« Chère et bien-aimée Mère » : les lettres de Sœur Bruyère à la Mère Supérieure des Sœurs Grises de Montréal, Elizabeth McMullen
Sœur Bruyère écrit à Mère McMullen, le 15 juin 1847
General Hospital of Bytown,
June 15th, 1847
My dear and beloved Mother,
Sister Hagan arrived on Sunday morning (13) and she is doing well. She has been accepted this morning for her calling. All of the Sisters agreed, but too late, that this dear child should join with us, and this was righteous from our part. I hope that we shall be wiser the next time. If Sister Hagan’s bed is not already gone, I would wish to keep it with us as it will be used by the next one whom we should send as soon as possible, maybe next month. Whom it will be I cannot say precisely as this will depend upon many circumstances, but perhaps Sister Curran who is in a good shape.
The Providence was good to us last week: a humble seller that we call a peddler has died at our home. Carrying goods making up for some 25 or 30 louis, he bequeathed six louis to his sister who lives in Ireland; the rest of the sum is now ours. We arranged for him a second-class funeral which has cost us £1.2.6.
Sœur Bruyère écrit à Mère McMullen, le 15 juin 1847
This peddler also gave us his horse. I sent for it, but we are still waiting. I fear we will not be able to get it as the parents of the deceased are unhappy not to have inherited.
We received our first emigrant on June 5, and she died on the 8th. We also received a man who was critically ill on June 10. He is now much better. We received as many as seven sick people, covered with lice, on the 11th of June, etc., etc. ; three died on June 12; we were quite saddened to see them leave us so quickly for the other world. They were, however, given the privilege of getting the last sacraments. We received four people on Sunday (13). The hospital (76) was so full that we had nowhere to place all of the patients. You would have been greatly edified had you seen Father Telmon and some of his most notable parishioners, as well as shantymen, hastily put up wooden huts to shelter those poor people. Most of the Sisters gave their straw mattresses; several their beds. Today, all those that had a blanket gave it good-heartedly to protect these poor unfortunate ones from the cold and the rain. Our Novices seem real mothers to the suffering; it is a great comfort to me. Only two women were courageous enough to stay up with us, as we are all afraid to contract fever. We have enough people to look after the sick at the convent.
Sœur Bruyère écrit à Mère McMullen, le 15 juin 1847
The Emigration Agent is building us a 33 x 20 adjunct house for the benefit of our emigrants. Our good Father is supervising this charitable work with the aid of Brother Sweeney. Sister Assistante has just received four more people since I have started writing to you. I asked our Father to build another hut as we do not have enough space. We are now looking after 24 people, which might not seem a great number to you, but it is for us as we do not have room enough to accommodate them. Twenty-three of them slept outside, while it was raining last night; the Agent could not find a better place for them, since every house and building in the vicinity is full.
I was much pleased to receive our good Father Larré’s present; but I did not get the chance to look at it, yet. Would you please thank him for me; I cannot write to him now. We are looking forward to greeting him, as well as our dear and good Father Billaudèle.
I humbly ask you to give our heartfelt considerations to His Highness Mgr of Montreal, as well as to our Fathers Billaudèle and Larré. Sister Rodriguez has come back to life. Alleluia ! Our Good Lord is always looking after her health. She is preparing the medication for everyone and I assure you she has got a lot to do.
Farewell my good Mother, pray for us, your children, who are doing everything they can to follow your path in all charity, etc.
Your humble daughter,
Sr É. B.
Sœur Bruyère écrit à Mère McMullen, le 15 juin 1847
(in the margins)
I must tell you how I am upset with our Sisters. I have done what I could to look after the emigrants at night in order to help our poor Sisters, and I have been informed that our dear Sisters have reported this to our Father who is now forbidding me to stay up with them. I was not able to win my point. I am upset.
Madam Hagan is constantly talking of you and the nice welcome you have given her; she is delighted about that.
