Obituary Notice
Back to Élisabeth Bruyère yesterday and today
OF
OUR VENERATED AND LATE
MOTHER ELISABETH BRUYÈRE
first Superior General and Foundress of
THE SISTERS OF CHARITY OR GREY NUNS OF OTTAWA
It would seem appropriate to dedicate to the memory of our first Mother and venerated Foundress a more detailed biography than the ordinary notices that are customarily written among us in memory of the sisters who have gone before. This has been well understood and we have attempted to gather in this modest text the information, the facts and actions which would be of greatest interest, so as to make of it a testimonial of our filial devotion, of our gratitude for a mother to whom we owe so much. Unfortunately, we will not have been able to satisfy all the wishes, though legitimate, of all our sisters. They must be well aware that we are not writing a history, a biography of our mother, a task which would be presently impossible. Rather, it is a simple sketch in which, with all simplicity and for their edification, we wish to draw the most important traits of the one we mourn, limiting ourselves to enhance the text with certain reflections, as needed, so that these facts can be well understood and wisely appreciated.
Elisabeth Bruyère was born in Assumption parish, in the diocese of Montreal, March 19, 1818, feast of St. Joseph and, through a rare coincidence, also Holy Thursday. Thus she entered this world under the patronage of this great saint to whom she was tenderly devoted, and on a solemn feast where sadness and joy are intermingled, where the Church seems to want to hold back on the joy inspired by the memory of the institution of the sacrament of the Eucharist, because along with this memory she recalls very painful and heartfelt moments.
Elisabeth was baptized in the parish church the very day of her birth by the Rev. Caron, pastor of neighbouring Saint Esprit (Holy Spirit) Parish. Rev. Caron was the first cousin of Mrs. Bruyère, Elisabeth’s mother, and he had always been a devoted friend of the family.
This family, in which it pleased God to place Elisabeth’s cradle, was, it would seem, honourably Christian. The family had only been settled in Canada for a short period of time. The parents of Elisabeth’s father, Charles Bruyère, were originally from Pont-Saint-Esprit, principal municipality of the department of Gard, on the Rhone, in France, and they had migrated to Assumption a few months before his birth, probably at the time of the French Revolution, that is, toward the end of the 18th century. We have fewer details on the family of Sophie Mercier, Elisabeth’s mother. We simply know that her parents were originally from France and that she herself was born at Good Saint Ann, in the diocese of Québec. Mr. Charles Bruyère bore the title of Captain. He was one of the most respected and most influential citizens of Assumption parish.
Elisabeth spent the first years of her life under the watchful eye of a mother worthy of the name and she grew not only in age, but also in piety, meekness and innocence.
At the age of six, she lost her father. God seemed to want to place her at an early age at the school of suffering, where one learns valuable lessons, often in spite of oneself. Through the tears of her mother, now widowed with several children and without needed resources, Elisabeth glimpsed the serious side of life, as well its duties, struggles and sorrows. However, Mrs. Bruyère, now deprived, through her husband’s death, of what she would need to raise her children at Assumption, chose to move to Montreal to live with a brother who had already settled there. That is where Elisabeth made her first Holy Communion and was confirmed at the age of eleven in Notre Dame de Bon Secours church by the Very Rev. Lartigue, Bishop of Telmesse.
Shortly afterwards, Elisabeth’s mother, well aware that she could not provide adequately for her education in Montreal, asked Father Caron to bring her to his rectory. As her guardian, this good pastor entrusted her to two young women: Miss Angèle, his own sister, and Miss. Emelie Caron, a first cousin of his and Mrs. Bruyère, the latter also being the schoolteacher in the village of Saint Esprit. Mrs. Bruyère felt that these two young women would be pleased to instruct this young relative and form her for a life of solid virtue. Rev. Caron took Elisabeth in his care and entrusted her to the dedicated and intelligent solicitude of these two women who, it can be well imagined, showered her with their attention.
Later on, Miss. Emelie Caron would become a religious and the Superior General of the congregation in which she had entered, the Sisters of Providence, in Montreal. She always entertained the most cordial relationship with our mother.
Elisabeth Bruyère, with all the care which her teachers provided, progressed quickly in her studies and, what is most important, in her fidelity to the duties of our holy religion.
She was fair-minded; her heart, simple and upright; her character, generous. She quickly understood her indebtedness to those who gave her so much, and she showed her gratitude toward her benefactors by anticipating their wishes, being faithful to their advice and helping whenever possible.
On the other hand, at the Saint Esprit rectory, she lived in a haven of innocence, of happiness and peace, far from the world and its wiles. The poisoned breath of evil could not reach her and, thus, nothing came to disturb the development of her good traits or compromise for one instant what is most precious to a young girl, her purity of heart.
Once Elisabeth had acquired sufficient schooling to be able to teach to the children at Saint Esprit, Reverend Caron entrusted her with a school for young girls at some distance from the rectory. This was in 1834. She was then sixteen-and-a-half years of age. She taught at St. Vincent de Paul for four years. She already demonstrated her ability to form the hearts and minds of the children to a sound judgment and practical sense that would so characterise her later. Her efforts in this work were rewarded with success. She won the affection of her students and the trust of their parents.
Filled with charity and simplicity, virtues which attracted others to her, Elisabeth already demonstrated an air of dignity and reserve which invited respect. It was not pride on her part, but a sense of decorum stemming from true humility. Gracious and considerate by nature, she maintained a sense of personal dignity and reserve without seeming pretentious.
This brings us to that special moment in the life of any religious, where an initial inspiration to leave all behind so as to be totally given over to God, begins to make its way. In the midst of this privileged environment where providential circumstances had placed her, those generous impulses inspired by grace could be nurtured and grown. Since this attraction met no opposition, the vocation of this pious young woman seemed certain.
Having consulted her confessor who fully approved of her resolution to give herself to God, Elisabeth went to Montreal in the company of Miss. Emelie Caron to meet with the Grey Nuns and request admission to their community. In the absence of Mother Beaubien, Superior, she was received by Sister Forbes, mistress of novices. The latter, moved by the qualities of this young woman, so obvious at first glance, encouraged her to return when the superior would be at home.
In fact, a short time later, in the presence of Miss. Angele Caron, she repeated her request and Mother Beaubien set her entrance into the novitiate for June 4, 1839, Tuesday in the octave of the Feast of Corpus Christi. On that day, she was dressed in the habit of the postulants, and received the holy habit on May 18, 1840, making profession on May 31, 1841, the Monday of Pentecost.
