In the Footsteps of Jeanne Mance

I recently went to visit the museum of the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph at Montreal's Hotel Dieu Hospital. Their history sparked my attention on various aspects. Among those, it was Jeanne Mance who asked them to come to Canada to care for the sick. Following my visit and my research, I venture to make these comments.

The first Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph that who arrived in Canada had come here to help the sick and give generously of their time to the nascent colony. They soon found themselves in an entirely different debate that was largely beyond their expectations. Indeed, they were different from the Hospitallers of Dieppe in France and those of Quebec's Hotel-Dieu Hospital. The Hospitallers of Montreal, like Jeanne Mance, were considered secular. They were not required to wear a religious dress, to recite offices nor to pronounce solemn vows and to be cloistered. Founded by Jérôme Le Royer de la Dauversière in France in 1636 in La Fleche, the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph were not "religious" like others. They were not subject to the reforms of Council of Trent that "enjoined all religious communities to be cloistered". Although they were backed by the Bishop of Angers, they still had no royal approval and they had a precarious status.

A lay committed Christian seemed to be a problem. At least that was Mgr de Laval's opinion, who invited the Hospitallers of Montreal to follow the footsteps of the Hospitallers of the Quebec Hotel-Dieu, including their lifestyle, enclosure, religious clothing, vows, rules… Traditional communities were well established in France, but a secular commitment was not very popular in clerical circles.

There was at the time, however, a very strong core of lay people ready to give their life and fortune for the good cause. The founder of the Hospitallers of St. Joseph, Jerome le Royer, considered the matter in this way and the women who were part of the foundational project were attracted by this model. Fortunately, we can say that money came to the rescue of the nurses, for, in fact, the Society of Notre-Dame of Montreal, who supported them financially, insisted on having La Dauversière's Daughters instead of the 'nuns' like those of the Quebec Hotel-Dieu. They explicitly stated their intentions to Mgr de Laval by "threatening" him to withdraw their financial assistance in if this request was not met. Failing to have the money to finance these volunteers, he was obliged to accept an offer he could hardly refuse.

Over time, after the death of Jeanne Mance in 1673, the Hospitallers were gradually obliged to comply with the same rules and lifestyle of the great religious institutions.

The resistance experienced by Jeanne Mance and those who followed her is not the only example known in history for those who want to answer the call for a commitment that does not meet the standards of their time. But the Spirit blows wherever He wants. And there are also, at certain times in history, people determined to listen to Him and to follow Him. Jérôme Le Royer was certainly a very good example.

Colombe LeRoy

Article from the website Tendances et Enjeu (Trends and Issue), published on July 27, 2012, and adapted for this publication.