. Travelling
in a group headed by Bishop Demers, the Sisters set out on their eventful two
months’ journey for Vancouver Island. Sister Mary Angele’s diary has left a
classic account of the hardships of pioneer travel.60 Eventually, at San
Francisco, the missionaries boarded the “Seabird” which brought them to
Vitoria on Saturday, June 5, 1858. The date marks the foundation of the first
convent institution west of Saint Boniface and north of Oregon.61 At that time,
Victoria was little more than a stockaded fort. British Columbia had not yet
been established as a separate colony.62
In a humble log cabin at the edge of Beacon
Hill Park, the four pioneer Sisters began their work of teaching, nursing and
social service. In 1859, twenty-two year old Mother Mary Providence, an able
and gifted administrator, was appointed superior of the western mission. With
Mother Mary Anne of Jesus, who joined her in Victoria in 1866, she laid the
foundations for schools, hospitals and missions throughout British Columbia,
Alaska and the Yukon.
Four years after the arrival of the first
Sisters, the missionaries, overwhelmed by the demands of the apostolate and
hampered by a shortage of personnel, voted to return to Quebec. The minutes of
the council meeting held on July 22, 1862, state:
In a regular
meeting of the House Council of the Daughters of Saint Ann in Victoria, it has
been officially and unanimously decided by vote to request the community for
the recall of the Sisters of this mission.63
A year later,
however, eight Sisters arrived from the motherhouse to reinforce the mission
band and to make possible the expansion of apostolic works in the province.
The first foundation outside the city of
Victoria, a mission school for Indian girls, was established at Cowichan in
1864. In the fall of 1868, a similar school was opened at St. Mary’s, Matsqui,
at the request of Bishop d’Herbomez, O.M.I. This location was the centre of
Oblate missionary activity for the lower Fraser valley. In 1890 and 1891, the
Sisters undertook the charge of teaching in the Indian residential schools of
Kamloops and Kuper Island.
In 1865, the Sisters had first extended
their work to the mainland of British Columbia. At New Westminster, they had
established a boarding and day school. In 1877, a similar foundation was made
at Nanaimo. Three years later, the Kamloops boarding school came into
existence.
In 1875, Bishop Charles Seghers blessed the
cornerstone of the future St. Joseph’s Hospital in Victoria. Twenty-five years
later, the school of nursing was opened. In 1886, the Sisters made a hazardous
journey to Juneau, Alaska to open a hospital and school there. The Klondike
gold rush of 1898 was the occasion of the opening of St. Mary’s Hospital,
Dawson, Yukon Territory.
In 1888, three Sisters braved the hardships
of Alaska to open a native school at Holy Cross within the Arctic circle. In
1899, at the request of the Jesuit Fathers, the Sisters opened a school for
Indian children at Nulato, an Alaskan village hallowed by the martyrdom of
Bishop Seghers.64
During the early years of expansion,
recruits from the motherhouse in Lachine carried on the work. In 1889,
however, Rome granted a decree for the opening of a branch novitiate of the
Sisters of Saint Ann in the west. Since its opening, two hundred ninety-eight
Sisters have completed their novitiate in Victoria. Most of these candidates
have been students in the community’s schools and hospitals of British
Columbia.
From Lachine, Mother Mary Ann followed with
affection and pride the activities of her daughters in the west. In a letter to
the missionary Sisters, she wrote:
You understand how
interested I am in the Victoria foundation. With my own eyes, I saw the birth
of the little Community of the Daughters of Saint Ann. I was a witness of its
first years, and even in the midst of the great happiness which then flooded my
soul, little did I foresee that, one day, its happy members would accomplish
such great things in distant lands.65
Mother Mary Ann’s
contribution to the Church in British Columbia, Alaska and the Yukon is the
work of the Sisters of Saint Ann, for, in reality, the community is an
extension of its foundress. For a period of thirty-two years between 1858 and
1890, the Sisters of Saint Ann were the only community of women Religious
engaged in apostolic work in British Columbia. During that time, they laid the
groundwork of education and nursing service in our province.
