Récollects de Bretagne

From the town's founding to its fall, the spiritual well-being of Louisbourg's colonists had been entrusted to the Récollet friars. They began in the 16th century as a branch of the Franciscan order and modeled themselves after its founder, St. Francis of Assisi. They assumed a beggarly existence and were distinguished by their plain homespun habits, bare feet, and sandals or clogs. On them fell the duty of ensuring the religious integrity and moral purity of the people.

France's almost 150 Récollet convents were divided into administrative units called provinces and each province had its own superior, the Ministre Provincial. There were generally four Récollets in Louisbourg, one acted as cure, or parish priest, and three administered to the religious needs of the troops in the barracks, the sick in the hospital, and the detachment posted at the Royal Battery.

The Récollets were the first religieux to come, from the province of Paris, having sailed to Canada to join the initial settlement party in 1713. The following year the minister of marine sent the friars of the province of Brittany to share ecclesiastical duties with the Paris Récollets. The Brittany friars served the settlers from Newfoundland and visiting fishing crews while the Paris Récollets were in charge of the King's chapel and relocated Acadians with each of the two orders having their own vicar-general. This arrangement, with two different groups of Recollets sharing responsibility for the colony, was far from harmonious and by 1716 the Récollets of the province of Brittany had replaced the Paris friars in every settlement but Port Toulouse.

The Récollets of Louisbourg were often criticized by their contemporaries, who described them as being lazy, negligent in their duties, poorly educated, and generally of little worth. Some of the friars had been involved in scandals. One friar in particular was known to have a weakness for alcohol and had also given sanction to three prohibited marriages. The public in general, however, appeared mostly in favour of the Récollets. On one occasion, a petition was signed requesting that they continue serving as Louisbourg's parish priests. The parishioners seemed to view the Récollets with affection, praising their down to earth nature, proclaiming that Louisbourg had benefited from their wise conduct and good examples.