SOUVE NIR-AL B UM

611 112 1) (Q ENW MNARY

O F' THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE F AI TH IN CANAD A

1 61 5 - 1 9 1 5

flQ L

P UBLISHED BY THE COMMIT TE E F OR THE MONUMENT OF THE F AITH

QUEBEC

F RANCISCAN MISSIONARY PRI NTIN% P RESS

1 9 1 5

D O UVENIH -ALB UM

T ERCENTENARY OF THE EST ABLISHMENT OF THE F AITH

I N CANAD A

It was in 1 534 and 1 535 that the Breton navigator Jacques Cartier He discovered Canada . was a fervent Catholic , and one loves to recall

that memorable scene which took place j ust before his voyage of 1 535 , and which shows us Jacques Cartier and the members of his crew gather in 1 6th ed together the cathedral of Saint Malo on Whitsun day , May , 1 535 , receiving the blessing of the Bishop and recommending to God ,

Lord of the seas and of the winds , the j ourney he was about to under

take .

After this dis coverer there came many others ,

Ro . such as De berval , De Chastes , De Monts All endeavoured to establish a colony and all

failed . It was re served for Samuel Cham plain , native of Brouage in Saintonge ,

France , to . be the founder of

1 , a great French colony in North America the F a “, l ther of La Nou

l‘ velle France . Champlain be gan his work with the foundation of

Quebec i n 1 608 . By this first es tablishme nt of a

colony, the intrepid

. m qm 1 explorer gave his “wflfl

mother country, la

F . It belle rance , a vast territory hitherto unexplored was a great was accomplishment . But it not the only feat that the great man

- r , dreamed of . He yearned to b ing to those_Indians , half clad ignorant

children of the forest , the saving g race of Christianity and the

alleviations that go with Civilization . 1 61 4 For several years he labored at his project , but it was not until , six years after the foundation Quebec , that he succeeded . It was then that he met with a band of

missionaries , men after his own

heart , full of zeal for the uplift ing of souls and affection for the

Glory of God . Th ey were l the Franciscan Friars , or Reco

lects , as they were then called . Th e Recollects were one of the four branches of the Fran cisca ns whom one same Minis

ter- General governed with the title of Minister- General of the

- whole Order of Friars Minor . Th e name of Recollect has ceased 1 97 to exist since 8 , when the Pope Leo % III convmce d that the benefits accruing to the Church and to souls from the apostolic ministry of the Friars would be more abundant and more lasting

if , as in the early days of the

Order , the union were more per f c t e , amalgamated all the bran ches of the Order under the

name , chosen by the Seraphic

Patriarch himself, and so ex

pressive of their unity, of Friars

Minor or Franciscans . 1 5 1 61 5 On March th , , the four Franciscans who were destined to

be the first Apostles in Canada, left Paris and set out on foot for

the city of Rouen . Here they met Champlain and deliberated togeth

er concerning the coming voyage .

H flr was r on eu It decided that they should set out from the po t of , Honfieur for in those days and for many years before , was a port of

r . r great maritime impo tance It was owing to the devastations of wa ,

moving sand- banks strong currents at the mouth of the

Seine , that the old historic port was abandoned in favor of Le

Havre . Whilst waiting there for fa

rabl vo e winds , our first mis sionarie s occupied their time in preparing th e sailors and h all hands for t e perilous voyage . Champlain tells us how they examined their conscience and cleansed themselves of their h sins , because t ey wished to be in the state of grace in or

' der to be more free in expo sing

themselves to , the mercy of the winds and the waves on

that great and perilous sea . The departure took place on 2 4th ’ April , about five o clock

in the evening . Their boat

wa aint- Etienne s the S , a vessel 0 of 35 tons , commanded by

Francois Gravé Sieur du Pont .