During her time of formation, Sister Bruyère won the trust of her superiors through her obedience, her great charity and her discretion. Under the guidance of an experience mistress of novices, Sister Forbes, she acquired a generous spirit of dedication, of zeal and love of others which, in the future, would inspire her entire life. She emerged from the novitiate with a well-formed character, her soul ready for an assignment to the most delicate as well as the most difficult tasks in the Grey Nun community. The day after her profession, she was entrusted with the care of the orphan girls, one of the main works at that time. She remained in this post until her appointment as superior of the sisters who had been called to found the mission in Bytown, on February 5, 1845.
FOUNDATION OF THE MISSION IN BYTOWN, TODAY OTTAWA
In the fall of 1844, Bishop Phelan of Kingston and diocesan administrator, requested from the superior of the General Hospital of Montreal, a few sisters to begin a community in Bytown. This mission would be dedicated to the same works of charity as those of the Grey Nuns of Montreal, that is, service to the sick and the needy, home visits to the sick, and, in addition, the education of both Canadian and Irish girls. On November 16, 1844, the Council of the Grey Nuns of Montreal acquiesced to the desires of Bishop Phelan and four sisters were named for the new foundation.
They were Sisters Beaubien, Thibodeau, Howard (Rodriguez) and Charlebois, who took the name Sister St. Joseph. The official act of acceptance of this new foundation only became official on December 4, the day on which it was signed by the foundresses, in the presence of Bishop Bourget of Montreal and the Superior of the Grey Nuns, Mother McMullen, as well as by the Sisters of the Council. After this, the choice of the sisters mentioned above was officially confirmed: Sister Beaubien was named superior, Sister Thibodeau, her assistant, Sister Rodriguez, mistress of novices. Sister Charlebois was later chosen as bursar by the new superior.
The difficulties that could be anticipated in this new foundation were sizeable and Sister Beaubien often needed to encourage those who had been designated as her companions to undertake this endeavour. She would often remind them of the firmness of purpose with which the Venerable Mother d’Youville had accepted all sorts of challenges in the foundation of the mother house. Never doubting that a grave illness would soon have the best of her strength and make the carrying out of this mandate impossible, she did her best to take on the responsibilities that this new project would require of her. Much of her time was taken up with the preparation for the Bytown foundation and, although the community of the Grey Nuns was, in general, little disposed in favour of this mission, the sisters were zealous in assisting the chosen sisters in whatever way they could.
The sister in charge of the orphans, Sister Bruyère, was particularly ardent and interested in the foundation. One day, as one of the future foundresses shared with her some sadness she felt in view of her upcoming departure: “This is a cross, dear sister.” said Sister Bruyère tenderly, “that God is sending you, and he sends it to because he loves you. And, I, too, love you”, she added, “I love you, and I love the work for which you will be dedicating yourself. Yes, truly, I feel a mother’s heart for the foundresses of Bytown.”
This mother’s heart, God had granted it to her because, although she had no inkling, Sister Bruyère would soon be called through obedience to become the superior and mother of the valiant sisters for whom she had felt this tenderness. However, at that moment, this could not be foreseen.
Early in January, 1845, Bishop Phelan along with Reverend Father Telmon, O.M.I., a missionary at the only parish in Bytown, wrote to the Grey Nuns in Montreal urging them to move quickly toward the establishment of the proposed project. This they did and all seemed ready for the departure of the sisters, when, on January 10, Sister Beaubien suffered a stroke and was close to death.
The imminent danger of this first attack, even once it had subsided, caused the doctors to make it clear that this sister would remain incapacitated for the rest of her life with only intermittent moment of full awareness.
There was now an urgent need to choose another superior for the Bytown mission and not without some difficulty, since the opposition that this project had met in the community now intensified and it seemed doomed to failure. Some priests in whom our sisters of Montreal had great confidence saw in the illness of Sister Beaubien a sure sign that this mission was not in God’s designs. No doubt, they were wrong, but the ways of God are often so hidden that one cannot reproach them this sentiment.
Fortunately, this sentiment did not prevail, especially in the mind of Mother McMullen, since she proceeded to a second election which brought no satisfactory results. The council chose a very virtuous sister, Sister Frechette, but since it did not want to impose on her a responsibility that may be beyond her strength, they left her totally free to refuse, which she did.
Only on the third election did the council choose the one who would be the cornerstone of the Bytown mission, Sister Elisabeth Bruyère. On February 5, she was named the first superior of the mission for a three year period only. It was agreed that, once this mandate had expired, she could return to the mother house. In this way, the burden that had just been laid on her was made somewhat lighter.
Sister Bruyère was greatly surprised and even saddened as a result of this unexpected election. However, she did accept without hesitation because she believed that through her acceptance she served the community. She said with a true spirit of faith: “I never thought of myself as being entrusted with such an important and difficult mission for which I believed I had no calling; however, if my superiors do not find that I have adequate reasons to refuse, I accept. Prudence is theirs. As for myself, I will obey, even at the cost of my life.” This, truly, is authentic religious spirit.
The gifts of Sister Bruyère had already been appreciated, since Mr. Quiblier, superior of the Seminary of Montreal, said, in learning of her appointment: “The Grey Nuns are depriving themselves of a subject of great merit, who could have been more than helpful to them and could have been the honour of the Montreal community, in favour of their new mission.” Also, Mr. Larry, a Sulpicien and confessor for the Grey Nuns, sought to oppose her departure, but Mother McMullen, some of the elder sisters and especially the sainted Bishop of Montreal, had other sentiments. They encouraged her: “Go with trust”, said the prelate, “go where obedience sends you and go fearlessly.”
Firm in her resolve, Sister Bruyère, whose character was firm and decided, no longer took into account the predicted challenges and began to show herself the support, the mother, in a word, of the sisters who had been entrusted to her as companions.
The departure for Bytown was set for February 19. As early as the fifteenth of that month, Reverend Father Telmon having arrived in Montreal to get the foundresses, a first and important ceremony was held at the cathedral. The Bishop of Montreal offered the holy sacrifice for our first mothers in the chapel dedicated to the Confraternity of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and they had the joy of receiving Holy Communion from his hand.
After Mass, Father Telmon gave a touching homily on the parable of the mustard seed. He could not have chosen a better topic, and it was a truly prophetic sermon. This mustard seed became a much larger tree than the preacher could have imagined, even in his most daring hopes.
After the sermon, the good Father went to the altar of the Sacred Heart of Mary and read an act of consecration in the name of the missionaries, placing their new born community under her protection.
