Saint François de Laval,
first bishop of Quebec

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From Quebec to Louisiana - Apostle of America

Tribute from the Eudist Province
of North America and the Philippines
to the Mother Church of Quebec

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Tribute from the Eudist Province
of North America and the Philippines
to the Mother Church of Quebec

At the next meeting of the General Council of the Eudist Congregation, from November 8 to 17, the Community of Priests of the Séminaire de Québec, founded by St. François de Laval, will provide the lodging for Eudist General Council members.

This is a unique opportunity for us to recall the ties that bound Saint François de Laval and Saint Jean Eudes from the time of their presence in the town of Caen in Normandy to the arrival of the founders and foundresses of the Church in New France.

At different times, two of the community's most renowned historians wanted to make Quebec and French readers aware of the friendship networks that existed between the Norman apostles and the young Church of Canada.

Their documents, published in Eudist and Canadian magazines, have become virtually inaccessible. We'd like to share with you a wealth of memories held in the minds of the Congregation's elders.

Father Charles Lebrun - editor of the Œuvres complètes de Jean Eudes and resident at the Séminaire de Rimouski at the time, published an article from May 1906 in the magazine La Nouvelle France, during the preparations for the beatification.

For his part, Father Charles Du Chesnay, in an article in the magazine Notre Vie, in May-June 1959, on the occasion of the tercentenary of the death of Jean de Bernières, also evoked François de Laval's links with the friends of Normandy.

What do they remind us of?

by Gilles Ouellet, c.j.m.

Gilles Ouellet was born in Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière in 1942. He studied at Séminaire Sacré-Coeur in Quebec City and Séminaire Saint-Jean-Eudes in Pointe-Gatineau. He was incorporated into the Eudist Congregation on September 9, 1967 and ordained on December 30, 1967.

He taught at the student residence in Charlesbourg, at Séminaire Saint-Jean-Eudes in Pointe-Gatineau, at the Dominican College in Ottawa and at the Université de Sherbrooke.

He was also pastor of the Bon-Pasteur parish in Laval. Between 1976 and 1996, he was Director of the Centre de Ressourcement Laval and a Provincial Councillor. He was Provincial Councillor for many years - from 1983 to 2000 - and Provincial Superior of the Eudists from 1983 to 1990.

Gilles Ouellet held a number of directorships before becoming General Manager of Champboisé and General Bursar from 2013 to 2019. Since 1997, he has given numerous sermons at special events and retreats. Since 2019, he has been Provincial Superior of the Eudists of North America and the Philippines.

First, Father Duchesnay

It was probably between 1654 and 1658 that the relationship between Mr. de Montigny (Saint François de Laval) and Father Eudes was established, while Montigny stayed in Caen.

"Weren't they both admirers of Marie des Vallées?” Bishop Laval, who had visited her several times and gone on pilgrimage to her tomb, carried some of the relics he had obtained to Canada and reverently kept them all his life. Such is the testimony of La Tour, one of his first biographers.

La Tour also reports another fact, which seems to have been overlooked by the biographers of Father Eudes: during François de Laval's first crossing of the Atlantic, he took with him two priests who frequented the Hermitage in Caen. One of them, Monsieur Jean Torcapel, was the first pastor of the Quebec chapel. After falling ill during his first year of service, he returned to France.

Here is the information retained:
Torcapel left Quebec on October 18, 1660 (Henri de Bernières, Jean's nephew, succeeded him at the Quebec chapel and became the first pastor of the parish).(1)

Jean Torcapel, who had boasted to Jesuit missionary Fr. Chaumonot of Father Eudes' ardent devotion to the Blessed Virgin, arrived in Caen bearing a letter from the pious Jesuit, written on October 14, 1660. But he is also mentioned in the Livre qui contient les noms de ceux qui sont du corps de la Congrégation de Jésus et Marie (a register of Eudists kept in Caen at the Calvados archives): "Jean Torcapel, prêtre, de la paroisse de Vaucelles de Caen, reçu à Coutances à l'âge de 35 ans, en 1666, mort à Évreux, le 19 de septembre 1668.” The Eudist Nécrologe de Rouen (in the Eudiste Archives in Paris) adds: "After having been ill for more than a year with tierce, quartan and double quartan fevers. He is buried in our chapel in Évreux." In other words, Mr. Torcapel was malarial. It was known that he had had to leave Quebec for health reasons. Had he already contracted malaria there?