Today there are two hundred ninety Sisters
in St. Joseph’s Province. They staff twenty-eight separate institutions in six
dioceses and two vicariates. Numbered among the foundations are four private
academies and boarding schools, five Indian residential and day schools, eleven
parish schools, four hospitals, two infirmaries and homes for the aged, and two
Alaskan missions.
From the beginning of its history, St.
Joseph’s Province has manifested a strong attachment to the motherhouse and a
filial devotion to Mother Mary Ann. In commenting on this fact at the time of
the centenary celebrations in 1958, Mother Mary Liliane, Superior General,
addressed the following words to the Sisters gathered in Victoria:
Though many of you,
born and nurtured in western Canada, scarcely know the motherhouse, you are
loyally attached to its ideals and eagerly await the fulfilment of your desire
to see the heart of the institute, meanwhile remaining true daughters of Mother
Mary Ann.
I was deeply
impressed during my first visit in 1945 to find among you a very evident esteem
and love for Mother Mary Ann. From its birth in 1858, our foundress had a
special predilection for this western province.66
It is with reason, therefore, that the Sisters of the West, with their companions in the north, south and east welcomed the news of Mother Mary Ann’s step to beatification. They look forward to the day when the virtues of their foundress will be officially recognized by the Church.
1Mother Mary
Claire des Anges, S.S.A., Circular Letter, Number 9, page 101, February 22,
1965.
2Ibid., p. 102.
3E. Davie Fulton,
Letter to Pope Paul VI, December 17, 1964.
4Rev. Aristide
Brien, “Memoir of Mother Mary Ann,” cited in Sister Mary Camilla, S.S.A.,
trans. Martyr of Silence by Eugene Nadeau, O.M.I. (Montreal, 1956), p.
9.
An incident is related of Marie Esther’s
being stirred by pity at the sight of a poor beggar. The little girl ran to
meet the unfortunate man, assisted him up the stairs and bathed his face. When
she went to get him some food, she was unable to find him on her return. No one
in the neighbourhood recalled seeing the stranger.
5The property,
marked by a commemorative plaque, was purchased by the Sisters of Saint Ann in
1963.
6Sister Mary
Camilla, S.S.A., op. cit., p. 4.
Disappointed at having been left behind by
her elder sister on a boating trip, Marie Esther resolutely waded into the
river after the boat. Though carried beyond her depth, the little girl, kept
afloat on her inflated skirts, calmly allowed herself to drift with the current
until she was rescued.
7Rev. Henri Samson,
S. J., “Manuscript Study,” 1955, cited in Sister Mary Camilla, S.S.A., op. cit.,
p. 12.
The Jesuit psychiatrist believes this
phase of insecurity and moral disquietude can be attributed to “psychological
uneasiness, probably due to insufficient knowledge of the physiological
aspects of life to a certain moral
rigorism and to ascetical practices too severe for her age.”
8Sister Mary Ann
Eva, S.S.A., trans. A History of the Sisters of Saint Ann by Sister Mary
Jean de Patmos, S.S.A. (New York, 1961), Introduction.
Education in Quebec suffered an interval
of depression for almost ninety years after the capitulation of France in
Canada in 1763. Because of racial and religious differences, many
French-Canadian children did not attend the schools conducted by the Royal
Institution. Though a few schools of the French régime survived, they were far
from adequate in number. As a result of this crisis in public education, there
was a high rate of illiteracy. It was not until 1846 that education in the
Province of Quebec obtained its magna carta through the Law of Denominational
Schools.
9Rev. Lionel
Groulx, L’Enseignement Français au Canada, cited in Sister Mary Camilla,
S.S.A., op. cit., p. 15.
In calculating the rate of illiteracy in
1789, Father Groulx arrives at the fraction twenty-three twenty-fourths of the
population. The statistics of 1825 show little change.
10Sister Mary
Camilla, S.S.A., op. cit., p. 18.
There is an unsigned entry in the account
book, found in the convent archives at Terrebonne, regarding the wages paid to
the employee, Marie Esther Blondin. It reads, “Since January 21, 1830, I give
her only six pounds (“chelins”) a month, but I teach her; that is, I have
promised to show her how to read.”
