The Journey to the West
In
1857 Bishop Modeste Demers travelled to Quebec from Victoria in order
to request assistance from an Order to establish a school in the growing
Fort. The Bishop of the Order
interviewed the women to decide if they would be a good candidate. Their enthusiasm was so great he recommended
to Bishop Demers that they would be an excellent choice. Bishop Demers met with the Sisters for the
first time on October 19 and related the education condition for the poorer
children in Victoria. His speech moved every
single member of the order, including Mother Mary Ann, to volunteer for the
mission.
The
four sisters chosen were Sisters Mary Alphonse, Mary of the Sacred Heart, Mary
Angele and Miss Lane, soon to be Sister Mary Conception) and immediately started
preparing for their journey. Two of the
sisters were sent to Hotel Dieu and Asile de la Providence to learn
basic nursing skills. Unfortunately
Sister Mary Alphonse became sick and it was decided she would be unable to
travel to Victoria. She was replaced by Sister
Mary Lumena and a lay helper was added to the group, Mary Mainville.
This
small group was to leave the convent at Saint Jacques on April 8, 1858 and the night before a special service was held for the religious committee to say good-bye.
The four sisters were recognized as some of the first missionaries of
the Order. After leaving the convent
they were given time to spend with their families before leaving Montreal on April
14. Along with Bishop Demers and the
women were Reverend Father Pierre Rondeau, Father Charles Vary, Brother Joseph
Michaud, and Brother Gideon Thibodeau.
The
group travelled by train to New York, leaving on the ship the Philadelphia for
Havana, Cuba then to the ship the Granada for the trip to Panama. They crossed Panama by
train in three hours but were then faced with another challenge. The method of reaching their next ship,
anchored in the Bay, was on the shoulders of hired African American men. The idea was shocking to the four nuns who at
first refused to be carried in that manner.
However, faced with no other alternative and having come this far, the
nuns were carried out to the ship. Sister
Mary Angele had the distinction of costing twice as much to be carried due to
her size leading to her being reminded throughout her time in Victoria that as
it cost twice as much to get her to Victoria she was expected to do twice the
work.
The
sisters rested in San Francisco for two weeks with another order, the Sisters of Saint Vincent de
Paul and also in Portland. In Portland the
members of the clergy and the congregation asked the sisters to leave their
mission and join their convent. They
were faced with the decision of a rough Fort with unknown accommodations and a
convent already established and a congregation already converted and seeking
religious guidance. However, they were
not swayed and when the Bishop asked what they wished to do not one nun was
hesitant in her desire to continue to Victoria.
The
first Catholic Nuns in the Colony of British Columbia arrived on June 5, 1858 at three
o’clock.