A priest who served with both Bishop Laval and Fr. Eudes, this forgotten Eudist, the first to serve in Canada, may not have died in the line of duty, but he was at least a generous soldier, the victim of a disease "contracted in the line of duty"…

In his invaluable Mémoires, La Tour attaches great importance to the Hermitage of Caen. Several of the priests who served Bishop Laval had frequented it: Henri de Bernières, Louis Ango des Maizerets, Thomas Morel, Jean Dudouyt (the brother of Jacques, the Eudist mentioned above). His servant, Denis Roberge, also attended Jean de Bernières in his last moments.

Mr. de La Tour, former vicar general, writes: "As all those who have since made up the seminary of Quebec had been trained at the school of Mr. de Bernières and carried into the new world the spirit they had acquired there, it is good to recount here the spiritual maxims on which this holy man had established it." 

Photo: Fonds Daniel Abel - Detail of Monseigneur de Laval's monument, with Marie de l'Incarnation holding the child and Catherine de Saint-Augustin with the patient.

Jean de Bernières

In Father Lebrun's contribution we find :

It was in 1650 that we find the starting point of the relationship between Bishop Laval, who was then only the Abbé de Montigny, and Father Eudes.

It is well known that at this time, under the direction of Jesuit Father Bagot, the "Société des Bons amis" was formed in Paris, from which later emerged the wonderful work of the Foreign Missions Society. Along with Abbé de Montigny, the members of this society were Messrs Boudon, Pallu, Fermanel and Gauthier. Under the influence of Mr. Boudon, this society adopted, from the outset, Father Eudes' devotion to the Holy Heart of Mary.

The year 1652 was marked in Paris by a revolt against Mazarin, who held the reins of government as prime minister. During the unrest, Abbé de Montigny and several of his confreres took temporary refuge in Argentan at the home of Mr. Ango des Maizerets, where they continued their life of retreat and prayer. Together, they made a pilgrimage to the shrine of Notre-Dame-de-la-Délivrande, a short distance from Caen.

“Passing through Caen,” says Mr. de la Tour, “we visited the famous Father Eudes; the holy founder received the pilgrims with honor.... This is the beginning of the union that has always existed between the Eudists and the Foreign Missions seminary.”(2)

If this visit cemented the union of the two companies, we know that we have to go back even further to find its origins.

Two years later, Abbé de Montigny retired to the Hermitage in Caen, where Jean de Bernières-Louvigny, former Treasurer of France in the Generalitat of Caen, had assembled a group of elite souls who, like him, wished to exercise themselves in the interior life and the practice of good works. The Hermitage was located next to the Ursuline convent that Jourdaine de Bernières, sister of the Treasurer General, had built and of which she had become superior. This explains de Bernières' relationship to the Quebec Ursulines, for whom he and Madame de la Peltrie were benefactors.

The Hermitage, in turn, became a nursery for apostles of unfailing virtue and zeal in the Quebec church. Along with Abbé de Montigny, who spent four years there, Messrs Ango des Maizerets, Dudouyt, Morel, Torcapel, Pèlerin and the founder's own nephew, Henri de Bernières, became the first companions and devoted auxiliaries of Bishop Laval in Quebec.

Great souls understand and ally themselves. Jean de Bernières and Fr. Eudes lived in close union. On several occasions, Mr. de Bernières rendered important services to the nuns of Our Lady of Charity and was generous to Fr. Eudes' seminaries. He also helped pay for at least one of his missions.

What is certain is that during this period, Fr. Eudes and Abbé de Montigny spent time together and often discussed the extraordinary life of Marie des Vallées. This virtuous girl once enjoyed a certain notoriety in Canada, but even more than that of Father Eudes, her memory has faded with time. Here, in a nutshell, is her story.

During a mission Fr. Eudes preached in Coutances in 1641, the venerable priest was invited to examine this pious girl, whose extraordinary life was causing quite a stir at the time. He was quick to recognize the treasures of grace and virtue contained in such a pure and suffering soul, and he never ceased to thank God for having sent her to him:

“In this year 1641,” he writes in his Memoriale beneficiorum Dei, “in the month of August, God did me one of the greatest favors I have ever received from his infinite goodness; for it was at this time that I had the happiness of beginning to know Sister Marie des Vallées, through whom his divine Majesty has granted me a great number of notable graces. After God, I owe this favor to the Blessed Virgin Mary, my most honored Lady and dearest Mother, whom I can never thank enough.”(4) 

Bishop Matignon having later asked him to take charge of Sister Marie, he gladly did so, and to be in a better position to direct her and report on her condition to his superiors, he recorded in a Memoir written for his personal use what this pious girl had told him about her life and dispositions. This manuscript, now lost, is known as the Vie de Marie des Vallées.

