Historical Account

A hundred years have gone by since the Congregation of the Missionary Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart and of Mary Immaculate was founded in St. Boniface, Manitoba, Canada. In 1902, Louis-Philippe Adélard Langevin, o.m.i., Archbishop of St. Boniface had a modest house built on Aulneau Street to serve as lodging for teachers and students, both lay and religious who attended the Normal School next door. He secretly hoped this would be the beginning of a new Congregation for women. By November 1902, four women lived in the house. The largest room was soon converted into a place of prayer with the Blessed Sacrament having a permanent dwelling in the house. To this day, the name "Maison-Chapelle" (Chapel House) is given to the main residence (Mother House) of the Missionary Oblate Sisters.

The Sisters' first house

In 1903, two unsuccessful attempts at forming a Congregation were made by the original group of residents in the Archbishop's new house. Archbishop Langevin knew Miss Alma Laurendeau, a teacher from St. Boniface and Miss Ida Lafricain, a pastoral worker from Montreal. These two women were to become the "cornerstones" of the new Congregation with the mission to teach religion and French in schools. Thus, on March 24, 1904, Archbishop Langevin officially founded the Missionary Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart and of Mary Immaculate.

Missionary Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart and of Mary Immaculate co-foundresses

In 1905, Alma Laurendeau, Sister Marie-Joseph-du-Sacré-Coeur and Ida Lafricain, Sister Saint-Viateur, pronounced their first vows. Sister Saint-Viateur became the first Superior General and Sister Marie-Joseph-du-Sacré-Coeur became her assistant, as well as Formation Director for new recruits. That same year Archbishop Langevin gave the new Congregation a constitution, its "rules and regulations" of life.

S. Marie-Joseph and novices

The following year, the new Congregation opened a boarding school in St. Charles about 15 km from their main residence. Sister Saint-Viateur accompanied by three newly professed sisters and two lay women moved to St. Charles and teaching began at the school. That same year Pope Pius X gave a verbal approval to the newly founded institution.

St. Charles Boarding School

According to the missionary spirit of the Congregation, the Sisters responded with generosity to the need for teachers in remote areas of the province. In 1909 the Congregation accepted to send four Sisters to Cross Lake, situated approximately 700 km north of Winnipeg. There, they devoted themselves to the care of aboriginal children in a residential school under the direction of the Oblate Fathers. (Picture of Sisters going to Cross Lake) That same year an elementary school for young boys, later known as "Jardin Langevin", was opened at "Maison-Chapelle".

Jardin Langevin

In 1910, the Sisters accepted a second mission for aboriginal children at St. Philippe's in the Kamsack area of Saskatchewan. The following year the public school in Fannystelle, Manitoba came under the direction of the Missionary Oblate Sisters. In 1912 a parochial school opened in Dunrea, Manitoba. By the time Archbishop Langevin died in 1915, his main goal of offering a religious and bilingual education to a number of Manitoban families had been realized.

In 1911, because the living quarters were inadequate for the members already enrolled, an extension was built onto the "Maison-Chapelle". On September 29th of the same year, the first two religious, Sister Marie-Joseph-du-Sacré-Coeur (Alma Laurendeau) and Sister Saint-Viateur (Ida Lafricain) made their final vows thus giving the new Congregation some stability.

The Order's first retreat house

In 1939, a Home Training School opened in St. Boniface. A retreat house near the Mother House was established in conjunction with the Diocese of St. Boniface. In the missions and parishes, in collaboration with priests and lay people, the Sisters worked in the areas of catechetics, catholic action, social and pastoral services.

Home Economics class graduation - 1941

As the years went by the Sisters committed themselves to private, parochial and public schools in Manitoba, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Ontario. They took every opportunity to help children grow in the knowledge and the love of God, thus preparing "the Church and the world with new generations filled with faith". (1906 Constitutions)

In the late 1950's a larger building intended to house the whole Congregation was constructed adjacent to the original building in St. Boniface. This building still exists to this day.

The Order's current Mother House

In the 1960's, the Congregation took on a mission in the slums of Sao Paulo, Brazil and remained there for five years. In 1971 two missions were opened in Chad, Africa; Béré and Moundou. One Sister became coordinator of the Catholic Schools for that Diocese, a position she held until 1999. She helped to set up a high school for young girls in Moundou. In Béré the Sisters concentrated mainly on the development of women by teaching them personal hygiene, how to read and write, how to care for children and to manage basic dispensaries. (Picture) In 1986 two other missions were opened in Africa: Bogo and Maga in northern Cameroon where the Sisters worked in the area of community development. They also helped to establish a parish for the Catholic population of the area. In 1996 an International Spanish congregation replaced the Sisters in Bogo and in 2000 an African Congregation took over the direction of the mission in Maga.

In Africa

Agape Table - 1989

Since 1970, because of the changing times, the apostolic field of the Missionary Oblate Sisters took on new dimensions in Canada as well. The Sisters accepted the challenge of working more closely with the poor in the inner city. They are now actively involved with other religious groups in efforts to bring about systemic change that will contribute to the elimination of social injustice, the eradication and prevention of violence.

In 1979, since retreat work has always been a privileged ministry for the Oblate Sisters, a section of the Mother House was transformed into a Renewal Centre to accommodate groups looking for a place to host seminars, workshops, retreats, etc. In the 1990's this Renewal Centre was further expanded to include a much-needed child and family counselling service for families and persons of low income. It is now known as the Centre de Renouveau Aulneau Renewal Centre.

Playing at the Aulneau Renewal Centre

In the 1980's, the Sister's residence on St. Charles Street was also transformed into a retreat Centre. St. Charles Retreat Centre serves as a meeting place of prayer and solitude in the western part of Winnipeg. The school founded in 1906, and later known as St. Charles Academy, is now an inter-parochial school under a Board of Directors.

St. Charles Retreat Centre

In 1995, in conjunction with "l'Institut de Formation Intégrale de Montréal" the Oblate Sisters became involved in a project for the recovery of persons traumatized by the Rwandan genocide. They worked in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo and Bujumbura, Burundi. Later they returned to Goma coming to the aide of victims affected by the volcanic eruption. To date they are still at the service of this suffering population.

Oblate school in Haiti

The latest venture of the Congregation is in Pattaya, Thailand, where an Oblate Sister works as a volunteer, under the auspices of the Scarboro Missions, at a Women's Centre operated by the Good Shepherd Sisters.

Archbishop Langevin wrote the following to the Sisters:

"You are to give yourselves generously to the works that are entrusted to you; but you must never forget, not for one instant, that you are religious women, consecrated to the service of God and it is precisely because of who you are that the Church entrusts these works to you."

The Order's Coat of Arms

Such is the mandate that urges the Missionary Oblate Sisters to carry on the works of education, justice, ecology, and non-violence in the spirit of oblation and compassion bequeathed to them by their Founder and Co-foundresses. Inspired by Bishop Langevin's motto "DEPOSITUM CUSTODI" (keep the trust) and in fidelity to their own motto "CUM MARIA MATRE JESUS" (with Mary the Mother of Jesus) the Sisters eagerly share this legacy as faithful witnesses of God's love in the third millennium.

In Goma

Telephone: 204-233-7287  Fax: 204-235-7418 Email: generaladministration@missionaryoblatesisters.ca