Our mothers had breakfast with the Sisters of Providence and their foundress, Mother Gamelin, then they said their farewell to the sisters at the Hotel-Dieu, as well as those of the Congregation of Notre Dame and of the Good Shepherd, all of whose prayers they requested for the success of this mission which had been entrusted to them.
The three days that followed before their departure were filled with final preparations. No doubt, these were mingled with painful emotions, for the thought of the upcoming separation spread sadness everywhere. But, along with the pain of the sacrifice imposed by obedience, God showered them with consolations which took the bitterness away from the good-byes. One of the foundresses wrote later, “How strong are those bonds that are formed in religious life through a shared calling bound by charity!”
On February eighteenth, after evening prayer, the sisters who were leaving the next day said their good-byes to the gathered community. The solemn silence which followed was occasionally interrupted by stifled sobs.
At 5 o’clock the next morning, Reverend Father Telmon celebrated the holy sacrifice. The sisters who were to leave with him were present and received the Bread of travelers. At the community mass at 6 o’clock, all the sisters received communion for the intention of the departing missionaries and for the success of their noble undertaking. Finally, the solemn hour had arrived. All gathered again in the sanctuary where the Veni Sancte, the Memorare and the Salve Regina were recited. Having received a final blessing from Bishop Bourget, who made a point of being present for their departure, the four sisters climbed into the carriage and soon disappeared down the road.
During the two-day trip, Father Telmon showed unmatched dedication and they encountered no serious problems. They spent the night at Petite-Nation (today know as Plaisance) at the home of the Honourable Denis Benjamin Papineau, and the next day, February 20, 1845, they arrived in Bytown. They had been eagerly awaited and were welcomed with much joy. Most of the citizens had come to meet them and formed a retinue of more than eighty carriages. As our dear sisters thus entered the town, the bells of the only Catholic church rang out with much gusto. It was a triumphant entrance. The Reverend Fathers Telmon and Dandurand led them to the parish church where they recited the Te Deum, the Memorare and the Sub Tuum.
Our mothers then were taken to the Oblate rectory where they would be lodged for three weeks since their home on St. Patrick Street was not ready to receive them. During this time, the good Fathers found hospitality among the local families who were pleased to receive them.
Bytown, which we will henceforth call Ottawa, even if the town did not officially receive this name before 1858, was far from being the city we admire today. The heights which dominated the Ottawa Valley, under the Chaudières Falls, were not crowned with the magnificent structures which charm our eyes now. In all this section of what formed Uptown, only a few isolated homes on Sparks Street could be seen. There was no other construction worth mentioning: it was truly a large village haphazardly structured which made up this central portion in the vicinity of Sussex Street. The Catholic church was a modest wooden building, situated on land which now faces the present cathedral. Its staff comprised two or three Oblate missionaries, basically the only priests at this time in the region of Central Canada which made up the Ottawa Diocese.
The sisters’ residence was a very modest lodging situated at the very end of the present garden at the Bishop’s residence. They did not wait until they were completely settled in before beginning their work. From the first days after their arrival, Sister Thibodeau began to visit and care for the sick.
As early as March 3rd, our dear Mother Bruyère and Sister Rodriguez began offering education to the young Canadian and Irish girls of Ottawa. The schoolhouse was actually a wooden shed, separated by a large yard from the home the sisters would move into a few days later.
They immediately registered one hundred twenty students, who, until that time, had been left in unbelievable ignorance with little family education.
Finally, on March 10, our first mothers took possession of their convent on St. Patrick Street, with some solemnity. At this point, they had hardly any furniture. Our early sisters often told the story with a smile, that on the very day of their move, after Father Telmon had celebrated Mass in their chapel, in order to have their community breakfast of bread and butter, they had to take the door to one of the rooms and set it on supports. For a very long period, these sisters were reduced to a level of poverty which would have been the envy of Franciscans or Carmelites. However, they never lacked the necessities, that is, bread, more or less black, since Divine Providence watched over them, and they could write as did the Venerable Mother d’Youville, “Always on the verge of lacking everything, we never lacked what was necessary. Each day I admire Divine Providence who has chosen such poor subjects to bring about some small good.”
Yet, one cannot imagine to what extent their needs made them ingenious. For almost one year, they managed to create a community room, a dining room and a dormitory all in the same space. Every evening, the mattresses would be laid out on the tables which were now transformed into beds. Did they need a candleholder? As long as they were able to make a hole in a plank and had a candle to place in it, they needed nothing more. In the absence of chairs, the sisters would sit back on their heels; they would make their drink with roast barley, and if that were lacking, they simply drank clear water.
The first and main work of our mothers was the school where Mother Bruyère taught the French-speaking girls, and Sister Rodriguez, the Irish girls. However, before too long, the superior was freed up for other tasks with the arrival from Montreal of Sister Rivet, a novice, who took over her class.
To this first undertaking, our sisters did not delay to add others. Early in June, 1845, the zeal of the pastor, Father Telmon, prompted him to establish two groupings of the Ladies of Charity: one for the Canadian Ladies, and the other for the Irish Ladies, and the association of the Children of Mary for the young girls. In part, the sisters directed these groups. Since in their first meeting, the Ladies of Charity had sectioned off the town to facilitate their regular visits, Mother Bruyère took it upon herself to visit daily, carrying on her arm a full basket of provisions for the needy.
We have seen how the sisters were limited for space in their first residence. It was barely finished when a new construction began to go up next to it, a two-story extension with dormers. These had been built so as to form a gothic chapel, quite splendid in comparison to their tiny pitiful oratory.
This extension was not occupied until the fall; yet, already in August, our sisters had begun receiving the sick. The largest room was placed at their disposal and this became the first hospital in Ottawa. It remained such until 1847 when we built a wooden shelter for the Irish emigrants on the land which is now situated between our mother house and the new hospital.
In the summer of 1845, our Mother also welcomed the first orphan girl. She was an infant of only a few months which the church custodian found, wrapped in a pillow case, on the sacristy floor. Our good mother always held a special interest for her.
At that time the zeal was great and one did not count challenges or aversions. Each one gave without hesitation.
Mother Bruyère wished to serve as an example, in spite of her frail health. She would help her sisters in the most difficult tasks, such as the laundry which was usually done on the river banks, as well as the ironing and other household tasks. After having taught and visited the sick during the day, in the evening she would help clean the house, sweep or wash the floor.
