Establishment of the fourth Mother House of the Congregation on rue Saint-Jean-Baptiste (1844-1880)
On May 1st, Feast of the apostles St. Philip and St. James, demolition was set to begin of our old and venerable building, where so many courageous and true daughters of our Foundress had sanctified themselves in the practice of our holy rules, and contributed to the salvation of so many souls, both by their virtues and prayers and by their instructions. (…)
However, opinions were divided about the building, which caused a lot of nuisance and difficulties. Several plans were presented to the chapter members. The first was to build on rue Saint-Jean-Baptiste. But, what about the building recently erected on this street which included a bakery, housing (…).
It had cost 500 louis… what do we do, demolish it? Consciences found themselves extremely embarrassed… the vow of poverty could suffer. Besides, we did not like rue Saint-Jean-Baptiste due to the noise from the carriages.
Another plan was to build on the old foundations, across the lot, adjoining our church built by Mlle Jeanne Le Ber. The walls would have been widened by a few feet and several storeys added. This plan provided little accommodation for the community, it cut through the land, completely obscured our boarding school, and deprived it of air and the view.
Another plan was proposed to accommodate the visions of those who wanted the building to go across the lot and for the choir of the church to be enlarged. It involved extending the church down into the garden on the sisters’ side. This plan had serious drawbacks and required a long covered path to connect the church and the boarding school; the children would be cold in winter.
Despite all these plans, nothing was moving forward, and all suffered more or less from the debates. Bishop de Montréal was on a pastoral visit … M. Quiblier, our superior, seeing that we could not come to an agreement, no longer wanted to be involved, and told us to address Monseigneur. Several letters were written to His Grandeur with the proposed plans, the arguments for and against (…).
At the same time, the Monseigneur cautioned the sisters not to build the house for themselves, but for the future. For his part, M. Quiblier, who had not been seen at the Community for several weeks, replied in writing to the explanations requested of him, and advised the sisters not to risk exposing themselves to reproaches from those who would survive them, or come after them. Having received Monseigneur’s order to approve the plan, he went to visit the site with Fathers Honorat and Telmont; all three decided that we should not be afraid of demolishing the 500 louis building to put the Community there; that this part of the site was precisely the best place for views, air and connection to the boarding school. This was communicated at chapter, most of whom continued to cling to the old foundations. M. Quiblier refused to approve this plan… (…)
This letter was received by Mother Sainte-Madeleine with the deepest gratitude; but she did not consider it prudent to share it with the Community, given the strong opposition of certain minds. After much prayer and reflection, she felt urged to convene an assembly of the oldest missionaries, who were as interested as the others in seeing the building done properly, not for the present, but for the future. Having communicated her thoughts to the chapter, they all approved; and, in response to M. Quiblier’s letter, she informed him of this decision, which pleased him. Immediately a circular letter was sent to all the missions… the Sisters responded promptly to the appeal made to them; and after several assemblies during which the plans were examined and explained, and their disadvantages and advantages weighed up, a plurality of votes was in favor of building on rue Saint-Jean-Baptiste. The community’s decision was officially approved by M. Quiblier, Superior, and the work began. The foundations for the new building began to be laid on July 2, Feast of the Visitation.
Since the beginning of May, the small church of Notre-Dame-de-la-Victoire had been used as a Community chapel. At the end of October, it became impossible for a number of weak and infirm sisters to go there for Mass… and the Most Blessed Sacrament was moved to the drawing room of the boarding school. It was here that Mother Saint-Victor took the holy habit on January 9, 1845, and Sister Saint-Georges (Lemoyne) made her profession on February 3.
Work on the building, begun on July 2, progressed rapidly; the masonry was completed in the autumn, and the roofing could be installed … the interior was largely completed during the following summer … On September 15, 1845, the first meeting in the new community took place.
“Today, the octave of the Nativity,” wrote a sister of this time, “our excellent Father, M. Quiblier, and our dear Mother Superior presided over a meeting, the most beautiful my eyes have ever contemplated: Ninety-six Sisters lined up around the newly completed community room. Never, since the founding of this institution, had we seen so many daughters of Sister Bourgeoys gathered together, and presided over by a more respected Father and Mother… ”
Taken from: Histoire de la Congrégation de Notre-Dame de Montréal, Troisième partie – X1Xe siècle, volume VIII, 1840-1849.