The voyage was a prosperous one , 2 5th and a month after , May , feast of the Translation of the body of

St . Francis of Assisi , they cast anchor ‘ a r nce o in the Gulf of the St . L we p i pos te Tadoussac . Tadoussac was the first spot on Canadian soil to receive the Fran ci n sca Missionaries . It was here that these valiant pioneers of the Faith first caught sight of the sa vages whom they had come to evan i l z . ge e It was here too , that they wit nesse d the death and torture of an Indian prisoner and gained an idea of the inhuman cruelties they would be subj ected to if ever they l d r s fel into isg ace with this barbarou people .

But to Quebec was destined the honor of being the cradle of the

- Church in Canada . Here the grain of mustard seed of which the Master spoke was to be cast into the earth , and though at first it was small and almost imperceptible , still it was to develop into a great tree and spread its branches far and wide . 1 61 Quebec in 5 , was composed of one fortified house with i t s d ep en d e n c ie s , built by Champlain who called it the

Habitation .

- 1 1 61 5 1 9 5 . It is 300 years ago since the first missionaries set foot in Canada . It is j ust three cen turies ago since those h eroic Franciscans sowed the seed of our greatness by esta - - D . B . v D . r . o co i i i Ma n . A Sto e hou se e t C . Bu ld n ‘ g blishing a colony ’

D ia F . F or . % . % a r . H . C am ain . l e lle h l whose people were E . g y p s

— u - do n D w — A r m n s I . Ho s or a d ra brid . destined to progress pa t e t e ge L. because they were D . . P M . N f m f k f wd . W al t en eet i e itch lat or or canon . imbued with faith ’ P in rd n . . % i n . m a s % a . O . Cha l e tche O en s ace in Christianity and p Q p p — R. R v re chi o the River . i er St . Lawrence a n t . guided by the light, g of the Gospel .

The great deeds of our history , and the salient facts of our existence as Catholics and as a nation , form a sacred and glorious heirloom of which we must always be j ustly proud , and of which we must know how to take advantage for keeping up and for strengthening in the souls of the Canadian people , the Catholic spirit which is its special charac i i ter st c . And since the nation celebrated in 1 9 08 the imperishable memory of

- the founder of the Canadian mother land , may we not rightly sound ’ the praises of those who were Champlain s most zealous helpers , and who gave to his undertaking that element of its wonderful vitality , th e Catholic F aith Yes 1 s C r r , certainly, it our solemn duty , in this Third entena y, to e member those valiant %apostles , those workmen chosen by Divine Pro

id nce wh 1 61 5 th e a - v e , those Friars o in , at cost of p inful and un seen toil lay the foundations of the mighty edifice which

- we call to day the Church in Canada . As they were the first to take up the task , it is now the time

imm r in to engrave their o tal names , an official r manner , on the diptychs of ou national glories . The country cannot and will not avoid the

‘ duty of the hour . It understands too well the greatness of the bene fit conferred and the heroism m1 ss1 onar1 es of its first , not to feel the need of k % O D expressing its than s to , and to the pioneers r of its faith its admi a tion and its gratitude . n is r th e c atholic A d that the eason _ people of Canada have deter mined to signalize the Tercentenary of the establishment of the F aith in Ca nada by the raising and the unveiling of a monument that shall stand out to all future times as the expression grateful people ’ tribute to God His missionaries

the Recollects . This Monu ment , will be as His Excel ni leney Mgr Sta g , Apostolic Delegate has so well said like a p ermanent evocation of a glorious past which in the future will help the interests of the Catholic Faith in the midst of our loyal popula

t i on s . Th e monument will

speak of the charity of the Chdrch which watched over the cradle of the noble Canadian Nation %’ and which does not cease to protect

it in its happy development through the ages . r E i i i It will also be , w ites His m nence Card nal Begin , a publ c and lastin g testimony of our irrevocable attachment to the teachin g of Pontifi the Church , and of our absolute submission to the Sovereign ,

