Sisters of Charity of Ottawa : Home : Life of Elisabeth Bruyère : In the Hands of Providence

Author: Sister Grabrielle L. Jean, SCO
Illustration on the left: Sister Gertrude Boucher, SCO

Elisabeth and the Guiding Hand of Providence

Who is this poised 21-year-old young lady seeking admission into the Grey Nuns of Montreal in May, 1839? … Her distinguished bearing suggests culture and refinement. Could she be of aristocratic background? Who is she?

Her youth

That young woman was no other than Elisabeth Bruyère, the future foundress of the Sisters of Charity of Ottawa, popularly known as the Grey Nuns of the Cross. She was born on March 19, 1818 in Assumption, a small town on the outskirts of Montreal. Her father, Charles, was a merchant, and he died when Elisabeth was barely six years old. The young widowed mother, overwhelmed by the complicated business matters of her husband, moved to Montreal in search of work to support her daughter and two younger sons. There Elisabeth attended a school directed by the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame. She was privileged to make her First Communion in the historic chapel of Our Lady of Bon Secours, and she was confirmed by Bishop Lartigue, the first bishop of Montreal.

Elisabeth's mother remarried, and in 1829, the family left the city for a farm in rural Rawdon County where there was neither church nor school. Although the mother herself was illiterate, she wished to ensure a proper education for her daughter and decided to send Elisabeth to live with her cousin, Father François Caron, the pastor of Holy Spirit parish near Assumption. Living with him in the rectory were his sister Angela and his cousin Emily Caron; Angela attended to the housekeeping chores while Emily taught in the village school. Emily would later be cofoundress of the Sisters of Providence with Mother Gamelin.

It was at the country school of the Holy Spirit that Elisabeth pursued her studies under the direction of Emily Caron. The latter was deeply interested in the moral and intellectual formation of her "protégée". She found in Elisabeth a quick and logical mind, a very retentive memory, a young lady of generous temperament who displayed much eagerness for self-improvement. When Elisabeth was 16 years old, Emily deemed her sufficiently educated to begin teaching in the small rural school. Little did Elisabeth suspect that she would be replacing Emily in the schoolhouse one year later when Emily followed Father Caron to his new parish of St. Vincent-de-Paul near Montreal. But since Father Caron maintained a lively interest in Elisabeth, he called for her to teach in the village school nearby in 1836.

Become a Nun?

It is not known why Elisabeth preferred the Grey Nuns of Montreal and their works of mercy to a religious group engaged in education like the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame. It is believed that while teaching at St. Vincent-de-Paul, Elisabeth came under the influence of Sister Elmire Brault, a Grey Nun of Montreal, who told her of the life and endeavours of Mother d'Youville.

When Elisabeth applied for entrance into the Grey Nuns of Montreal, she discovered that she did not have the money needed to procure the required trousseau. She appealed to her cousin's family for assistance and their generosity allowed her to be received by the Grey Nuns on June 4, 1839. Obviously, the hand of Providence was guiding Elisabeth … for she would spend her life begging for and serving the poor, the orphans, the elderly, the needy of all types.

Elisabeth's novitiate formation proceeded smoothly, and on May 31, 1841, she was admitted to profession. Because of her maturity and experience, and the fact that her zeal and capabilities had been noted by her superiors, Elisabeth was immediately entrusted with the care of the older orphans. Sister Bruyère was still in that assignment when summoned for the Bytown foundation on February 8, 1845. She was twenty-six years of age and had very little experience of religious life.

Bytown Beckons

Mother Beaubien, the former Superior, had been the first choice for a foundation in Bytown at the request of the Oblate Fathers. Felled by a stroke shortly before the departure date, the Montreal authorities considered choosing another seasoned religious who felt incapable of assuming the heavy responsibilities. Religious women were needed in Bytown for the various works of mercy and for the education of children; the establishment of good schools was a high priority. On February 8, 1845, Sister Elisabeth Bruyère was asked to go to Bytown and to be the superior of the new community. The founding group left Montreal on February 19, 1845.

The Bytown Foundation

On February 20, 1845, Sister Elisabeth Bruyère, accompanied by three professed Sisters, one postulant and one candidate to the religious life, arrived in Bytown, a small locality with a sad reputation. The young city lacked a water system, electricity, sidewalks, most of the services for security and comfort.

Scuffles occasioned by intemperance and racial hatred were very frequent. The cosmopolitan population of 6000 counted 3125 French and Irish Catholics. The arriving Sisters were to reside on St. Patrick Street in a little rented house which would also shelter the first unfortunate homeless of Bytown.

Compassion at Work

Mother Elisabeth Bruyère became known especially for her humility, simplicity and compassion. She attended to distress in any form. Notable among her undertakings were:

A bilingual school that opened in Bytown on March 3, 1845; one hundred and twenty (120) French-speaking and English-speaking students were registered. A modest wooden shed in the backyard of the convent allowed enough space for the Sisters to organize two classrooms.

The first General Hospital of Ottawa came into existence on May 10, 1845. Its first patients were a 43-year-old tubercular gentleman, Pierre Ethier, and a 21-year-old cripple mulatto, Jim McDermott.

May 30, 1845 marked the beginning of the Sisters' apostolate for abandoned children. Little Elisabeth Jordan was the first to smile in the "home of tenderness" destined for orphans or for neglected children.