It was especially during the typhus in 1847 that our mothers’ charity was most evident. In the springtime of that year, a considerable number of Irish, forced to flee their country because of famine, traveled to Canada. Unfortunately, many were carriers of that terrible disease, typhus. A large number died during the journey, but a larger number brought the scourge of that pestilence to the shores of the St. Lawrence River and to Ottawa.
On June 5, 1847, Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, our sisters received the first of these suffering emigrants and, from the 11th of that month, the situation became burdensome. Until the end of August, not one day passed where they did not receive several of these sick persons, as many as 19 in one day. Some could be admitted to the new hospital which had just been completed; the others had to be treated under military tents which the government had given and which were erected on the land that the present hospital now occupies.
It is nearly impossible to imagine the dire straits in which the people found themselves and whom our sisters served. Their generosity in these circumstances is to be noted. They were still very few in number. There had been to date only one profession: that of Sister Rivet; however, six novices were nearing the end of their formation, but along with our foundresses and a few postulants, that was the entire personnel. The schools were closed and all the sisters, novices as well as professed, outdid one another to care for the victims of typhus. This dedication became a necessity since these poor people had been totally left aside. Everyone was afraid of contagion. The wagon drivers who brought the sick to our home or our hospital did not even dare touch them. The sisters themselves helped them down from the wagons and then, were the only ones to care for them, to dress their wounds, to watch over them night and day. The population left the sisters totally alone once they learned that one of them had become sick on July 2.
In spite of that, the sisters, following the example of our dear Mother Bruyère, continued to give of themselves. Most were young, a few being only sixteen or seventeen years of age. These were no less courageous than their elders. The sisters even had to bury those who became victims to the epidemic; they would place them in caskets and would carry them to the hearse which would take them away. At one point or another, all of our sisters fell sick. Before regaining their full strength, many had to return to replace those who, though they had at first been spared, now contracted the disease.
Our mother foundress was at death’s door. She received the last rites and for a few days, we awaited her death at any hour. There is an estimate that in Ottawa alone, four hundred persons died during the summer of 1847. Montreal was living a similar experience. At the request of our sisters there, Mother Bruyère sent them Sister Phelan, a recent professed, to help for a year. Finally, the scourge abated and, in the fall of 1847, the schools re-opened.
On September 17, our mother welcomed into the hospital wards all the children whose parents had succumbed to the typhus. We see here another example of her generous heart.
The creation of the Ottawa diocese was in 1847. As a result of a decree dated July 9, Rev. Father Guigues, superior of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in Canada, was chosen to become the first bishop of this diocese, formed from sections of the dioceses of Kingston and Montreal. However, it would be a full year before this prelate occupied the see. In June, 1848, he wrote to our foundress to request the community’s prayers and to express how pleased he was to see already established in his new diocese, a community of fervent religious women whose assistance for good he would value. The Episcopal ordination of Bishop Guigues was held in the present cathedral of Ottawa on July 30, 1848. The entire community of Grey Nuns was present at this impressive ceremony for their first bishop, who would prove to be a true father for us.
For some time, Mother Bruyère sought to build a convent that would respond better to the needs of the community than did the tiny residence on St Patrick Street. However, during the typhus epidemic, our mother had had built a small wooden cabin on the land destined to house the hospital, so that our sisters had a place to rest from their labours. It had been named “Nazareth” and that land had been purchased for us in 1848 by Father Telmon. After the epidemic, this structure was converted into a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Good Succour. Father Ryan blessed it and offered a first mass there on May 22, 1849.
At this time, our dear Mother Bruyère, fully trusting in Divine Providence, had begun the foundation of our present convent, whose cornerstone had been blessed on March 31, 1849. Her resources were so limited that she well understood the need for special help from God if this daunting project were to succeed. In the chapel of Our Lady of Good Succour, she made a solemn vow that each year the entire community would make a novena for the conversion of sinners, in preparation for the feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary if, during the course of the following year, the sisters could take possession of their new convent. She also added a promise to have a tableau painted, within her means, depicting the mystery of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple.
To help the work proceed at a more rapid pace, the sisters themselves would carry the stones for the masons, often in their own aprons. These last two incidents remind us of the Venerable Mother d’Youville.
The divine assistance which our mother pleaded for with such faith was forthcoming and, on June 3, 1850, our sisters moved into our present home. Bishop Guigues, in the company of all the priests in town, walked in procession to the sisters’ residence on St. Patrick Street and, from their, led the sisters, along with their boarders to the new convent which the prelate blessed. At that time, the community consisted of nine professed sisters, other than the sisters who had come from Montreal for the foundation, two novices and five postulants.
We just mentioned boarders, for the first time. In December, 1848, our mother had petitioned the authorities of the Grey Nuns of Montreal in view of establishing a boarding school in Ottawa, and she had explained the serious reasons which made this a necessary work for us. The council of the Montreal mother house was unsure about assuming responsibility for this permission and preferred that it seek the decision of Bishop Guigues to whom it would entrust decision-making powers in this respect, as we could see in a letter to him from Mother Coutlée, then superior in Montreal. Bishop Guigues, well aware of the urgency of a boarding school, decided without hesitation that our sisters should inaugurate such a project as soon as possible. The sisters accepted his decision as the expression of God’s will. They received their first boarders in September, 1849.
However, this new work, as all such undertakings that God blesses, saw the light of day in challenges and painful sacrifices. In order to create a space for these young girls, when we were still in our original residence, we had to relegate to their use our community room and dining room, and the novices had to give up their dormitory and find lodging in an adjoining building, where they suffered from both humidity and cold temperatures.
The following year, when our sisters had settled into their new quarters, the situation became more tolerable without being all that we had hoped it to be, for this building was not fully completed. The upper floors were not inhabited for a long time, and the sheet metal roof, gift of a generous benefactor, Mr. Joseph Larocque, was not put into place until 1857.
The boarding school remained as part of the mother house until 1869, at which time it was transferred to large building which the community purchased on Rideau Street and to which a vast wing was added. This institution had developed to such an extent that this change of site had become indispensable.
From 1850 to 1854, our congregation and its works took a more solid footing without extensive development. A first mission was opened in June, 1851, in St. Andrew, Kingston Diocese, but had to be abandoned after a three-year trial.
In all this, Mother Bruyère demonstrated that zeal that always animated her in order to respond to the needs that were placed before her. In 1853, at the request of Bishop Taché, she allowed one of her sisters, Sister Currran, known as d’Youville, to leave for Red River. Two years later, she sent two other sisters to this distant mission, Sisters St. Therese and St. Marie; only the latter would return.