11Rev. Aristide
Brien, ‘Memoir of Mother Mary Ann,” cited in Sister Mary Camilla, S.S.A., op.
cit., p. 19.
12Ibid., p. 21.
13Ibid., p. 21.
In writing of the excessive mortifications,
Father Brien states that the young novice sincerely believed that this aspect
of her religious life did not fall under the jurisdiction of her spiritual
directors.
14Sister Mary
Camilla, S.S.A., op. cit., p. 33.
In 1835, at his own expense, Father
Archambeault built a more spacious and suitable school near the church to
replace the original building near the village wharf.
15________________,
Mother Mary Ann (Montreal, 1930), p. 10.
Nine years after her resignation from the
Vaudreuil Academy, Miss Suzanne Pineault returned to join her former assistant,
as a sister-companion in the religious community.
16Ibid., p. 11.
Miss Blondin engaged a teacher for English
and one for music. Such a move was considered very “advanced” for a village
boarding school.
17Sister Mary Ann
Eva, S.S.A., op. cit., p. 31.
Regulations had imposed upon the
directress of an academy the obligation of training teachers for the primary
schools. Christine Blondin could not foresee how such a summary preparation
could have satisfactory results. She felt called upon to undertake the
apostolate of preparing teachers who would impart to children a well-organized
and integrated primar education.
18Sister Mary
Camilla, S.S.A., op. cit., p. 39.
19Reverend P. L.
Archambeault, Letter to Bishop Bourget, June 11, 1848, cited in Sister Mary
Camilla, S.S.A., op. cit., p. 43.
20Bishop Bourget
had already founded three diocesan congregations: the Sisters of Providence in
1843, the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary in 1844 and the Sisters
of Misericorde in 1848.
21Reverend P. L.
Archambeault, Letter to Bishop Bourget, November 1848, cited in Sister Mary
Camilla, S.S.A., op. cit., p. 52.
22Sister Mary Ann
Eva, S.S.A., op. cit., p. 45.
23Sister Mary
Michel, one of the first postulants, has left a very candid and charming
account of the investiture retreat in her “Memoirs,” reserved in the community
archives in Lachine. Among others, it records the following incidents:
Bishop Prince interrupted one instruction
to reprimand a Sister who was brushing away an annoying fly: “Let that little
creature of the good God alone!”
Remonstrating on the manner in which the
Sisters made the Sign of the Cross, the Bishop announced, “You wish to be
Religious and you are not even good Christians!”
24________________,
Mother Mary Ann (Montreal, 1930), p. 15.
25From May 1849 to
January 1850 four directresses had succeeded Marie Esther Blondin. Of these,
three afterwards left the community.
26Though September 8
was just the fifth day of the retreat, Bishop Bourget selected it for the date
of the inauguration of the institute.
“Without doubt, it is in accordance with
God’s views that your community came into existence on the anniversary of the
birth of Mary, daughter of Blessed Ann.” (Sister Mary Camilla, S.S.A., op.
cit., p. 64).
27Mandate of
Erection, cited in Sister Mary Ann Eva, S.S.A., op. cit., p. 361.
28These first
constitutions of 1851 would be revised in 1857, but the essential points were
fixed in February 1851; namely, “a clear and precise view of the end to be
attained, personal sanctification; and this is oriented towards a secondary
end, the instruction and education of the poor children of the countryside.”
(Sister Mary Ann Eva, S.S.A., op. cit., page 61.)
29Bishop I. Bourget,
Letter to Mother Mary Ann, November 16, 1851, cited in Sister Mary Camilla,
S.S.A., op. cit., p. 89.
30“Write to me often,
for I am intensely interested in your community. Perhaps I can do as much, or
more, by letter as by words.” (Bishop I. Bourget, Letter to Mother Mary Ann,
December 9, 1852 – Motherhouse Archives.)
31The fifteen letters
written by Bishop Bourget from December 20, 1850 to July 8, 1853 are preserved
in the Motherhouse Archives at Lachine.
32Mother Mary Ann,
Letter to Bishop Bourget, July 15, 1851, cited in Sister Mary Camilla, S.S.A.,
op. cit., p. 92.