Mother Bruyère and her Sisters attended to all the necessities; the emergencies of the hour were a priority in that depressed environment:

M. Bruyère initiated evening classes for mothers, teaching them prayer, catechism, reading, elementary arithmetic, and a few notions of home economics;
she gave of her time and devotedness to the young repentant girls;
she opened the St. Raphael House for the young Irish immigrant girls who were unemployed;
she assured regular visits to the prisoners;
her Sisters visited the sick and the elderly in their homes each day;
her Sisters assisted the dying, and when necessary, buried the dead.

Heroic Deeds

An 1847 typhus epidemic challenged the devotion of the new community of Mother Bruyère. On the property destined to become the General Hospital of Ottawa, shelters were constructed at the angle of Sussex and Water (now Bruyère) streets; of the 3000 patients who could be received, only 400 succumbed to the sickness. The Grey Nuns heroically cared for these poor Irish immigrants despite the danger of contagion and their meagre resources. The Sisters encountered difficult and distasteful work, met with criticism and vexations, but nothing abated their courage nor dampened their resolve. Twenty-two of the religious contracted the sickness, but no one died. The prayers of Mother Bruyère who had written a petition to the Blessed Virgin visibly protected her daughters from death.

In 1871, that same heroic charity served as inspiration during the smallpox epidemic in Ottawa and its environs. Everyone wanted a smallpox hospital but no one wanted the hospital in his/her neighbourhood. A request was addressed to Mother Bruyère who accepted to organize a "quarantine station" in the convent yard naming it "St. Ann Hospice". However, one condition had to be met: the purpose for the shelter's establishment had to be kept a secret. For more than two years, five religious and two "domestic helpers" remained isolated inside in order to attend to the victims of the contagion.

Era of Foundations

Despite certain difficulties relative to adaptations, the Bytown community experienced an astonishing expansion due in part to the many recruits. In September of 1848, at the urging of Bishop Patrick Phelan, Administrator of the diocese of Kingston, Mother Bruyère opened a boarding-school at St. Andrew of Cornwall, Ontario, in the Kingston diocese.

In 1855, Mother Bruyère, moved by the hardships of her Sisters of Montreal working at St. Boniface, Red River, sent them her first three apostolic missionaries.

Convinced as she was of her call to serve the universal Church, at the invitation of the Oblate Fathers, and with the availability of English-speaking sisters, Mother Bruyère consented to open houses in the United States in view of establishing schools for the Franco-American population. The American missions that were founded successively during her lifetime were:

However, the educational needs on the Canadian soil were no less important. The existing parochial schools in the city of Ottawa were successfully dispensing education to hundreds of French and English-speaking students. But the newly-organized parishes insisted on the Grey Nuns for the formation of their youth … Mother Bruyère, who abounded in trust of Divine Providence, tried to satisfy the one and the other at a rhythm surpassing all human expectations:

Always short on resources but filled with the love of Christ, Mother Bruyère saw to the well-being of the orphans, the aged, the destitute by the establishment of the following institutions in Ottawa:

Who would not have been challenged by such accomplishments? Toward the end of her life, Mother Bruyère took all of this in a totally supernatural perspective: "The ever-increasing numbers in our humble family, the varied and countless blessings bestowed so abundantly on each of us, and on all our undertakings, prove that our Congregation of Sisters of Charity of Ottawa is God's work only." (December 24, 1875)

The Passing of Mother Bruyère

For 31 years, Mother Bruyère led her Congregation despite a frail physical condition and unremitting financial burdens. She felt seriously stricken in 1875; good care, rest, the prayers of her daughters, all were to no avail. Serene and peaceful, she breathed her last on April 5, 1876, at the age of 58. Bishop J.T. Duhamel granted the Congregation the very special privilege of preserving the heart of their Foundress. After the solemn funeral at the cathedral on April 7, 1876, the body of Mother Elisabeth Bruyère was transferred to the burial vault of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Ottawa.

On April 5, 1966, ninety years after her death, the remains of our beloved Foundress were transferred back to the Mother-house. To the sound of cathedral bells, as in 1845, Mother Elisabeth Bruyère re-entered her house, the one she had built on trust in Providence and with great sacrifice. She now rests in the sarcophagus of travertine sharing the Oratory previously consecrated solely to Mother d'Youville, in whose footsteps she had walked faithfully.

The urn containing the real heart of Mother Bruyère is sealed atop the tomb, that heart which confided in Divine Providence, the heart that was wholly devoted

The Sisters of Charity of Ottawa Today

Today, the Sister of Charity of Ottawa is a Daughter of the Church whose compassion is expressed in many different ways:

The Sisters are sustained by their prayer life, their fraternal and communal life.

The Congregation has evolved in space. The Sisters of Charity of Ottawa may be found in Canada, in the United States, in Lesotho, in the Republic of South Africa, in Malawi, in Zambia, in Japan, in Brazil, in Haiti, in Cameroon and in Thailand.

In the Hands of Providence Life of Elisabeth Bruyère

Elisabeth and the Guiding Hand of Providence

Her youth

Become a Nun?

Bytown Beckons

The Bytown Foundation

Compassion at Work

Heroic Deeds

Era of Foundations

The Passing of Mother Bruyère

The Sisters of Charity of Ottawa Today

In the Hands of Providence
Life of Elisabeth Bruyère