One can also read in the administrative correspondence of 1865 and 1866 that, on the insistence of Father Gaudet, former mother house chaplain, now become superior of the Oblates in Texas, a foundation in Matamoras, Mexico, on the Texas border, had been considered. This project did not materialise, but it was not the result of lack of good will on our mother’s part.
On September 4, 1854, the definitive break of the Ottawa community from Montreal took place. This reality was the source of much pain and anxiety for our dear foundress. The differing interests of the two congregations, the diversity of works, especially that of education of young people in the schools and at the boarding school, the problems of communication, were all motives that prompted the church leaders to judge this separation necessary. It would seem that God also willed it. Yet, one can see in Mother Bruyère’s correspondence that she could not be held responsible for this situation which was the result of uncontrollable circumstances. For the sisters who had come from Montreal, it was very difficult for them to pronounce their Fiat.
Having sought advice from the Bishop of Ottawa and some priests most qualified to guide her, our mother sought to give the Sisters of Ottawa their own constitutions since the ones of the Grey Nuns of Montreal no longer responded to the new works and activities that we had taken on. These constitutions were drawn up on a trial basis in 1855 and 1856. They were read to the community and explained in detail during the general retreat of 1856. They were found to be filled with wisdom, prudence and proper for the formation of perfect religious women. However, our mother died before she could bring appropriate modifications which experience would dictate and without witnessing their official approbation. God is the one who determines the moments and events which will contribute to his plan.
On December 11, 1856, in conformity with the constitutions, we held the first general elections. They were for a two-year trial period on the advice of Bishop Guigues. On February 25, 1858, the sisters in Bytown, anticipating the date when their foundress would resign her post, met under the presidency of Father Telmon, O.M.I., superior of the community, assisted by Fathers Dandurand and Mulloy, and re-elected Mother Bruyère for five years. They communicated the results of this election to the superior in Montreal with a request to accept the election, to authorise their mother to continue to assume the role of superior and, should it be necessary, to order her to accept. Mother Bruyère traveled to Montreal to await the council’s decision which, on February 2, 1858, gave the superior the option, either to return to Bytown, or to remain in Montreal. Whatever her choice, it would be forever.
Mother Bruyère was still undecided when Bishop Bourget, whose influence the sisters in Bytown had solicited, confirmed this election on February 28 and ordered the foundress to leave without delay to take up her post, which she did immediately.
FOUNDATIONS AND DIVERSE WORKS
At this time, we only had two houses: the mother house and the Academy in Buffalo, founded in September, 1857. Soon our congregation would begin to spread. As the city grew, the number of Catholics increased, and Bishop Guigues of Ottawa set up a number of new parishes. Also during this period, our novitiate saw many young religious who were eager to carry the fruit of their work and their dedication throughout the diocese and even beyond.
Soon Ottawa had a college under the direction of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and, in time, five parishes: St. Joseph, St. Patrick, St. John the Baptist and St. Ann, as well as the cathedral.
In the fall of 1861, some of our sisters were sent to the college to care for the infirmary, the linen room and the kitchen.
St. Mary Academy, in St. Patrick parish in Upper Ottawa, opened on September 15, 1865.
St. Joseph Orphanage, in proximity of the mother house, opened on December 26 of that same year, and St. Patrick Orphanage, in 1866. Established first on St. Patrick Street, it was transferred next to St. Patrick church, where it remains to this day.
St. Charles Home for the elderly opened its doors on September 1, 1871.
Holy Family School in St. John the Baptist parish received its first students on January 14, 1873, and the St. Ann Parish school opened on November 30 of the same year.
The boarding school moved on September 1, 1869, into St. Joseph parish on Rideau Street and received the name Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.
The schools of Notre Dame parish, the first that we opened, were moved to Cumberland Street where they became knows as Notre Dame School.
In 1864, the present hospital was begun so that by the end of the following year, the sisters would receive the sick. The work was not completed, however, until 1866. Bishop Guigues, along with Mr. Joseph Larocque, was one of the principal benefactors of this work for which he had contributed two thousand dollars. On March 19, 1866, he solemnly blessed the new structure and placed the hospital under the patronage of St. Joseph whose feast it was.
In the area neighbouring the city, we had three schools: Hull, opened in 1869; Gatineau, on September 1, 1872 and Rochesterville, on January 14, 1873.
Outside the city and the diocese of Ottawa, one could count, in addition to Holy Angels in Buffalo: Youville convent in Plattsburg, NY, founded on October 20, 1860; Our Lady of Victories, in Ogdensburg, NY, on August 28, 1863 and Sacred Heart Academy in that same city, in August, 1873; Our Lady of Mercy in Aylmer, on August 26, 1867; Our Lady of Good Succour, in MonteBello, on September 6, 1867; Mary Immaculate in Pembroke, on May 13, 1868; St. Claude in Temiscamingue on October 2, 1868; St. Laurence in Buckingham, on August 23, 1869; Our Lady of the Desert in Maniwaki, on June 21, 1870; St. Francis de Sales, in Gatineau, in September, 1872; St. Mary Academy in Medina, NY, on November 11, 1872; the Eganville convent, on August 29, 1873; and, finally, St. Francis of the Lake, in the diocese of Three Rivers, on September 23, 1875.
A new foundation was accepted for the following August in Mattawa, west of Ottawa.
At the time of our beloved Mother Bruyère’s death, on April 5, 1876, the number of professed sisters in the congregation was one hundred eighty-nine; there were forty-five novices. The number of students enrolled in our schools and boarding schools was three thousand five hundred forty-one.
The persons who were being assisted in our various houses of charity numbered seven hundred ninety-eight.
At the General Chapters of 1863, 1868 and 1873, our mother was always re-elected superior general because of our exceptional circumstances.
TRIP TO FRANCE
On August 28, 1861, Mother Bruyère left with Sister Mary of the Nativity for a trip to France, which had a double goal: following her doctor’s advice, to help re-establish her health; also, to look into the possibility of affiliating our congregation with that of the Holy Family whose mother house was in Bordeaux. This second goal was not in God’s plans and did not materialise. Our Mother visited several communities seeking information; she met a Mr. Bruyère, her cousin, who had one sister at Carmel in Avignon and another in Toulon, as a Sister of St. Vincent de Paul.
She returned to Ottawa, on February 2, 1862, happy to see her daughters and the children who had missed her greatly during this long absence, as witnessed by these verses which they sang on her arrival:
Good Mother
Our prayer
Is that Jesus
Never send you so far again.
