En route to Canada   The crossing   Departure for Sainte-Adélaïde de Pabos 
 A Letter Instead of a Trip   Letter From Mother Marie-Fidèle   School opening 
Second  Departure to Canada   Arrival of the Second Group   Stay at Halifax   A trip to Rimouski 
  Letter March 26, 1903     1897, A difficult end of year    October 9, 1897   On the way to England 
  Arrival in Minehead    A decisive meeting   Seeking Answers to Puzzling Questions
 Sr. Marie de Jésus, delegate of Mother Marie Fidèle   From on attempt to the next  New attempts
Endeavors of Mgr. F.-X. Bossé   Unusual offers   Mgr L-N Bégin Accepts the SCSL
The North American Branch Takes Root

 

 

Following the letter Mother Marie-Fidèle wrote on April 10th, 1903 and the repeated requests from Sister Marie de Jésus, Mgr Louis-Nazaire Bégin heeded compassionately 
to the French Sisters’ anguish.

"In the meantime, Mother Marie de Jesus had met several times with his Grace Mgr. Bégin  {…}  Realizing the uselessness of their search, out of the kindness of his heart, he said to the priests assembled for an ecclesiastical retreat:  "If some of  you would like to have religious in your parish, I have some who do not know where to go, and they would accept whatever you offer them."  (R-1)

Immediately, the Pastor of St. Adrien, Mégantic, wrote to Mgr. Marois to ask for religious for the rural schools.  Monsignor, who knew of and shared the Sisters' distress, immediately delivered the following letter with his card:  "Is it the kind and gentle Divine Providence which already manifests itself?"  And so IT was!  The Sisters were happy to accept this first mission.  (R-1)

Likewise, the pastors of St. Philémon, Armah, and St. Gédéon requested sisters for the start of the upcoming school year; the Pastor of Pont-Rouge, for the following year.  Fr. Albert had referred the sisters to Fr. Egan of Eagle, Illinois, U.S.A., who was also ready to entrust his school to the Sisters for the fall of 1903.  (R-1)

1903
Saint-Adrien d'Irlande: Joseph-Octave Langlois, pastor
Saint-Philémon: Clément Lévesque, pastor
Saint-Cajetan d'Armagh: Cyrille Samson, pastor
Saint-Gédéon: J.oseph Rouleau, pastor
Eagle (Illinois) U.S.A. Père Egan, pastor
1904
Pont-Rouge: Charles-François Bourque, pastor


In a letter addressed to Mother Marie Fidèle on August 18, 1906, 
a few days prior to her death on September 3, 1906, 
Mgr. Louis-Nazaire Bégin expressed his deep appreciation 
for the sisters in the following words :
{…} Divine Providence has given us a beautiful gift by sending us your excellent Daughters of the Charity of St. Louis.  The large number of religious communities that I already had in my diocese had prompted me to refuse any further requests; it seemed to me that I had a sufficient number to meet all our needs.  They arrived unexpectedly on our shores; I did not know what to do with them.  My worries soon subsided:  I was asked to provide teaching Sisters in some parishes, and within a few days, the entire industrious group of your exiled Sisters was dispersed in our schools and went to work with a truly admirable courage.  {…} (C-2)
Louis-Nazaire Bégin
Archbishop of Québec