Marie des Vallées was well known at the Caen Hermitage. Mr. de Bernières had a devoted relationship with her. Read what Mr. de la Tour has to say about her in his Mémoires sur la vie de Mgr de Laval:

“Mr. de Bernières-Louvigny," he writes, "died on May 8, 1659. This saintly man had been warned three years earlier by Sister Marie of Coutances, for whom he had, like everyone else, a singular veneration. Some time before his death (1656), this saintly girl revealed the most secret things to him, announcing his death with the idea of a chalice to sweeten it, and recommending the Caen Hermitage to him, calling it the garden where, like the Bridegroom of the hymns, God preserved his fruits.(5)

Bishop Laval also brought a copy of Fr. Eudes' Vie de Marie des Vallées to Quebec City. Mr. de la Tour does not say so, but the memory of this fact had been preserved in the Congregation of Jesus and Mary. “Bishop Laval,” says Fr. Ory, "must have received a copy of the Vie de Marie des Vallées as a gift. It is therefore in Canada that there is the greatest chance of finding this work."(6)

Recent research at the Université Laval library led to the discovery of this precious copy, which was graciously returned to Father Le Doré, Superior General of the Eudists. 

In April 1659, Bishop Laval, consecrated on December 8 as titular bishop of Pétrée and vicar apostolic of New France, set sail from La Rochelle for Canada. In addition to Jesuit Father Lallement and Mr. de Lauzon-Charny, he brought with him Messrs Torcapel, Pèlerin and Henri de Bernières. All three, like him, were alumni of the Hermitage in Caen.

Father Eudes played an important role in this return to the past. We find evidence of this in a letter from Fr. Chaumonot to Fr. Eudes, which he entrusted to Mr. Torcapel when, after a year, this generous priest was obliged, along with Mr. Pèlerin, to return to France.

Born far from Normandy and drawn early to Italy by his adventurous spirit, Fr. Chaumonot certainly didn't know Fr. Eudes before coming to Canada. It was in the entourage of Bishop Laval, and perhaps also with the Augustines de l'Hôtel-Dieu, that he heard of his virtues and his extraordinary devotion to the Blessed Virgin. Here is the letter that Mr. Torcapel gave to Father Eudes on his behalf. It does too much credit to its author, and shows too clearly the singular esteem in which the founder of the Congregation of Jesus and Mary was held in New France, for us not to reproduce it in full:

NOT TO BE MISSED

Two mystics turned saints at Caen's Hermitage

Eudist Father Charles Lebrun contributed substantial articles to the preparation of the dossier for the beatification (1909) and canonization (1925) of our founder Jean Eudes. We present here a little-known document, published in two editions (April-May 1906) in a Canadian magazine, La Nouvelle-France.

CLICK TO READ THE ARTICLE

Quebec City, October 14, 1660.

My Reverend Father,
I was consoled to hear from Mr. Torcapel of the holy ambition you have to surpass anyone in loving Our Lady. Would to God that you could communicate this spirit to every ambitious soul on earth! Dare I ask you, for the love of Mary, virgin mother, whom you love so much, to grant me the advantage of being admitted, as the last of your servants, to the service of this sovereign mistress, or, if you prefer, as the smallest of your cadets, to the adoption of this mother of mercy. 

Messrs Torcapel and Pèlerin were replaced in Quebec by Messrs Dudouyt and Morel, who were joined in 1663 by Mr. Ango des Maizerets. All three had lived at the Hermitage in Caen: they were friends of Father Eudes. I don't believe that time and distance had weakened this friendship, at least as far as Mr. Dudouyt is concerned.

Bishop Laval's biographers tell us that Mr. Dudouyt had a brother who had also been a guest and disciple of Mr. de Bernières.

“The Dudouyt brothers,” says Mr. Langevin, “passed through Caen, visited Mr. de Bernières and resolved to retire there with him. One of them, Jean, joined Bishop Laval in Canada in 1662.”(7)

Jean Dudouyt's brother was called Jacques. He is well known in the Congregation of Jesus and Mary. Here's his story:

Is it foolhardy to think that Jacques Dudouyt's entry into the Congregation of Fr. Eudes helped to bring the saint’s name back more often to the lips of his brother and friends who had known him at the Caen Hermitage?

The life of Marie des Vallées was making too much noise at the time, especially in the diocese of Coutances, for Catherine de Saint-Augustin not to have heard of it before leaving France. In any case, the rest of her life will show us that in Quebec, as in France, veneration for Sister Marie of Coutances went hand in hand with devotion to the Holy Heart of Mary, of which she was the inspiration.