33“I noticed a great
spirit of faith in God, of submission and trust in his Divine Will, of
obedience to ecclesiastical authorities, of humility and of fortitude amidst
the difficulties met with in life.” (Judgment passed by Theologians on the
Writings of the Servant of God Mary Ann – December 16, 1960.)
34Bishop I. Bourget,
Letter to Mother Mary Ann, November 4, 1851, cited in Sister Mary Camilla,
S.S.A., op. cit., p. 96. Tuition charged at St. Genevieve was five
francs a month and a cord of wood for the winter.
35Mother Mary Ann’s
financial report of April 7, 1853, reserved in the community archives, contains
the following information:
Value of landed property nil
Active debts $54.50
Passive debts $25.40
37Bishop I.
Bourget, Letter to Reverend P. L. Archambeault, June 23, 1853, cited in Sister
Mary Camilla, S.S.A., op. cit., p. 102.
38By coincidence,
this letter was written from Terrebonne, native town of Mother Mary Ann.
39“All this will
necessarily cause you new trials, but, as usual, you will strive to draw profit
from them.” (Bishop I. Bourget, Letter to Mother Mary Ann, July 8. 1853 –
Motherhouse Archives.)
40Mother Mary Ann
provided a home in the St. Jacques convent for a badly-deformed,
cancer-stricken girl who died a few months afterwards.
41It is difficult
to determine the reason for Father Marechal’s frequent changes. They could be
the result of lack of adjustment, on the one hand, or the sign of ready
adaptability, on the other. Father Marechal served as chaplain at St. Jacques
for five years before becoming pastor of the parish. From 1858 until 1867, he
was the ecclesiastical superior of the community.
42“He has caused me
much suffering, the dear child. He sowed discord all along my path... If he
complains of his assignments, please name him curate with a strong-armed
pastor. .. “
(Reverend R.
Paré, Letter to Bishop I. Bourget, November 10, 1850.)
43Bishop I. Bourget,
Letter to Mother Mary Ann, September 5, 1853, cited in Sister Mary Camilla,
S.S.A., op. cit., p. 135.
44Frederic Langevin,
SJ., in his Mère Marie Anne, Fondatrice de L’Institut des Soeurs de
Sainte-Anne (Montreal, 1935), has perhaps expressed the situation with
more restraint and more clarity than any other author. “Deux amis de Dieu
s’étaient mal compris : Monsieur Marechal arrivait à Saint-Jacques sans être
attendu; it n’avait pas trente ans; la Supérieure en avait quarante-quatre.”
45In the absence of
Mother Mary Ann in September 1853 (the foundress had returned to Vaudreuil to
settle unfinished business), Father Marechal raised the tuition of the students
on his own initiative, and rented in the community’s name a house in town for
the day pupils.
46At the direction of
Father Paré, the pastor, Mother Mary Ann refused to pay the rent or heat the
building rented by the chaplain.
47Father Marechal
himself taught the Sisters – French, history and arithmetic. He visited the
classes and taught in the presence of the teachers.
48That Mother Mary
Ann made conscientious efforts to reconcile her differences with the chaplain
is obvious from Bishop Bourget’s letters. a) “I had already learned from Father
Honorat (retreat master) that you had done all I asked concerning your chaplain.
Moreover, I knew you would do so... I am very pleased, nevertheless, that you
explained to me your thoughts and feelings.”
b) “The change of
boarding school fees without consulting you is an irregularity, but I advise
you to overlook the matter while awaiting more information. Say nothing on the
subject. Ignore it altogether.”
49As the reputation
of the Sisters grew, the number of pupils increased. Within the first year, the
enrolment increased from 22 to 208. Religious vocations flourished in the
boarding school. The official statistics of St. Jacques parish compiled in 1947
by Courteau and Lanoue show that there have been 204 vocations to the Sisters
of Saint Ann.
50Over and above the
regular administration of Montreal, the most populous diocese in Canada,
Bishop Bourget had additional burdens to face at this time: the reconstruction
of his cathedral destroyed by fire, the division into parishes of his episcopal
city of 65,000 souls and the introduction of what was considered a daring
liturgical reform, the Roman Ceremonial.
