Stay at Halifax

THE SISTERS WILL ARRIVE NEITHER IN NEW YORK NOR IN QUÉBEC
BUT IN HALIFAX WHERE NO ONE IS EXPECTING THEM

The boat anchored at Halifax on December 18, and all disembarked: it was 10 P.M. There, like in Quebec, no one was expecting Sisters; their companions* were just as new as they, coming to Canada for the first time; however, one of them entered a house and called the Good Shepherd Convent.* No one there understood what it was all about.

They created much excitement; no one knew them. Eventually, they spoke about the Eudist Fathers*. That clarified the matter and opened doors and hearts to welcome them. Beds were placed in the parlors, and the travelers were able to take a well-deserved rest. (R-2)
* It refers to the Eudistes Fathers Camille Le Doré, Laizé, de la Cotardière, Jarry and
the séminarists Etienne Régnault and Louis Frinault.

Reverend Mother Marie Alphonse, Superior of the Good Sherpherd* and her religious, displayed a genuine interest to our exiles; but in spite of their concern... they were unable to shelter them. (R-2)

Sr. St. Eugénie describes their situation in her letter of December 27, 1902. At the Good Shepherd, where they are sheltered, they sleep in the Sisters' dormitory, at Sacred Heart, where they inquired about accommodations, same unfavorable response. (C-1)

*It refers to the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd (Angers) founded in 1835 by Rose Virginie Pelletier (Sr. St. Marie Euphrasie).

At this Christmas time, "There is no room for them in the inn". Sr. St. Eugénie really thinks so and, meanwhile, she obtains from Mother Candide de Jesus the assurance that she will be welcomed at St. Ephrem. "You are a true godsend to me", she writes in this same letter. (C-1)

STAY IN HALIFAX

Motherhouse of the Sisters of Charity of Halifax, as it looked in 1903.
The three Sisters would go there to teach French to the novices.

The Eudist Fathers inquired further on behalf of the Sisters, and they were instrumental in finding shelter in another city Convent: the Sisters of Charity, founded by Madam Seton* at the beginning of the nineteenth Century, welcomed them as their own Sisters. (R-2)

* Mother Élizabeth Seton (1774-1821), canonized by Paul VI, on September 14, 1975.

Sr. St. Pascal, Sr. Anne de Gonzague and Sr. St. Achille receive a generous free-of-charge hospitality and are showered with attention and care by the religious and the Eudist Superior whom they consult for confessions and advice they need. They will have to remain in Halifax until they could join Sr. St. Eugénie and Sr. Marie des Anges. (RCG, p. 95)

Père Paul LECOURTOIS, Superior du Holy Heart Seminary, Halifax

Once introduced in the St. Patrick's Convent on January 1903, the three Sisters were tutored in English immediately. Moreover, they were authorized to attend classes and to learn the usual methods, which served them well later on. In return, they taught French to the resident Sisters and to the novices of the Motherhouse, located in the suburb, at Mount St. Vincent. Throughout their studies, they were not forgetting the Good Shepherd Monastery; every Sunday, they spent the afternoon there, being always welcomed as loving Sisters… It was obvious that they intended to help them forget the exile.

It is, therefore, in a religious and sympathetic atmosphere at both St. Patrick's and the Good Shepherd Monastery alike that the three Sisters spent seven or eight months in Halifax. (R-2)