Toward Bytown …
In 1845, Father Adrien Telmon, o.m.i., then pastor in Bytown, was aware of the deplorable social situation of his people. He called upon the Grey Nuns of Montreal to obtain help for his parishioners. Sister Elisabeth Bruyère, an active member of the Congregation of the Grey Nuns of Montreal since 1839, was chosen for this mission. In accepting to leave her dear Home in Montreal, Sister Bruyère, then 26 years of age, ventured into the unknown, trusting in the guidance of Divine Providence. She arrived in Bytown on February 20, 1845 with 3 professed sisters, 1 postulant and a candidate to religious life, to found a new Community of Grey Nuns.
What was Bytown like?
Situated in the township of Nepean and seat of Carleton county, Bytown was considered the Far West of Canada. In 1832, the populated area numbered 150 small houses, and in 1841, there were more than 3,000 inhabitants. Located at the juncture of Upper and Lower Canada on the axis of communication of the Ottawa and the Rideau rivers, the town was the meeting place of the lumberjacks. The region quickly became the center for the lumber trade.
According to testimony from residents of that time, there existed in Bytown such a lack of organisation that one could not find any health care institution, hardly any schools, and especially no public services. The variety of languages and nationalities did not favour any form of social coherence or organisation in this developing environment. Thus, social tensions arose frequently among the various ethnic groups: British, French, Irish, Native People … and moreover, between religious groups: Catholics and Protestants.
With the Oblates of Mary Immaculate who pleaded for this foundation, Mother Elisabeth Bruyère would share the lived reality of these settlers and would collaborate in establishing a diocese and an entire ecclesiastical province by inaugurating social ministries: help to the needy, education of youth, care of the sick, visits to prisoners and relief for all other needs met along the way.
Cf. Emilien Lamirande, Elisabeth Bruyère, Foundress of the Sisters of Charity of Ottawa, 1993
A letter from Father Michel Froc, O.M.I., Mother House Chapelan in 1876