REFRAIN
Hurrah! Hurrah! On this great day.
We celebrate our Mother’s return,
From the shores of France
Behold, you have returned
Your gentle presence
Makes us happy.
VIRTUES OF OUR DEAR MOTHER BRUYÈRE
We have seen so far our venerated Mother Foundress place herself as a willing instrument in God’s hands in order to establish works of charity and dedication. We would now wish to gaze upon her in a different setting, namely, those virtues to which, in our view, she often gave heroic witness.
The one that comes to mind most readily both to our memory and for our imitation is her charity, especially for the unfortunate. Her very sensitive heart would often be moved with compassion in the presence of pain and misfortune. The poor too ashamed to beg, the sick, who were abandoned, aroused her interest in a particular way. In 1847, during the typhus, having seen that the sick had to be laid on the bare ground, she asked that we all give up our bedding, beginning with her own. “Remember, my dear daughters”, she would say at the end of the 1872 retreat, “remember that, the moment we lose our love for the poor, we will lose the very spirit that is ours. It is true that several could think or say: ‘We are teachers’. Yes, that is our work also, but we have accepted it in order to help us in our main work, that of caring for the sick and the poor. Be always ready to serve the poor, if you are asked to do this, as much as if you are asked to teach. Love the poor!”
For each of the poor, she had a mother’s care. In fact, she had ordained that, each day, at 10:30, the exterior bell would toll to announce the distribution of soup. All those who came were served a bowl of hot soup. She had also wished that one sister would always be available for the poor. The sisters were few in number. Nonetheless, Our Lord must always find with the Grey Nuns the compassionate welcome which was his right.
Our mother wanted charity to reign in the community. She would say to us: “Love one another.” “Love and respect your superior general. I don’t speak here for myself, I will not live forever; but in order that you may preserve the spirit of union that should exist here in the mother house.” Again she would say: “Dear Sisters, no one should be unaware that charity is our special virtue. Our charity should consist in loving one another as Our Lord has loved us. We must love one another in God, and it is not true love if we only love those who please us because of their natural qualities. We must love all our sisters, without exception, ignoring no one. See: each day we share the same table; we eat the same spiritual bread, the Holy Eucharist, we work for the same reward; we will all have the pleasure of seeing God, I hope, but those who have been most faithful in practicing the beautiful virtue of charity, will have a greater degree of glory.”
In order to produce acts of love, our mother only had to follow the tendencies of her heart, and she most probably would have had to be watchful lest this tendency prevent her from detecting wiles and falsehoods.
We always noticed that it was her normal disposition to consider any object offered for her use as being available to anyone who would have need of it. One day, a sister came to share with her that a poor lady requested a pair of shoes. Our mother replied; “Look in my wardrobe and give her mine.” Until her death, it was her pleasure to give away any object to a sister or to another person, if she could do so in accordance with the prescriptions of holy poverty.
She had a true spirit of faith; she would advise us to accomplish all our actions with a spirit of faith; to ask God each day to increase in us a lively and practical faith, without which we would be deprived of a host of merits, that is, of precious treasures.
This same faith brought her to demonstrate marked respect for all that concerned worship and exhorted us to never speak of consecrated persons without great veneration. This recommendation did not simply pertain to our own sisters who deserved our consideration and affection first and foremost, but also to religious of other congregations. She would say, “We should greatly honour all religious men and women, because they are accomplishing some good in the Church and are working for the greater glory of God.”
All the more did she not accept that we speak other than with profound respect of priests and especially of bishops. “Consider bishops as other Christs; may we always have for them special concern and the most perfect obedience.”
It was right that she particularly expressed these sentiments with respect to Bishop Guigues who had always been so generous with the community. Toward the end of 1873, when this venerable prelate became ill from the condition that would lead to his death two months later, our mother requested as a favour that two of our sisters be allowed to care for him in his sufferings. Two of our sisters were in fact at his bedside until his death on January 8, 1874.
Faith does not remain solid and evident in all the details of one’s life, if it is not frequently fed at the source of true piety: prayer, meditation, habitual presence of God. She said one day: “Several complain about difficulties in their meditation; it’s because they don’t think of God often enough. If you take the resolution to offer him all your actions, all your sorrows, all your contradictions, you will be more drawn to speak to him in your prayer. This is how one acquires a spirit of recollection, that interior spirit which is the very soul of religious life. One’s joy should be found in thinking of God. Some sisters neglect prayer and from there they lose the habit of reflecting on their very self. They let their prayer wait upon their completing their assigned duties. Well, their day is lost. It could be that they exhausted themselves, but it was for naught, since they forgot to work for God. They neglected to pray.”
To all these virtues that she cultivated with energy and perseverance, she would have wanted us to add humility, gentleness, love for punctuality and obedience; she would exhort us to maintain a family spirit, a community spirit, this attitude which leads one to self-forgetfulness so as to seek, in all circumstances, the interests of the congregation, which, in fact, would also be those of others and of God himself.
This dear foundress sought God in all things and loved him above all things. She jealously preserved as a sacred trust received from the Venerable Mother d’Youville two devotions particularly dear to the Grey Nuns: one to Divine Providence, the other, to the Eternal Father.
Divine Providence! She knew how to obtain its special favour. One evening, Sister Raizenne, who had charge of the orphanage, came to tell her there was no more bread. What would they do for the next morning’s breakfast? Mother Bruyère paused for a moment of prayer, then softly told this sister: “Return to your home, my child, God will see to it.” At nine o’clock, a wagon filled with large loaves of bread stopped in front of the orphanage. He who feeds the birds of the air had heard the prayer of his servant and had responded.
The singleness of purpose of this good mother placed her above all human judgment of which she was not preoccupied as long as she had God’s approval. A smallpox epidemic ravaged Ottawa, the civic leaders were hard-pressed when, on a proposal by the sisters, they agreed to tolerate an emergency hospital in the convent yard. However, the whole idea had to be kept secret. For two years, the sisters and their employees remained sequestered in this temporary hospital. One day, the chaplain, on his return from visits to the sick was stopped by a passer-by who showed him a copy of the local newspaper whose lead article contained a tirade against the Sisters of Charity, accusing them of having done nothing during the epidemic. “Is it true,” said the gentleman, “that the sisters have not wanted to care for the smallpox victims?” The chaplain returned to ask if we should not respond to this insult. Mother Bruyère responded: “No, Father, let them be. God sees us.”