Send our Sisters’ noble respects to all of our Sisters of Montreal, and we ask them to think of us. We are doing our bit to unite with them in the immense toils you are performing.
Sr É. B.
Sœur Bruyère écrit à Mère McMullen, le 3 juillet 1847
General Hospital of Bytown,
July 3, 1847
My dearest and beloved Mother,
It seems to me that I have not heard from you for a century. How are you?... Much exhausted, I suppose, our dear Sisters and yourself. Please let us not worry too much and ask an orphan to write us a few words, if our Sisters do not have time enough to write. Newspapers and “Les mélanges religieux” are writing articles about your zeal and your infinite charity towards our poor emigrants.
We are, too, giving relief to emigrants, but we are not doing as much as you do. We are lucky despite our little misfortunes, especially when we are comparing ourselves to our Sisters of Montreal. We are accommodating 60 sick people in our three rooms. Convalescing ones are moved to our tents which Government officials provided us. A good number of people die. Two Sisters are assisting the sick in each room; Sister Assistante is with Sister Phelan; Sister Xavier is with Sister Curran; and, Sister Normant is with Sister Conlan, our Novice, who trained at the English school in Châteauguay. Two girls are assisting our Sisters as well. Sisters are looking after the sick alternately. There are sick people at the convent whom we cannot accommodate here. Young shantymen are
Sœur Bruyère écrit à Mère McMullen, le 3 juillet 1847
good to us and they stay up with us every night at the Emigrants Hospital.
We are being annoyed by certain ministers of the Anglican, Scottish and Wesleyan Churches who do not limit themselves to their ecclesiastical function but who want to be masters in the hospital and treat us like domestics. They wrote articles in the Bytown newspapers, without signing their names. Our Father wrote in refuting their slanders, crushing the ministers without upsetting Protestants. I do not know if this will be the end of the matter, but I fear for the future. Please pray for us.
I do not know if I am mistaken or not in saying this, but I am determined to leave the Emigrants Hospital if they still hurt us like this, i.e. if these Sirs are allowed to treat us as they would behave toward servants who would not perform their toils. The doctor is satisfied with our care for the sick and says that we could not do more in terms of cleanliness, care, etc. Please pray for us so that everything is done according to God’s wish.
Sister Hagan has recently talked to me about these little silver boxes used for relics. I will do my best to send them to you soon.
Sœur Bruyère écrit à Mère McMullen, le 3 juillet 1847
St. Joseph’s statue is now in Longueuil; I hope this good Father will send us peace; we are also asking him to look after our dear Sister Saint-Joseph’s health. I ask you to pray with us, too. We are doing all we can to please our good Father St. Joseph. I hope he is glad of us.
I met an old Irishwoman who is asking me to write you about four little children that she left under the Sisters’ care. Their father is named John Brennan, from the County of Kilkenny. Their grandmother’s name is Ellen Brennan. Here are the names of the children: Thomas, Ann, Mary and Catherine (Brennan). Please let me know if you have placed them or if you still have them with you. Their grandmother is anxiously waiting for news and would bring them back with her.
I would ask our good Sister Chèvrefils to send us our belongings as soon as possible, as we need them; she does not have to wait for M. Charlebois. She may send us everything at our shed and we will collect them at our address.
Two candidates have applied to us; they will soon come here; one of them is 36 years old; a wise woman, isn’t she? I think I will be able to bring you a girl to the Noviciate in due course this summer; but I hope this will not deter you from visiting us since it is more than necessary that you come here. My noble respects to our Lord Bishops (9) of Montreal and Martypolis, our Father Superior, Larré, etc., etc. We are sending our thousands of blessings to our dear Sisters and are asking them to think a little bit of us when taking care of the emigrants. We are thinking about them as much as we can. I would like to write to some of our Sisters, but I do not have time for it; I hope they will forgive me. Please make sure that they know how much I think about
Sœur Bruyère écrit à Mère McMullen, le 3 juillet 1847
all of them. I have to say that we have two fine men who have agreed to do the maintenance for us; they are both good and very able men, doing every kind of work. These are two shantymen who were nursed here, last winter. They worked for us this spring, and for nothing. Now they are giving themselves to us.
