History · Mission · Heritage

Parishes of Eastern and Western Quebec

The Congregation established a presence in the Quebec City region in 1911, first at Saint-Gabriel House in Lévis. Seven years later, Archbishop Louis-Nazaire Bégin of Quebec invited Father Pierre-Marie Dagnaud to found the new Saint-Coeur-de-Marie (Saint-Dominique) parish on Grande Allée in Quebec City. In 1917, the Congregation founded Bon-Pasteur Parish in Laval-des-Rapides (Laval); in 1929, the priests opened a residence there for missionaries and retired confrères. The community continued its educational mission, founding the Eudist College of Montreal in 1953.

A historical overview of the communities served by the Eudists.

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The parishes and their history

These accounts trace the Eudist presence across different periods; ministry details follow the archival records.

Chandler

Saint-Coeur-de-Marie

Chandler is a Gaspé Peninsula municipality at the entrance to Chaleur Bay. In 1914, the Chandler brothers, originally from Philadelphia, established a pulp and lumber mill there: the “St Lawrence Pulp and Lumber Corporation.” That autumn, as the company faced bankruptcy, it was taken over by J.E.A. Dubuc, director of the Chicoutimi Pulp Company, who knew the Eudists serving Sacré-Coeur Parish since 1903. He was surely pleased to learn that Bishop André-Albert Blais of Rimouski would entrust the new Saint-Coeur-de-Marie Parish to our community in March 1917.

Chicoutimi

Sacré-Coeur

In September 1902, Bishop Gustave Blanche, seeking assignments for his confrères exiled from France, met with Bishop Michel-Thomas Labrecque of Chicoutimi. Labrecque wished to entrust the new Sacré-Coeur Parish, established in the western district known as “the Basin” (the Saguenay formed a broad basin of water there), to a religious community. He proposed that the Eudists take charge, and Blanche gladly accepted. Fathers Louis Le Doré, pastor, and Edouard Travert, curate, arrived in Chicoutimi in January 1903. Construction of the beautiful Gothic church began that year; it opened for worship in 1905. The large rectory beside the church was completed in 1919.

Pointe-Au-Père

Sainte-Anne

This parish, a pilgrimage site dedicated to Saint Anne, was founded in 1882. Bishop André Albert Blais of Rimouski entrusted it to the Eudists in 1903. Father Joseph Dréan, its first pastor (1903–1908), founded a convent for girls run by the Sisters of the Congregation of the Daughters of Jesus. Father Joseph Courtois, pastor from 1929 to 1951, left a deep mark on the community. He founded a boys’ boarding school and renewed the pilgrimages. Many confrères stayed at Pointe-au-Père to serve during pilgrimage seasons or to take their holidays.

Ville de Québec

Saint-Coeur-de-Marie

Saint-Coeur-de-Marie Parish in Quebec City was established on May 3, 1918, and entrusted to the Congregation, which had hoped to lead a parish in the city since the closure of Saint-Gabriel Missionary Residence in Lévis. Discussions began in 1917 between the Archbishop of Quebec, Cardinal Louis-Nazaire Bégin, and the Superior General, Father Albert Lucas. Father Pierre-Marie Dagnaud became its first pastor. Construction of the church began in 1919, and it opened for worship in 1921. During construction, services were held in the neighboring chapel of the Sisters of the Bon-Pasteur of Quebec. Located in an affluent district, the parish counted many professionals and politicians among its members.

Ville de Laval

Bon-Pasteur

In 1912, Archbishop Paul Bruchési of Montreal received a request from parishioners in the new municipality of Laval-des-Rapides to establish a parish there. Having heard of the Eudists through the Sisters of the Bon-Pasteur in his diocese, the Archbishop told Provincial Vicar Father Prosper Lebastard that he wished to obtain our services as chaplains to the community and, eventually, as pastors of the future parish. In 1913, Father Camille Le Doré, chaplain at Lorette House, was commissioned to organize the new Christian community, which was established in 1915. Archbishop Bruchési officially entrusted it to us in May 1917. We left the parish in 1996. About sixty confrères served there as pastors or curates.