Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph
Encyclopedia
The Religious Hospitallers of Saint Joseph (also known as Réligieuses hospitalières de Saint-Joseph) was a religious order founded in La Fleche
, France
by the Venerable Jerome le Royer de la Dauversiere
and Venerable Marie de la Ferre. Le Royer helped administer the "Maison Dieu" in the village and was inspired to found an order to care for the sick poor.
Next he had a vision to found centers at Ville Marie, now Montreal
, for education and a hospital, where care would be given by sisters of the new order. (The order is not related to the Sisters of Saint Joseph
).
Le Royer founded the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph (RHSJ) order with Marie de la Ferre in 1636. He sponsored Paul de Chomedey and Jeanne Mance
, a lay woman, to go to Ville Marie with French colonists to evangelize the Natives
and establish a hospital (Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal
) to care for the poor. Mance founded it in Montréal in 1642. After the order was established, three sisters: Judith Moreau de Brésoles, Catherine Mace and Marie Maillet, went to Montréal in 1659 to work at the hospital. That year the RHSJ received letters patent from King Louis XIV to take over the hospital and its operations.
Since its establishment in Canada, the RHSJ has responded to many critical needs and changing requirements of varied populations. It set up numerous hospitals, schools and other facilities during the long period of increased immigration and growth beginning in the mid-nineteenth century. In 1845 the RHSJ order established the Hotel Dieu in Kingston, Ontario
. Their services were critical when the city suffered an epidemic
of typhus
in 1847. At the hospital, they cared for 100 orphaned children who had lost their parents. The disease had accompanied poor Irish
immigrants fleeing the potato famine
in their homeland. No one yet understood how the disease spread, and poor sanitation practices compounded the epidemic.
In the nineteenth century, the RHSJ also established an Hotel Dieu and convent school in New Brunswick at each of three towns: Tracadie (1868), Chatham
(1869), and Saint-Basile
(1873). The sisters were influential in establishing medical and nursing care in these communities, as well as schools for the education of children.
Responding to recent immigration from the United States, the RHSJ established the Hôtel-Dieu Hospital
in 1888 at Windsor, Ontario
. They were invited to come by Dean T. Wagner, pastor of St. Alphonsus Church, who was concerned that black immigrants from the United States' South were not being adequately served by other community institutions. For instance, black children were denied entry to white schools. Many had arrived as part of the late nineteenth century-early twentieth century Great Migration
to the North out of the South. The RHSJ founded a hospital for the town, and a school for black children.
The RHSJ continued to expand to new sites. They founded hospitals at Athabaskaville, near Quebec City
, in 1881; Campbellton, New Brunswick
, in 1889; and in Burlington, Vermont
in the United States in 1894. In 1897 the RHSJ founded a Hotel Dieu at Cornwall, Ontario
. There they eventually had a large complex of facilities, including a school, nurses training school, nursing facility, etc. In the twentieth century, the order reorganized to integrate its people from Canada, the United States and France. The generalate is located in Canada, in keeping with its chief area of activity.
La Flèche
La Flèche is a municipality located in the French department of Sarthe and the region of Pays de la Loire in the Loire Valley. This is the sub-prefecture of the South-Sarthe, the chief district and the chief city of a canton. This is the second most populous city of the department. The city is part...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
by the Venerable Jerome le Royer de la Dauversiere
Jerome le Royer de la Dauversiere
Jérôme le Royer de la Dauversière was a Jesuit who was head of the Société Notre-Dame de Montréal.- Youth :...
and Venerable Marie de la Ferre. Le Royer helped administer the "Maison Dieu" in the village and was inspired to found an order to care for the sick poor.
Next he had a vision to found centers at Ville Marie, now Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, for education and a hospital, where care would be given by sisters of the new order. (The order is not related to the Sisters of Saint Joseph
Sisters of Saint Joseph
Sisters of Saint Joseph may refer to seven Roman Catholic congregations of women religious:* Religious Hospitaliers of St. Joseph* Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet* The Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Peace...
).
Le Royer founded the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph (RHSJ) order with Marie de la Ferre in 1636. He sponsored Paul de Chomedey and Jeanne Mance
Jeanne Mance
Jeanne Mance was a French settler of New France. She was one of the founders of Montreal who secured its survival and was the founder and head of the Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal.-Origins:...