Our mother gave great importance to certain practices established in the community by our holy rule, such as the monthly recollection and certain devotions that the needs of the Church and of the congregation inspired in her.
She loved the Church whose concerns, which were those of the Holy Father, were for her a source of deep sorrow. She wept when hearing of the misfortunes of the saintly Pope Pius IX, in exile and stripped of the Roman treasures. For several years, she requested that the required rosary be offered by the community for the intentions of the Holy Father. She would exhort us to deny ourselves from time to time to obtain the triumph of our religion. “Even should you awaken in the night, recite a Hail Mary for this intention.”
This compassion helped her to willingly accept the trials of her congregation. She would tell us: “No good is done, unless it costs us something. The church is being persecuted, we must be ready to endure the most evil accusations as she is, as well as the fire of calumny.”
May we speak now of Mother Bruyère’s far-reaching and inspired vision for the education of youth? She wanted the children to be educated in the true sense of education, by inspiring them with sacred readings, such as those of Bishop Dupanloup and other writers of the same vintage. She would encourage the sisters to develop in young women a sense of duty, to cultivate, at the same time as the necessary and helpful sciences, those natural gifts which they possessed, but always for the glory of God and good of souls.
One needed to be ingenious in helping correct certain behaviours, but always with the gentleness of Christ, without, by the same token, becoming weak or condescending. She required initiative rather than routine.
The confraternities of the Children of Mary and the Guardian Angel, solemn processions in the garden or in the house, in honour of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, attendance at chapel ceremonies, all contributed to the growth of those most noble aspirations of piety.
Many students wished to unite their life to those of their former teachers and work with them in the fields of sacrifice and dedication. Mother Bruyère was well loved, and several would seek to cross her path so as to receive a kind smile where one could easily detect a mother’s heart, or meet the friendly gaze of her large grey eyes. A lovely voice added a special charm to her serious, but animated conversations, where the lives of the Saints or the History of the Church would provide ample and interesting topics. Current events had their share, as long as they were of the sort that would invite wholesome reflection or stimulate that zeal which always burns in a truly religious heart.
ILLNESS AND DEATH OF OUR FOUNDRESS
The health of our mother was always frail in spite of her strong outward appearance. It was her rare energy that sustained her in the ordinary carrying out of the duties of her state. She was plagued with constant insomnia. She was not in the habit of complaining, but would generously bear her cross and, in the lengthy illness that finally got the best of her, her patience was truly admirable.
Early in August 1875, this illness began to cause some alarm. Our dear mother had been to the United States, as far as Buffalo, and in spite of a painful tumour in her side, she had visited Holy Angels Academy with as much zeal and dedication as if she had been in full health. Out of fear of offending anyone, she had made the effort to join the sisters in the chapel and in the dining room. However, upon her return to Ottawa, her strength simply left her and on August 5, she had to be bedridden.
From this time on, hypertrophy (an enlarged heart) continued to progress and pointed the way to an imminent death, which, through prayer and good care, her sisters sought to delay. The days for the final self-gift were on the horizon. John of the Cross said, “God gives to the leaders of religious families those gifts and graces they need in line with their providential destiny so that their spiritual posterity may inherit their doctrine and their spirit.” (Living Flame of Love)
All these rich and sublime graces, so visible in the extension of her congregation and the success of its works for the salvation of souls, Mother Bruyère earned them through constant trials whose very reason would perhaps only find an answer in the heavenly decrees and for which she often became only too aware of the powerlessness of human consolation.
Her heart, a source of charity, suffered from all that afflicted her daughters and for each of the twenty-five sisters who had preceded her to the grace, she had offered to God, with her tears, as did Mary on Calvary, an agonising self-gift. She had grieved over the infidelities of those who had deceived her trust; she had wept over the ones she had witnessed, all the while rejoicing over the virtues she could see growing in her daughters in Jesus Christ.
It is true that this perfect religious knew well the price of sacrifice. How numerous were the songs of praise she would invite the community to sing after a particularly painful Cross!
Now, she would give herself totally for our dear Grey Family. From the close of the annual retreat on August 24, 1875, her condition declined. On October 7, each of the sisters was allowed a visit to her dear mother. On the forehead of each one, she traced a sign of the cross which, according to one of them, will remain forever imprinted in the heart of those who had the joy of feeling it being traced on their brow. She shared these words with them: “My dear children, this is a sad moment! Death has something so painful for our nature! Yes, the trappings of death are terrible, but it also has its consolations. My dear sisters, do not let death surprise you; always be ready to come before God.
Always be humble, but be especially charitable. Do not allow jealousy or envy to have any hold on you.
Love and respect your superiors. May factions and divisions be banished from among you, and may the most perfect union always reign among you.
Self-love sometimes moves religious to do certain things that may seem trite, but they are far from being so, and we become responsible before God.
God cares for his work and that of the communities. He will care for you; put your trust in him. Once again, live charity; be of one mind and one heart.”
Earlier, our mother had told us: “My dear children, work while you have the health. When one is ill, it is difficult to pray. I cannot even remember my many failings.
We will soon take leave of one another; pray for me that I may die well. Your turn will come: Offer all that you do to obtain the gift of a saintly death from God. Be full of trust, of respect and of gratitude for our good Oblate Fathers. They made us who we are; if you are faithful to this advice, the community will do well.”
On December 26, our dear mother felt that the end was near. She once again gathered her religious family at her side. She prevailed upon us to be faithful to our holy rule; she asked us to inspire our students to live in simplicity, to help them become Christians before anything else. She entrusted her daughters to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to the powerful protection of Mary Immaculate and to our good Saint Joseph. These words of hers were heard in profound silence interspersed with sobs.
In January, 1876, all hope of healing had vanished. However, it pleased God to extend her life, or rather this painful agony, for a few more months.
In March, the violent symptoms re-surfaced and on the twenty-fifth of this month, the features of our patient were significantly altered. Her weakness was alarming and Mr. Baillargeon, her physician, advised that she be given the Last Rites, even though she had already received this sacrament. When, at her request, the doctor admitted that the end was near, she thanked him for his kind services and assured him of a remembrance in heaven.
“My only fear”, she said, “is that I did not fear death enough. If I had not witnessed the total peace of Bishop Guigues in his last moment, I would doubt the state of calm and serenity in which I presently find myself; this precious reminder re-assures me.”