Your poor and affectionate daughter,
Sr. É. Bruyère.
Sœur Bruyère écrit à Mère McMullen, le 9 juillet 1847
My dear Mother,
I would have left for Montreal if our Sisters were not sick from the fever. I think Sisters Conlan and Curran will recover, but I am afraid for that other young girl whom we hired and who is quite ill…
The Sisters are beginning to feel exhausted and I do not know if they will be able to keep up the work as they cannot count on any help at nights. We pray for you and please pray for us. Two of our young orphan girls have been infected with fever, but it is not too serious for now. Our children, we decided, will be on holidays
Sœur Bruyère écrit à Mère McMullen, le 9 juillet 1847
until August 15. Yesterday, the 8th of July, was your birthday as well as mine, and we welcomed a young child who was found in the woods 3 miles away from here; he was sun-roasted, the skin of his face gone; he is about 15 days old.
The Canal will be shut on the 1st of August and I would like to get our belongings before that day, if possible. Some of our Sisters sleep on featherbeds, disposed on some berths made of a plank, and others sleep on straw mattresses; we have given everything to our emigrants.
Farewell good Mother and believe us in saying that we are not insensitive of the pain you are experiencing. Our Father is praying for our Montreal and Bytown communities after each morning mass; he always begin with the Salve Regina before saying the Litanie de Saint-Joseph.
We give our noble considerations to his Highness Mgr of Montreal, as well as to Mgr Phelan, to our Father Superior, and to Father Larré. We send blessings to all of our dear Sisters. Farewell, farewell. I will go to Montreal with Sister Leblanc if his brother does not send her the money; M. Curran will pay for my trip.
Your devoted and affectionate daughter,
Sr. É. Bruyère.
Sœur Bruyère écrit à Mère McMullen, le 13 juillet 1847
Bytown, July 13, 1847
My dear Mother,
I think you remember well that Jean-Baptiste Leblanc, our Sister Leblanc’s brother, is owing 1 000 to our Sister who is now obliged. I have done my best to collect this money last year; I sent him two letters since then and we have never gotten any reply. Our Sister Leblanc is afraid that her calling will then be delayed if her brother does not pay her. This is what is going to happen, most probably. Would you be kind enough to ask for him and to ask him, in the name of his own sister, that he must give her the money which he enjoyed so far, without paying interest.
Sœur Bruyère écrit à Mère McMullen, le 13 juillet 1847
He may think his sister bad-mannered, but she asks him to think that he must have given her the money back, whether he would have liked it or not, if she had married. She must act like this towards him now, under these circumstances. I must ask you, my good Mother, not to mention to Sister Leblanc of Montreal that our own Sister Leblanc is writing so strongly to her brother, as the former would be sad to know this. Farewell, my good Mother, and please forgive me for giving you so much trouble with all this.
At ten forty-five, our poor little emigrant [Anastasia Brennan] died. At one thirty, I went with another Sister to prepare the body for burial. We dared not remove all her clothes… she emitted a foul odour when we moved her.
We hastened to cover everything and put her in a coffin to have her taken to church, and then to the cemetery. Her body was black as coal. I think that she will not be the last case.
Forever yours,
Your wholly devoted daughter,
Sr. É. Bruyère.
Sœur Bruyère écrit à Mère McMullen, le 15 juillet 1847
Bytown, July 15, 1847
My dear Mother,
I received Sister Deschamps’s letter tonight… It is not so encouraging. May God be blessed… Sister Lavoie has gotten the fever this morning and so has Sister Hagan last night. The two others are much better; I expect many others will get the fever. Every day brings up more and more stricken emigrants! I do not know if we will be able to keep up: Fiat voluntas ! Prayers, prayers, they are our sole weapons and our sole support. Please pray a bit for your Sisters in Bytown, who are heartfully praying for you too. I am waiting for your news
Sœur Bruyère écrit à Mère McMullen, le 15 juillet 1847
just to let us know how our poor Sisters are doing. I thought my poor daughter Nagle would stay with you and take care of you, but she is now also ill. May God be blessed. I hope she will answer the calling if she is to die.
