Lac La Biche - History - Religious Communities

Education/Schools/Students | Nuns | Oblates

OBLATES

Smallpox

Distress in Epidemic - Ravages of Smallpox, 1870

In the annals of the Oblate Fathers, we read in a letter from Father Leduc of December, 1870: "Father Lacombe was again near St. Paul in the midst of the dead and dying when he heard of our distressing conditions. He passed the night administering the sacraments to those Indians who were in danger of death, then flew to our assistance. This act of fraternal charity moved me to tears. I could not refrain from weeping as I threw myself into the arms of this good father who arrived so opportunely to help us through our difficulties."

When his confrères had recovered, Father Lacombe hastened to return to the prairie and, like Father André who also spent the summer amongst the Indians, he had many gruesome experiences during the epidemic... for the numerous graves he dug, his only implements were knives and axes, the dirt being scooped by hand, sometimes 10 or 12 bodies were placed in one grave, carried there from the teepees in blankets. (There is such a mass grave in the Lac La Biche Mission Cemetery.) About 30 or more encampments on the prairie were affected and there were from 28 to 41 families in each.

One morning when the young men were aiding him in burials, Father Lacombe sent them back for the bodies of two children which he had laid aside and covered with boughs the previous night. The men went, but the bodies of the little ones were gone. The dogs had already been there, only the torn remains were found.

Father Albert Lacombe, OMI heard one old man mourning tragically over this. "Great Father," he kept repeating audibly, "is it possible that you let us die with this horrible disease... and then eaten by dogs." Even Father Lacombe's tough heart found here its limits of endurance and power to console. "I could not say a word to comfort him," he noted in his journal.

Acknowledgement: Father Lacombe, by Katherine Hughes. McClelland and Stewart, Publishers.

The Sister of Charity at Notre-Dame des Victoires – Lac La Biche Mission 1862

July 21, 1891 – “Preparations for the departure of Sister Superior and [another Sister]. The latter has been recalled to Montreal after 28 years during which she served this mission which loses in her the last of the founders of the convent.” -Journal de Notre Dame des Victoires.

"All happiness depends upon courage and work." –Honoré de Balzac

Grey Nuns at the Lac La Biche Mission:
Back row: Sister Cecilia Dougherty, Sister Béliveau (Louise Arsenault), Sister Louise Pomminville, Sister Olivine Briault. Front row: Sister St. Amable (Odolmire Mercier), Sister Marie Niquette, Superior Sister St. Augustin (Ada Leduc).

Interesting facts about these 7 Sisters who were in Lac La Biche in 1895:

Sister Marie Niquette, Superior, born in 1857 in Contrecoeur, Quebec, made profession in 1881, was in Lac La Biche from 1881-1888 and again from 1891-1898, died in 1921.
Sister Béliveau (Louise Arseneault), born in 1848 in St. Celestin de Nicolet, made profession in 1875, was in Lac La Biche in 1888-1898, died in 1921.
Sister St. Amable (Odolmire Mercier), born in 1862 in St. Anselme de Dorchester, Quebec, made profession in 1881, was in Lac La Biche 1881-1898, died in 1943.
Sister Louise Pomminville, born in 1865 in St. Benoit, Quebec, made profession in 1884, was in Lac La Biche in 1887-1898, died in 1958.
Sister Cecilia Dougherty, born in 1864 in North Dakota, made profession in 1886, was in Lac La Biche from 1891-1901, died in 1961.
Sister St. Augustin (Ada Leduc), born in 1865 in St. Benoit P.Q., made profession in 1887, was in Lac La Biche from 1887-1900, died in 1939.
Sister Olivine Briault, born in 1871 in St. Isidor de Laprairie, Quebec, made profession in 1891, was in Lac La Biche from 1891-1902, died in 1955.
In 1895 Sister Niquette was 38 years old; Sister Béliveau 47; Sister St. Amable. 33; Sister Pomminville, 30; Sister Dougherty, 31; Sister St. Augustin, 30; Sister Briault, 24.

The Grey Nuns opened a school in 1862, but the endeavor was not successful for several years. The Métis people did not understand any more than the Indians the usefulness, never mind the necessity, of education. The Sisters had to beseechingly beg the natives just to have a few children at school, and those parents who did allow the nuns to educate their children felt that they were doing an immense service to the mission! The sisters did not often hesitate to complain to the parents that their children were malnourished, poorly dressed, and treated badly. The apathy and the incomprehension on the part of the parents were the biggest obstacle to the work of the schools in all of the missions in the North-West.

In summary, this mission did not was not bountiful with spiritual fruits as the Sisters would have hoped. By January 1st, 1856, only about 284 baptisms had taken place. During this period, however, the Our Lady of Victory mission made remarkable progress from a religious point of view. The Indians, who had been until this point lukewarm and indifferent, better understood the devotion of the missionaries and seemed to want to profit from it. Even the orphanage and the school were getting better results. The latter had, by this point, approximately forty students. The mission also served three secondary posts: Little Beaver and St. Jean Baptiste, situated at the bridge of the Athabasca River, and St. Valentine.

Acknowledgement: Oblate Annals.

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