A decisive meeting

One of our former Carnel orphans, Reverend Mother Candide de Jesus, superior of the Holy Family Convent in St. Ephrem de Tring, Quebec, Canada, was asked by Mgr. Bossé, pastor of St. Adelaide, for Sisters to teach in his parish school. She told him that she was unable to give him Sisters, but thought that the Sisters of Charity of St. Louis who had raised her in Carnel would certainly be happy to answer his call. (RCG)

St. Louis de la Providence Orphanage
Description provided to the French Government

The orphanage, located, rue Carnel, Lorient, is housed in buildings belonging to the Société Cicvile de l’Orphelinat St-Louis de la Providence, whose deed of property was prepared and finalised on May 23, 1884, by Mr. Desbiens, a notary from Lorient. The Société Civile runs the orphanage with the assistance of religious sisters belonging to the authorized Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of St. Louis, whose headquarters are located in Vannes.

Orphanage
St-Louis de la Providence
rue Carnel, Lorient

The orphanage is equipped to receive 80 to 100 orphan girls aged 6 to 21. From the age of 13 onward, they are admitted free of charge; the younger ones pay a variable and modest boarding fee until their 13^th birthday. When at 21, they come of age, the Superior of the Establishment finds them employment and gives them all they need to start off on their own; they are also given a bonus based on their work production as well as a sum of money that varies with each one. (RCG)

* * Information provided to the government along with the authorization request in accordance with Article 23 of the decree of August 16, 1901.

Upon the arrival of the Sisters of Charity of St. Louis at St. Adelaide de Pabos in 1902,
their former Carnel student, Marie Férec, was Provincial Superior of
the Servants of the Holy Heart of Mary for Quebec and the United States.
Who is this woman chosen by God to play a major role in the history and expansion
of the Sisters of Charity of St. Louis?

"Sr. Candide de Jesus was born in Brittany on October 24, 1864; she entered the Novitiate of Larue on August 9, 1886 and took her first vows on March 25, 1889, and her final vows on July 21, 1895.

In September 1899, she was called to Canada in order to establish an elementary school in Limoilou. In December of the following year, she became Provincial Superior. She held office until 1903 and founded the convents of Rivière à Pierre, Sr. Rémi, Notre- Dame des Anges at St. Ephrem de Tring.

Sr. Candide de Jesus, sscm
1864-1919

From 1903 to 1926, she held different offices and was re-elected Provincial Superior in 1926. Twenty months later, that is February 11, 1929, she died of cancer. Two short sentences summarize her life adequately: "She loved…and was loved. There was nothing more admirable in her that her great poverty, her tireless devotedness and her extraordinary activity."

"She loved… and was loved… This affirmation is confirmed by the testimonyof a Sister of Charity of St. Louis whose mother had been a former student of Sr. Candide de Jesus
	TESTIMONY
I was happy to see on our congregational Website, in the Centenary pages, the photo of Mother Candide de Jésus, of les Soeurs Servantes du Saint-Coeur de Marie. My mother (Camille Dubé) was studying at St. Ephrem de Beauce for her teacher's diploma, which was then awarded by the Bureau Central when she got to know Mother Candide. My mother was fond of Mother Candide and had much admiration for that kind religious who was so dedicated and always smiling. At 17, my mother viewed that sister as the ideal religious. She had a dream and shared it with us: "One day, if I have daughters, I will name one of them Candide." And she did: one of her eight daughters bears that name. My sister, Candide, became a Sister of Charity of St. Louis and for some years, she was called Sister Candide de Jésus. The web page on the history of the Congregation’s arrival in North America led me to muse over this memory. Monique Lapointe, s.c.s.l.