Vicar of Jesus Christ . The Monument will take the shape of an ornamental fountain in c granite and bronze . It will feet high the four sides exa tly r similar . The but tresses a e adorned each with two gargoyles replenish ing the basins. From the interior of the monument through an arched opening divided into two by a little '

wa column , the ter bubbles up from a rock , glides d o w n a l o ng it s sides , and then falls from basin to basin to the ground . On the summit of the monument there stands a magnifi % cent statue symbolizing Faith . She gazes out , as with inspired look , upon all the peoples of Canada . With her right hand she extends to all th e sym bol of our Re demp In tion , the Cross . her left hand she holds the palm of victory promised to the j ust and seems prepared to present it both to the individual and to the nation that proves worthy of it by its fidelity This Monument to our Faith % is likewise a monument to the

Recollects . To exalt the Faith that has been our light and the s ource of our civilisation and prosperity is to exalt the heroes who brought

it . Hence it is that on the monument stands a plate of bronze which will bear the names m of the first our Fran cisca missionaries . The leader of the band and its supe

m r rior , was Father Denis Ja et , a eligious of i great virtue and of ex traord nary zeal . He says of himself that the work he held most dearly to heart was “ — the conversion of the savages in Canada . A bas relief on the monument shows him celebrating the first Mass said by the Recollects

on the Island of Montreal . This First Mass was said on June the 2 4th 1 1 6 5 . wa , , on the banks of the Laprairie River A Monument s a s M

A a e a waaanaea c mazes nus ,

t ea aézazzzrz

JA%% Jam di ami- t a Fae mzz mzag 5

LE Cflfié fi filfi é g azmaaameamz. S H

erected in the village of Ah untsic this year commemorating the first

Mass and recounting the death of Father Nicolas Viel , Franciscan ,

first martyr in Canada .

Father John Dolbeau was a true apostle , a man inflamed with love for God and zeal for souls . He was born in Anj ou , France , and was thirty years of age when he came to Canada . He can be truly styled

the first Parish Priest of Quebec . It was he who had charge of the Ministry there in 1 61 5 and it was he who built in Quebec the first Chapel ever erected on Canadian soil .

In this chapel , built with logs of wood coarsely shaped , we must reco nise g and hail with emotion the Mother of those innumerable churches ,

cathedrals and basilicas which are to - day the most beautiful orna

ment as well as the purest glory of Canada and the United States .

After several years labor among the Indians , he returned to his native 1 1 2 66 4 land where he died on June 9 , 6 , at the age of years and — months . Another bas relief of the Monument perpetuates his memory 2 1 1 6 5 . by portraying his arrival at Quebec with Champlain , June ,

Father Joseph Le Caron , born near Paris in France , was first a secular priest and tutor to the Duke of Orleans he entered the Fran

cisc an Order in 1 61 0 . He is one of the most remarkable and sympathetic 1 1 1 2 figures of all the Recollects wh o arrived in Canada from 6 5 to 6 9 . He became the first Apostle of the Hurons and went to live with them l h he s t immediately after his arrival here in 1 61 5 . A one of w ite men e out on the long j ourney of 700 miles up the Ottawa River , through the . n many lakes paddling incessantly day and night , suffering from the sti gs , “ of myriads of mosquitos , as he tells us himself , he had the look of a hi deous leper . First of white men and of missionaries , he penetrated in to the regions of the Great Lakes and beached his canoe on Pene tan guish ene Bay .