51Bishop I. Bourget,
Letter to Mother Mary Ann, August 18, 1854, cited in Sister Mary Camilla,
S.S.A., op. cit., p. 154.
52Bishop Bourget
sincerely believed in August 1854 that the good of the institute required the
removal from office of its foundress. (Sister Mary Camilla, S.S.A., op. cit.,
p. 159.)
53Mother Mary Ann, Letter
to Bishop I. Bourget, August 20, 1854, cited in Sister Mary Camilla, S.S.A., op.
cit., p. 162.
54In 1854, it was
planned to expel Mother Mary Ann from the community under the pretext that the
good of her soul and that of the institute required her dismissal.
In 1854, “an episcopal injunction was
extorted: ‘... it will be necessary to give her all possible rest, in such a
way, however, that she will exert no influence over anyone’.” Mother Mary Ann
was sent to Saint Ambroise without any assignment whatever.
After the motherhouse had been moved to
Lachine, Mother Mary Ann was received there in 1864 “through charity” to see to
the menial tasks of the ironing department. (Mother Mary Leopoldine, S.S.A.,
Circular Letter, No. 30, pp. 6-7, April 18, 1949.)
55Father Lionel
Groulx, cited in Sister Mary Ann Eva, S.S.A., op. cit., Introduction.
56Rev. Elie Auclair, History
of the Sisters of Saint Ann, trans. Mother Mary Mildred, S.S.A. (Montreal,
1939), Preface.
57Sister Mary
Dorothea, S.S.A., St. Ann’s Journal, April, 1950, p. 8.
58Since the visit
of Archbishop Norbert Blanchet of Oregon to Vaudreuil in 1851, Mother Mary Ann
had cherished dreams of a missionary apostolate in the west. (Sister Mary
Camilla, S.S.A., op. cit., p. 231.)
“History records that Mother Mary Ann was
among those who offered themselves for the west, but she was not chosen.
Intensely interested, she asked the privilege of bidding farewell to the
favoured four. This she was refused. With humble submission, she then wrote
that she would be content to visit her dear missionaries in the west after her
death. Although her superiors could not deny her this hope, through Father
Marechal they did reproach her for expressing such pride and curiosity.”
(Mother Mary Liliane, S.S.A., Superior General, Centenary Address, Victoria,
B.C., June 8, 1958.)
59Bishop M. Demers,
Letter to Mother M. Jeanne de Chantal, March 20, 1861, cited in Sister Mary Ann
Eva, S.S.A., op. cit., p. 156.
60Twenty-eight years
before the Canadian Pacific Railway was completed, the Sisters travelled to
their western destination by steamship, by train and by rowboat around the
Isthmus of Panama. Because of the low tide at the Isthmus, the travellers had
to be carried on the back of negroes to the rowboats waiting offshore. Sister
Mary Angele relates the event with candour. “The bare back trip of some ninety
feet cost a dollar apiece, but my carrier clamoured for more pay, since, said
he, I weighed more than the others. I tipped the scales at 172.” (Diary of
Sister Mary Angele, 1858.)
61Sister Mary
Dorothea, S.S.A., “The Century We Celebrate,” The Canadian League,
March, 1958, p. 36.
62August 2, 1858 is
the date of the act which established British Columbia as a separate colony.
63Council Book,
Archives of St. Ann’s Academy, Victoria, B.C.
64Bishop Charles
Seghers, who replaced Bishop Modeste Demers in Victoria, merited the title of
“Apostle of Alaska” because of his interest in and concern for the northern
outposts of his diocese. On his way to Nulato in 1886, Bishop Seghers was
murdered by a mentally deranged guide on November 27, when he was just forty
miles from his destination.
65Mother Mary Ann,
Letter to Sister Mary Providence, July 16, 1876, cited in Sister Mary Ann Eva,
S.S.A., op. cit., p. 153.
66 Mother Mary
Liliane, S.S.A., Centenary Address, June 8, 1958, cited in the Centennial
Anniversary booklet, pp. 34-36.