Oblate presence: 1943-1970
Geographic location: lower St. Lawrence River, Quebec.
On October 4, 1943, Father Anthime Desnoyers, Vicar General, canonically erected the Notre-Dame de la Miséricorde Residence in Mont-Joli in the Diocese of Rimouski. Father Gilles Marchand, Provincial of the Province of Canada, described it as follows: “Since the work is now well organized and able to sustain itself, it was worth considering giving it a canonical status independent of the Mont-Joli house, which has ensured its existence and development to date. The Provincial Council, in its meeting of July 17, 1943, unanimously requested the General Administration to constitute it as a separate residence under the name of Notre-Dame de la Miséricorde. This request was granted and, on August 8, 1943, the Very Rev. Fr. Desnoyers, Vicar General, issued the decree of erection[…]. Thus, the work of the closed retreats of Mont-Joli was definitively constituted according to our holy Rules. »
Letter from Father Provincial, Yvon Isabelle, OMI, dated September 14, 1970, to the Archbishop of Rimouski, in which he mentioned that the Oblates had decided to discontinue the work of retreats in Mont-Joli: “Recently, I informed you of the decision that the Missionary Oblates had to make, especially for lack of personnel, to discontinue the work of the retreats in Mont-Joli. You have given your written approval to this action. The staff of this house was therefore dispersed in our other communities.”
Eugène Lapointe OMI
