The Sisters are welcomed to a new mission

Sainte-Marie-de-Beauce, Quebec, 1823. Illustration : Francis Back.
The Sisters are welcomed to a new mission

In the 19th century more missions opened in Quebec. Pastors asked the Congrégation de Notre-Dame to provide teachers for their parishes. Often, because of a lack of available Sisters, many requests were refused and some parishes had to wait for several years. However, Msgr. Plessis, Bishop of Québec and Pastor Villade, began the construction of a convent in Sainte-Marie-de-Beauce. The parishioners participated in the financing and planning of the building which, when the Sisters of the Congregation arrived in 1823, was still not completed. But they achieved what they had been working toward: the daughters of Marguerite Bourgeoys took charge of the education of the children of Sainte-Marie-de-Beauce.