Oblate presence: 1939-1968
Location: Orléans was a city east of Ottawa, but is now an integral part of today’s Ottawa?
Establishment of St. Joseph’s Farm as a Residence: “In order to provide greater good for souls and to mark new progress for our Congregation, the Reverend Father Gilles Marchand, Provincial of Canada, demonstrated to us the utility of establishing the University of Ottawa’s farm as a residence. Therefore, with the opinion of the Provincial Council, and with the approval of our assistants, and after having observed the required formalities with the diocesan authority, we erect the Saint Joseph residence and register it as one of our regularly established residences… Given at Rome, June 13, 1939.”
The authority of a residence director is like that of a local superior. All the lay brothers, who are currently part of the community of the Saint Joseph farm, are officially attached to the new residence.
A letter to Father Provincial dated April 26, 1968 indicates that the University has decided to sell the Saint Joseph farm. It must be closed and liquidated by next fall. In his reply of August 27, 1968, Father Provincial stressed that it was understood that the obediences given to the personnel of the Farm would only take effect once the whole thing had been liquidated. On December 3, 1968, the newspaper Le Droit wrote: “It is done, it is final, the Oblate brothers of Mary Immaculate, as well as their director, will leave the Saint Joseph of Orleans farm around December 15. Currently, they are busy disposing of the furniture and selling the last items of the farm….] The St. Joseph of Orleans farm, administered until now by the Oblate Fathers of Mary Immaculate, has been sold to the National Capital Commission.”
Eugène Lapointe OMI