Reverend Father Tabaret, O.M.I. saw her that day. As he spoke to her about receiving Viaticum, she replied with her usual sense of resignation, “May God’s holy will be done!” The sacrifice was complete. This good religious said to Sister Rivet, the assistant, that our mother was a fulfilled woman in every aspect of her life, that he had never met a woman with such a magnanimous heart, that she was a lily of purity. She was anointed on March 28 at 9:30 in the morning. Before beginning the ceremony, Father Tabaret shared the following with the sisters gathered in the chapel:
“You are all gathered at this moment, my sisters, to be present to the final visit of Our Lord to your dying mother. Our Lord chose this soul and not an angel, so that, being subject herself to the failings and imperfections of human nature, she could understand your own failings and faults and show compassion. In religious communities, why are we so demanding of the superior? She loved each one of you in a special way. Take advantage of this last visit to your mother who bears the weight of her illness, to join the offering of your whole self to the renewal which she herself will bring about in order to strengthen those bonds of charity which should unite you to one another, and be filled more and more with her spirit to give new strength to that bond which you should have with your community. I hope it will be so.”
Then, the sisters went to the superior’s room. After the ceremony, Father Tabaret spoke to the dying sister: “Mother, your daughters are here to thank God for the graces he has given you and to promise you that they will do all in their power to love those duties you helped them to learn, to practice those virtues you taught them and to be of one heart and one mind as you asked of them. Continue, Mother, to offer your sufferings for the community so that you may attract heaven’s blessings on all its works.”
During the night of March 29, our dear mother lived through a violent period. Sister Rivet made her way to the dormitory and recited aloud to her intentions the Litany to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Several Sisters went to the chapel to ask God to relieve their mother’s sufferings. During the night of the 31st, Father Tabaret was called in and recited the prayers of the dying, but the final hour had not yet come.
On April 1, Bishop Duhamel brought her the blessing of the Holy Father whom she so loved. This was a sweet consolation for her. In the afternoon, as several were at her bedside, Sister Rivet asked forgiveness in the name of all the Sisters for whatever pain they could have brought to her. She responded in a faint tone, “What do you wish me to forgive? What have you done to me, my dear children? I owe you all so much. God chose me, like he chose his apostles, to do his work. I was poor, without any talents, without experience.”
She then blessed all her daughters, those in the missions as well as those at the mother house. She asked that we write to the missions to ask forgiveness for her, from all the sisters to whom she could have caused some pain. She then added, “Do not squander uselessly the goods of the community. God would be offended. Pray, pray much for me that I may not remain long in purgatory.”
On Monday, April 3rd, her weakness was noticeable and her suffering was acute. Nonetheless, this noble mother wished to show even more through a few words that her daughters were in her mind and in her heart. These are the final words that we could grasp from her dying lips. “An even greater self-denial, an even greater humility. With good will, one can do much.”
Finally, on Wednesday of Passion Week, April 5, 1876, at 7:40 in the morning, in the presence of the community gathered around her, this courageous Foundress, after a peaceful agony, placed her soul into the hands of God.
Her age was 58 years and 18 days of which she had spent in religious life 34 years, 10 months and 6 days. She has been in leadership 31 years, 1 month and 13 days.
As soon as the news was shared with Bishop Duhamel, he gave the order to toll the knell in all the churches in the city and to make the announcement at all morning and evening services that the solemn funeral would be held at the cathedral the following Friday.
The Bishop of Ottawa addressed these words to the Sisters after the death of the venerated Mother Bruyère:
“My sisters, the loss that we have just experienced is one that will never be repeated in a congregation. To lose a foundress, the one who created all the works, who received all of you into the community; to lose the one who worked constantly to form us, to communicate her spirit of sacrifice, her magnanimous soul, which all who knew her admired in her!
Ah, my sisters, have in you the very same spirit so as to walk in the footsteps of our saintly Mother Bruyère. Have among you one heart and one mind; know that your strength is in your unity. Yes, let us be united and may there be nothing petty in you. You know there was nothing petty in our mother. Be as magnanimous as she was, as noble in your dedication to the congregation. At times, in some congregations, some subjects are ungrateful; for such a long time, we had been preserved from this misfortune, yet in the past few years, the number has been growing of those who neglect their duties toward the home that received them in its bosom. Make every effort, my sisters, to be worthy daughters of our good and saintly mother. May her final words of advice be for each one of you a testament that you will never forget!”
On the following day, the feast of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows, after the removal of her body at the convent by Father Froc, O.M.I., our chaplain, the mortal remains of Mother Bruyère were solemnly transported to the cathedral where Bishop Duhamel sang the funeral with several members of the clergy present, with the sisters and a crowd of local citizens who came to offer homage and veneration for the Foundress of the Grey Nuns.
Before the final commendation, Father Tabaret and Father Barrett, the former, in French and the latter, in English, gave a eulogy of our late mother. There was much emotion in this group of friends, gathered around the simple casket of a venerated religious woman who had just been taken from the poor, the orphans and her beloved sisters.
Father Tabaret said, “In her illness, I admired her spirit of self-denial; I admired the sublime nature of her humility, of her obedience. Such perfect virtues cannot but assure her immediate entry into heaven. During her agony, while I recited the ritual prayers, I was not drawn to pray for her, but was rather more disposed to pray to her. Sisters, live from the memory of her virtues, console one another with the thought that she will continue in heaven to practice charity toward you whom she so loved. You will certainly feel her absence as emptiness; the time that will pass until God chooses another mother for you will be a time of merit, but it could also be a time of danger. Be wise, my sisters, be prudent. Pray much. Invoke heaven’s blessings upon yourselves.”
These moving words only fed the tears that welled up at that moment. They understood that the words of Bishop Bourget to their late mother and her companions, as they left Montreal for Bytown, were now meant for them also: “Daughters of the Cross, do not be discouraged by the great challenges your holy undertaking will encounter. When all will seem lost, believe firmly that God will come to your aid.”
They left the church in mourning, but filled with the hope that their Foundress would intercede for them with the Lord.
The precious casket was placed in the crypt of the cathedral, but we wished to keep her heart as a witness to her sufferings and of her tender love for her sisters. What a dear and final reminder of her whose very name is synonymous with dignity, strength, gentleness, prayer and sacrifice! May God help us imitate her in her virtues!
We will endeavour to keep this treasure in a place of honour in the community chapel which we hope to build one day and which our dear Foundress had wished so much to build before leaving us.
MAY SHE REST IN PEACE!
Taken and translated from: "Nécrologies des Soeur Grises de la Croix", Tome 1, 1850 to 1909, Mother House, Ottawa, 1932, p. 9 - 38
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