' 1 2 th 1 61 5 h ad c me and a few On August , , with Champlain (who o later) ff Frenchmen present , Father Le Caron o ered the first Mass in Ontario ,

Carh a ouh a . in his little cabin at g , near the Georgian Bay The event was worthily commemorated this year by His Grace , Archbishop Mc Neil of Toronto , who said the Tercentenary Mass on the spot where

Fr . Le Ca ron had said it 300 years before . His Grace delicately invited two Franciscans to be present and to speak in French and English . ’ Father Le Caron did yeoman s servi ce among the Indians. He learned

or several of their languages and , what is especially notew thy, compiled a dictionary in the Huron tongue . The devoted missionary returned

1 2 9 - to France in 6 and though he thus revisited his native land , his heart remained with his beloved Hurons . He was to see them no more . He r 2 9 th 1 632 o died at Trie , near Giso s , March , in sentiments f profoundest

- piety at the age of 46 years . A third bas relief on the Monument depicts

Father Le Caron soj ourning among the Hurons . Brother Pacificu s Duplessis was an apo thecary before he became a

- Recollect Lay Brother . He was endowed with a remarkable spirit of charity , and by his professional knowledge and his inexhaustible devoted ness he rendered invaluable service to the nascent colony . His death

2 3rd 1 1 9 . took place at Quebec , August 6

w In 1 61 5 , Pope Paul V , governed the Church , and it was ith his special approval that the Recollects set out for their work of evangeli

zation .

1 1 9 5 % . In , Pope Benedict V presides over the destinies of the Church , l Pontiff and it is with the specia Apostolic Blessing of this August l ,

- da h r that Canada commemorates to y the primordials of e Christianity .

As we said above , the first Martyr in Canada was Fr . Nicolas o Viel , who while returning from the land of the Hur ns was drowned f r by a band o savages in the Rapids of the Des Prai ies River . With i him was a Christian Indian , named Ah unts c , who perished with his spiritual adviser . Their memory is perpetuated by the names of two

- au- é towns on the Island of Montreal . One is called Sault R collet and the other Ah u ntsic , after the Martyrs , in whose honour

- two monuments have been raised in the first named place . LAVAL MO NUMENT

1 in . 658 The arrival Canada of Mgr de Laval in , brought a happy culmination to the evangelical work which had been inaugurated by the Recollects and continued by the Jesuits and the Sulpicians . The ecclesiastical hierarchy was complete . The Church of Quebec began thus its glorious role in the history of North America .

On one of the bas- reliefs of the Laval Monument is what may be called an epitome of the establishment of the Faith in

Canada . We find a Recollect

Friar , reminding us of the first missionaries of 1 61 5 , at his side is a son of St . Ignatius , recalling to mind th e Jesuits who arrived 1 2 in Canada in 6 5 , In the cen tre of the pannel stands out the h first Bis op of New France , Mgr . de Laval the organiser of the catholic parish in Canada , and the Founder of the Church of

Quebec . Mgr . de Laval is the crowning and completing factor of the i B the h s . ut work of missionaries , precursors in the establishment of the Faith and in the spreading of it in this country all social classes

h M r . h ad their part . T at is why g Laval is surrounded by the Clergy th e th e h of Seminary , and of Paris es , rural Seigneurs , citizens , and the

' humble tillers of th e soil . Nor are the devoted Nuns of the teach ing Orders and the Hospitals absent from the tableau . For they too h ad their glorious sh are in the triumph of the faith in Canada .

1 670 th e Writing to the Recollects in , on occasion of their return to the colony , Mgr de Laval pays this tribute to our First Missionaries .

v th e So fer ent was zeal of your predecessors , so exemplary their

nd ‘ tl. life, so i efatigable were they in eir work of propagating the faith , that 4 in less than years , with the assistance of God Who helps all who trust in h h Him , t ey penetrated into the earts of the forests and instructed the

th e savage children of woods , right to the extremity of the lands washed by the mighty river . The work of evangelisation which with the help of divine grace th e religious of your Province have carried out in this ff new part of the world , with the authority of the Supreme Ponti s % I and the good pleasure of His most Christian Maj esty , Louis I I king of France , of happy memory , is a more than suffi cient title for h e t foundation which you now undertake . r r r d The Chu ch in Canada, established by ou first Missiona ies, e

finitely and wisely organised by Mgr . de Laval , has gone on from pro gress to progress until it has at tained a develop ment that is al

most marvellous . — To day , ten Arch bishops and thirty six Bishops share in the succession of the first Bishop

of New France . Thousands of Pri

ests , of the Se cular and Regular

Clergy, continue ,

with un- tiring de

vot dness th e wrk e , o

' of our first Missio

naries . Numerous Religious C om munities e xercise everywhere the ir

salutary influence . It is not to be wondered at if the echoes of thi s ex traordinary pro gress have reach ed to the limits of

the earth . Rome itself, Mother of all Churches , has been pleased to show her appreciation of it by raising to the dignity of the Cardinalate the Archbishops of

