LES SOEURS DU BON-PASTEUR DE QUÉBEC
The Good Shepherd Nuns
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In the middle of the nineteenth century, in order to help women who either had no means of support or were just released from prison, Marie-Josephte Fitzbach, a widow residing with the Soeurs de la Charité de Québec (Sisters of Charity of Québec), was asked to open a place of refuge for women. In 1850, she opened l’Asile Sainte-Madelaine (a refuge) and founded the Soeurs du Bon Pasteur community, also known as Les Servantes du Coeur Immaculé de Marie (Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary). |
The community’s mission was to run a foster centre and to welcome women in difficulty who wished to overcome their obstacles. Gradually, the community’s actions expanded as they also began caring for orphans and for the sick who filled the city’s hospitals. They also played a role in child education, especially at the primary and high school levels. Thanks to their social and educational involvement in the community, the Soeurs du Bon Pasteur remained closely connected with their Christian mission: to help, to teach, and to bear witness to the infinite love of Jesus, the Good Shepherd.
Website : www.soeursdubonpasteur.ca
MUSÉE BON-PASTEUR
Museum
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Through discovering the history of the Soeurs du Bon Pasteur, a religious community founded in Québec City, you will also discover the reality of women who were excluded from society in the 19th century. |
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A visit to the museum will help you understand how the works of this community became indispensable in a city that was battling against growing social problems caused by both the massive immigration that was occurring at the time, and by the numerous devastating fires. George Manly Muir, who called for and initiated this undertaking, and Marie Fitzbach, the founder of the religious community, became known as heroes during this period, a period that was dismal for many women at the time who were being driven into prostitution or into other dehumanizing and dreadful miseries. |
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PERMENENT EXHIBITION
The Way of the Bon-Pasteur... Love, Devotion and professionalism
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This exposition brings to light the social and educational works of the Soeurs du Bon-Pasteur from Québec and elsewhere. Come discover in a luminous setting where simplicity, technology and emotions reveal the many faces of this « Way of the Bon-Pasteur » which places the well being of women and children in need as its primary focus. This place of remembrance displays the difficult reality of the «girl-mother» and her children before Québec's Quiete Revolution. This reality is shown in a historical retrospect threw two important works: l'Hôpital de la Miséricorde (187-1972) and la Crèche Saint-Vincent-de-Paul (1901-1972). |
In a impressive setting, discover a prison cell and a charming class room from a different time. Also, come and see how the ways of the Bon-Pasteur and its interactions with cultures from around the globe.
Museum Hours
Tuesday to Sunday: 3:00pm – 5:00pm
Visit on your own or with a guide.
Guided tours are offered in English and French
Adult: $ 3, Children free
Seniors: 2$
Group rates on demand
Musée Bon-Pasteur
14, rue Couillard
Québec (Québec)
G1R 3S9
Telephone : (418) 694-0243
Fax : (418) 694-6233
Email: museebonpasteur@oricom.ca
Website : www.museocapitale.qc.ca/011.htm
MARIE-JOSEPHTE FITZBACH (1806-1885)
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Mère Marie du Sacré-Cœur was born Marie-Josephte Fitzback at Saint-Valier de Bellechasse on October 16, 1806. She was an orphan and therefore lived her childhood in poverty. In her youth, Marie-Josephte Fitzbach led a very simple life, working to help her family survive. When she was a young adult, she married Francois-Xavier Roy, a widower who was already the father of two children. They had three daughters together. Unfortunately her husband passed away just a few years into their marriage, forcing Marie-Josephte Fitzbach to return to the job market in order to assure the education of her three daughters. |
On October 16, 1849, due to a deep desire to live a prayerful, contemplative life, she entered the community of Les Soeurs de la Charité de Québec (Sisters of Charity). However, she did not enter as a member of the community, but rather as a female resident. After only a short time, she began to see a very promising project in her future: to open a refuge for women who either had no means of support or who were just released from prison. So, at the request of Archbishop Pierre-Flavien Turgeon and of Scottish lawyer George Manly Muir, she agreed to open the refuge in 1850, with the help of Mary Keogh. This refuge, named l’Asile Sainte-Madeleine, was located at the corner of the streets La Chevrotière and Saint-Amable. She then founded la Congrégation des Servantes de Coeur immaculé de Marie, also known as Les Soeurs du Bon-Pasteur, in order to help her with this project. Marie-Josephte Fitzbach was also in charge of juvenile homes, a foster child center, and other schools. In other words, she was involved in everything that was associated with the social or educational spheres of society. She died in Québec City on September 1, 1885.
Faith, hope and charity were qualities that took precedence in the life of Marie-Josephte Fitzbach. This woman, through contemplation and prayer, had a profound devotion to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and expressed an absolute steadfast faith in God.
Marie-Josephte Fitzbach is not yet beatified. However, the process towards her canonization began in Rome in 1995, due to the role that she, the founder of Les Soeurs du Bon-Pasteur, played in the education and social undertakings of Québec since. The community of Les Soeurs du Bon-Pasteur was the first female community to have been founded in Québec City by a Québecoise.