Bishop Laval was to Catherine de Saint-Augustin what Father Eudes had been to Marie des Vallées. He knew and approved of her devotion to the Holy Heart of Mary. He knew of her mystical relationship with Sister Marie of Coutances, whose life he held in his hands. How often his thoughts could have gone back to his friend from Caen! How often the names of Father Eudes and Marie des Vallées must have been mentioned in the frequent conversations he had with the pious hospitaler of the Hôtel-Dieu!

We know that Bishop Laval returned to France for the first time in 1662. During his stay in Paris, he gave further proof of his devotion to the Holy Heart of Mary by approving the book that Father Eudes had composed to spread this devotion, containing the Office and Mass for February 8. This approval is little known in Canada.

After 1662, we find no further positive information on the relationship between Bishop Laval and Father Eudes. The distance between them made them less familiar, without in any way diminishing the esteem these two servants of God had for each other. So, when in 1681, a few months after the death of Father Eudes, his successor, Mr. Blouet de Camilly published the saint’s book on the Admirable Heart of the Mother of God, he offered a copy to Bishop Laval, who thanked him in the following letter dated November 12, 1682: 

I received the book you sent me, on the Heart of the Blessed Virgin, as a token of your affection, and our seminary will have no greater joy than to see itself united to your Congregation, which is itself united to Jesus and Mary, whom we profess to honor under the title of the Holy Family, and to whom we have dedicated our seminary. And since, by virtue of this union, you will share in all the good that is done here, we expect the same grace from your Congregation, and that you will not forget to pray for this nascent Church, which Our Lord has been pleased to entrust to us, so that it may grow ever more perfect. This is what I expect of you, assuring you that I am in Xto...

- FRANÇOIS, Bishop of Quebec. 

The spiritual union referred to in this letter was too much in line with Father Eudes' views for his successor to be indifferent to it. Our Annales tell us that he took the necessary steps to have it ratified by a formal act, but this act, if signed, has not come down to us.(9)

Nevertheless, devotion to the Holy Heart of Mary continued to grow at the Hôtel-Dieu de Québec, and when, in 1690, Mary's protection delivered the city from the threat of Admiral Phips' fleet, the nuns asked and obtained from Bishop Saint-Vallier the favor of celebrating a solemn feast in honor of this holy heart every year, using the offices of Father Eudes. Bishop Laval said he was overjoyed, while from heaven, we like to think, Fr. Eudes, Marie des Vallées and Catherine de Saint-Augustin attended this feast to which they had contributed so much.

We hope we've piqued your curiosity a little. We offer you the two articles referred to above in their entirety.

Our contribution is intended as a tribute to the first missionary bishop at the origin of the Church here, to all his valiant collaborators from the Caen Hermitage, and to those congregations of women who were the first to "go out for the mission abroad.” 

________________________________________
(1) Mr. Torcapel, who made the first voyage with Bishop Laval, was assigned to serve the chapel of the Immaculate Conception upon his arrival. Historians of the Séminaire de Québec reserve the title of "curé" for Henri de Bernières, nephew of Jean de Bernières, at the time of the parish's official erection in 1664.
(2) De la Tour, Mémoires sur la vie de Mgr Laval, p. 31.
(3) Cf. Adam, Marie des Vallées, Paris, Poussielgue, 1894.
(4) Mémoriale beneficiorum Dei, ms. n. 33.
(5) Mémoires sur la vie de Mgr de Laval, p. 30.
(6) Les Origines de Notre-Dame-de-Charité, p. 82.
(7) Notice biographique sur François de Laval, p. 263. Montreal 1874.
(8) The text of this letter of approval was published a few years ago, at our suggestion, in the Bulletin des Recherches historiques.
(9) Annales de la Congrégation de Jésus et Marie, t. 2, p. 20.

NOT TO BE MISSED

The death of M. de Bernières in Caen and the arrival of Mgr de Laval in Québec in the spring of 1659

In 1959, in the Eudist magazine Notre Vie (May-June, no. 69), Father Charles Du Chesnay, historian and archivist for the Province of France, offered a wealth of reminiscences to friends of the provinces of Normandy and Quebec. We thought it would be interesting to offer you this documentation, which suggests links to be explored between the Caen Hermitage and the first bishop of Quebec.

CLICK TO READ THE ARTICLE

François de Laval is Quebec's first bishop. He founded the Séminaire de Québec and traveled by canoe, snowshoe or on foot across immense territories to support the fledgling community.

Watch the video
By Geneviève Riendeau - February 20, 2023 - myCommunity

Photo: Fonds Daniel Abel - Signature of Saint François de Laval