. E . . . . Quebec , Mgr A Taschereau and Mgr L N . Begin . This supreme accorded b r distinction , y the Vicar of Jesus Christ to the Chu ch in Canada is also a fitting acknowledgment of the personal merits of

- the present Arch Bishop of Quebec . He has well deserved this distino tion by his vast and deep learning , by his untiring zeal to promote

r r rc . the glo y of God , the hono of the Chu h , and the salvation of souls

The actual representative of the Holy See in Canada is Monsignor 1 852 . P . F . Stagni , of the Order of Servites Born in , ordained priest

- 1 881 , in , he has been successively Superior General of his Order Professor

- f 1 9 07, at the Propaganda , Consultor for the Holy Of ice , Bishop in

Apostolic Delegate for Canada in November 1 9 1 0 . f It is only proper then , to o fer to God a hymn of thanksgiving for

300 . the Faith , and for its many triumphs during the last years The celebration of the Tercente nary will take place at Quebec where our first Missionaries pitched their tent . The commemorative Monument will stand on the precise spot where the Recollec ts led their

1 th . penitent and apostolic life , up to the end of the 8 century

The Church was greatly damaged during the siege of Quebec in 1 759 . It is not without interest to determine the exact site occupied by the Convent and Church of the Re collects in the upper town at

Quebec . Mr Ernest Gagnon in Appen dix No 4 of his report on Public

1 89 7 rf Works , , describes to pe e c tion the situa tion occupied by the“Convent The tower of the Recollect Church stood on the exact spot where now stands the principal

entrance to the Court House .

’ (Palais de Justice) The main B E' ' E P Jos . O UCH r r s LAN body of the church was on Place

’ ’

B . B . A ecollects Church B . Convent . R D Armes. Th e c n n fi o ve t , adj oining

- n D . ou C . An lica _Church % C rt House . g the W ES church , , for the greater ’ d Ar s part, also built on Place me a small portion of it was on land now occupied by the Court House , and another small portion on the % site of the present Anglican Church .

E CHUR CH O F TH R COLL CTS RESTO RE D TH E E E , 1 ll After the war of 759 , the Reco ects restored their church which was 1 796 6 r fire used for public service until when on September , a ter ible des r d t oye both Church and Convent . The last Recollect Priest was

Father Louis Demers . He died at 2 1 8 1 3 Montreal , September , , at f 1 the age o 8 years and 8 months . The government had forbidden both Jesuits and Recollects to recruit new subj ects fo their mis

sions in this country . In Spite

of the law, clearly an unj ust

one , the Recollects had received

and professed several members . The Civil Authority at last rais

ed its voice in protestation . The destruction of the convent by fire in 1 796 rendered the situ ation still more critical so that Monsignor Hubert by faculties re ceived from Rome allowed those Recollects who h adfmade their profession since 1 784 to return to the i world under certain cond tions . The Bishop of Quebec allowed those who i w shed , to keep their religious habit , and many wore it with respect and j oy until their death . Thanks to them the F ranciscan robe did not disappear from Canada until the middle of the 1 9th Century . The people held them in profound veneration and , so to speak , concentrated upon them that sincere and constant esteem which they had shown to the good Recollect Fathers .

