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 .