Farewell, good Mother, and I pray the Lord so that you may still be vigorous enough to support so many of these hardships and to give strength to our poor Sisters. Farewell. Father Molloy has contracted typhus. We nurse him in one of their houses, nearby the convent.
Forever your child,
Sr. É. Bruyère.
Sœur Bruyère écrit aux Sœurs Grises de la Rivière-Rouge, le 29 juillet 1847
General Hospital of Bytown,
July 29, 1847
My beloved Sisters,
I did receive our dear Sister Lagravell’s letter, which has much pleased us. How is our dear little Sister Ouimet? We are sad to learn that she was ill! She enjoyed such a good health before… Alas! Everything changes so fast in this world, in just a little twinkling… How many changes in only the last two months! I will not write again about the public hardships which are both affecting Lower and Upper Canada, and especially our Mother-House. The Sisters who were lucky enough to escape from the contagious disease are better placed to tell you how much devastation has risen out of pure charity. Five of them [in Montreal] have already been rewarded in heaven for their zeal, and many others are suffering in their beds, and will probably die soon. We have five Sisters here who are struggling with typhoid fever; Sisters Saint-Joseph, Hagan, Curran, Lavoie and Conlan. The latter came here as a Postulant in June. Two of our other girls who were nursing patients are now also fever stricken. Reverend Father Molloy is also seriously ill; we are taking care of him at our Hospital. All our other Sisters are better, but we fear that our little Sister Lavoie be suffering from the heart. This good child would perform her vocation on November 21st. Our Sisters Pigeon, Leblanc and Phelan will perform theirs on August 15th, if they can go into seclusion before that date.
We treat more than 60 fever-stricken emigrants, night and day. The other night, the Reverend Fathers administered to every sick person so that no one should die without getting the last rites. Disease is killing them in less than three hours; fortunately enough, the cool weather is now a thing of the past and a good number of them will recover. Pray for us, our good Sisters; we need it much. I cannot write you as much as I would like to; we must ask for lay people in order to help take care of our stricken Sisters, and the Sisters take care of the emigrants. We are a party of 17 Sisters, including one who is at Montreal; we are 16 here, and six are ill, four are assisting at the Emigrants Hospital, one is nursing Reverend Father Molloy, and the rest of us are looking after the most urgent matters. We do not have time for our exercises; I did not do my orison for the last eight days, and the others are working even more than I am. We are not able to find anyone to help us in taking care of the emigrants, whether we would offer gold or money.
The Reverend Fathers Oblates’ General Superior sent us a nice golden-coated statue of St. Joseph. It was sent a year ago and has just arrived here. We have put it on the altar of the parish church where people are gathering twice a day and praying to our good God so that Priests and Sisters stay healthy. A grand mass is observed everyday and we make a novena to St. Joseph at night, ending with the blessing of the Most Holy Sacrament. People and priests will march next Sunday, August 1st, with drums and music in honor of Father St. Joseph; we are leaving our souls in his hands and we hope he will bring back health to our poor sick people.
Please send our great respects to your St. Bishop and to all of your good Fathers, and in particular to Reverend Father Aubert; and so that all these good souls pray for us. To all of you, our dear beloved Sisters, we bless you heartfully. Again, we ask you to pray for us. It must well be that next time we write to you is to inform you that some of our Sisters have died.
Farewell, farewell, with the help of God; should the union of our hearts last forever and we will always be, in this world and in the other, your beloved and affectionate Sisters.
Sister Bruyère, Superior.