The last Recollect at Quebec ,

Brother Louis Martinet , was buried in the Church of St . Roch , Quebec ,

1 848 83 an n . on the 1 2 th of August , aged years d 8 mo ths The last Recollect at Montreal , Brother Paul Fournier , native of the 1 th 1 848 78 town , died there on the 5 of November , at the age of years and 1 0 months . This portrait of Brother Paul is reproduced from a ’ - painting kept in the Arch Bishop s Palace at Montreal .

’ R V TH I VE S ECOLLE CTS CON ENT, REE R R

i u . ebec The Recollects possessed three convents in Canada , viz a ,

- - Montreal and Three Rivers . The last named alone still subsists to day . I After the departure of its rightful occupants the civil auth orities h anded b over this property to the Anglican Church . The convent has thus e come the residence of a protestant minister and the church has been given over to protestant services . Beneath the floor of the profaned sanctuary repose the precious

D idacus remains of Brother Pelletier , Canadian Recollect renowned for his holiness and miracles .

Nevertheless , with the death of the last Recollects , the sons of

Francis of Assisi had not disappeared for ever from Canada . They were singled out to return and to continue their apostolate in the land they had evangelized as pioneers . Several times , the Franciscans had been invited to return to Canada , notably by the saintly Bishop of 1 . 1 . 88 Montreal , Mgr Bourget In , Reverend Father Frederick , whose name is held in veneration and respect , arrived in this country and 1 soj ourned eight months . The same priest began , in 888, the restoration of the Franciscan Order in Canada when he founde d a Commissariate or nd f the Holy La at Three Rivers . REV. F R F R D R C E E I .

Commi ssar o the Hol Land i n anad y f y , C a .

The arrival in Canada of Reverend Father Frederick was an epoch making event and was hailed with much favor by numerous reviews r and newspape s of the time . e Monsignor Lafl che , in whose diocese the Commissariate of the Holy i 1 l th 1 8 8 Land was going to be establ shed , in a letter of June 8 , expressed %

e - - - - to his vicar , Father D silets , Parish priest of Cap de la Madeleine, his happiness at the coming of Reverend Father Frederick . The Bishop was making his pastoral visit at the time .

COMMI SSARI ATE O F TH HOLY LAN D TH REE RI VERS E .

h F I learn with pleasure , he writes , t at Reverend Father rede rick and his companion have reached New- York and will soon be in nce Three Rivers . Welcome to them both and may they bring to us o r more those blessings which thei fathers before them , two hundred . and

fifty years ago , brought to this land of Canada and particularly to Three

' f n Rivers . Tell them that while awaiting th e pleasure o seei g them , I pray the Almighty to shower down upon themselves and upori the

' work which they have come to establish in my diocese and whichf will spread over the whole of Canada , His most abundant blessings . The correspondent at Cap - de- la- Madele“ine of the J our nal des Tr ois Ri vieres 2 0th 1 888 , writes September We enj oy the advantage of — - — having in our midst here at Cap de la Madeleine , Reverend Father

Frederick , Commissary of the Holy Land for the whole Dominion of Canada by a decision of the superiors of the Order sanctioned by the

r year, since the return took place . The Franciscan Fathers opened thei 1 house in Montreal in 89 0 . They dwelt at first in a poor and humble residence on Richmond Street , rented to them under easy conditions by ’ - the parish priest of St . Joseph s Church .

Two years later they went to their present convent of St . Joseph , on Dorchester Street . 1 0 r r In 9 0, Quebec , cradle of the Franciscan O de

Canada, j oyfully witnessed the return within its walls of the legitimate successors of its fir st

missionaries . Then it was that Reverend F a ther Ange- Marie Hir al founded the beautiful new convent and church which stand on the Hill Saint- Genevieve in that quarter of the city

now called Belvedere .

F RANCISCAN F RI ARY Q U B C . , E E May Canada always keep intact the sacred treasure which the Recollects brought her in th 1 61 5 . May the Tercentenary celebrations of e establishment of their Faith be for our people a promise of eternal faithfulness to God

Who has been so generous to them during three hundred years .