Oblate presence: 1944-1982 Geographic location: near Trois-Rivières, Quebec.
Letter dated December 1, 1944, from Father Leo Deschâtelets, Provincial, to Father A. Mathieu, OMI. I hereby announce that on Thursday, December 7, at 9:00 a.m., I will go to your house to read the decree erecting your closed retreat house as a canonical residence of which you will be the director. At that time, I will give you the composition of your staff. I will try, as I told you, to respond to the requests in your recent letter. Until then, I ask you to pray to Our Lady Queen of the Apostles to help us find the workers we need and who will make themselves the promoters of devotion to Mary while leading souls to conversion and to a full Christian life.”
A Provincial Council of January 4, 1966 presented the following: “[…] sell the closed retreat house in Cap-de-la-Madeleine and transfer the work to the House of the Madonna during the eight months of the year in which it is not used by the Shrine…. The Provincial Council asks Rev. Father Antonio Hamel: 1. – to first meet with His Excellency the Bishop and inform him of our intention to eventually move the work to the Shrine; 2. – to approach the Government and others with a view to selling the house after estimates are made by specialists in the field.”
The Oblates stopped giving retreats at the Queen of the Apostles House in 1982.
Eugène Lapointe OMI