, a lay woman, to go to Ville Marie with French colonists to evangelize the Natives
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
and establish a hospital (Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal
Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal
The Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal is the oldest hospital in Montreal, Quebec. Since 1996 it has been one of the three hospitals making up the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal ....
) to care for the poor. Mance founded it in Montréal in 1642. After the order was established, three sisters: Judith Moreau de Brésoles, Catherine Mace and Marie Maillet, went to Montréal in 1659 to work at the hospital. That year the RHSJ received letters patent from King Louis XIV to take over the hospital and its operations.
Since its establishment in Canada, the RHSJ has responded to many critical needs and changing requirements of varied populations. It set up numerous hospitals, schools and other facilities during the long period of increased immigration and growth beginning in the mid-nineteenth century. In 1845 the RHSJ order established the Hotel Dieu in Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
. Their services were critical when the city suffered an epidemic
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
of typhus
Typhus
Epidemic typhus is a form of typhus so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters...
in 1847. At the hospital, they cared for 100 orphaned children who had lost their parents. The disease had accompanied poor Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
immigrants fleeing the potato famine
Famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...
in their homeland. No one yet understood how the disease spread, and poor sanitation practices compounded the epidemic.
In the nineteenth century, the RHSJ also established an Hotel Dieu and convent school in New Brunswick at each of three towns: Tracadie (1868), Chatham
Chatham, New Brunswick
Chatham is a Canadian urban neighbourhood in the city of Miramichi, New Brunswick.Prior to municipal amalgamation in 1995, Chatham was an incorporated town in Northumberland County along the south bank of the Miramichi River opposite Douglastown...
(1869), and Saint-Basile
Saint-Basile, New Brunswick
Saint-Basile is a community in Madawaska County, New Brunswick, Canada. Formerly a separate municipality, it was amalgamated into the City of Edmundston on May 25, 1998. The 2006 Canadian Census recorded a population of 3751.-References:...
(1873). The sisters were influential in establishing medical and nursing care in these communities, as well as schools for the education of children.
Responding to recent immigration from the United States, the RHSJ established the Hôtel-Dieu Hospital
Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital
Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital is a tertiary acute care hospital located in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The hospital was created in 1994 when two existing hospitals, Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph's Hôtel-Dieu of St...
in 1888 at Windsor, Ontario
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
. They were invited to come by Dean T. Wagner, pastor of St. Alphonsus Church, who was concerned that black immigrants from the United States' South were not being adequately served by other community institutions. For instance, black children were denied entry to white schools. Many had arrived as part of the late nineteenth century-early twentieth century Great Migration
Great Migration (African American)
The Great Migration was the movement of 6 million blacks out of the Southern United States to the Northeast, Midwest, and West from 1910 to 1970. Some historians differentiate between a Great Migration , numbering about 1.6 million migrants, and a Second Great Migration , in which 5 million or more...
to the North out of the South. The RHSJ founded a hospital for the town, and a school for black children.
The RHSJ continued to expand to new sites. They founded hospitals at Athabaskaville, near Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
, in 1881; Campbellton, New Brunswick
Campbellton, New Brunswick
Campbellton is a Canadian city in Restigouche County, New Brunswick.Situated on the south bank of the Restigouche River opposite Pointe-à-la-Croix, Quebec, Campbellton was officially incorporated in 1889 and achieved city status in 1958.Forestry and tourism are major industries in the regional...
, in 1889; and in Burlington, Vermont
Burlington, Vermont
Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....
in the United States in 1894. In 1897 the RHSJ founded a Hotel Dieu at Cornwall, Ontario
Cornwall, Ontario
Cornwall is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada and the seat of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, Ontario. Cornwall is Ontario's easternmost city, located on the St...
. There they eventually had a large complex of facilities, including a school, nurses training school, nursing facility, etc. In the twentieth century, the order reorganized to integrate its people from Canada, the United States and France. The generalate is located in Canada, in keeping with its chief area of activity.
External links
- Ginette Michaux, 354 years of history: The history and evolution of the Hotel Dieu of Montreal are indissociable with those of Montreal, Hotel-Dieu of Montreal, 1996
- "Hospitallers of St Joseph", The Canadian Encyclopedia
- RHSJ History, St. Josephs Continuing Care Centre, Cornwall
- CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE RELIGIEUSES HOSPITALIÈRES DE SAINT-JOSEPH IN THE FIELD OF HEALTHCARE IN CANADA, Parks Canada - News Releases and Backgrounders