Métairie Saint-Joseph, Development

Development Dévelop-pement Various modifications and improvements on the farm demonstrate its successfulness and the Nuns concern for good management practices: better lodging for the farmer and his family, the construction of an ice-house and a larger stable-barn provided with electricity, expansion of the henhouse in 1918, acquisition of 130 acres of neighboring land and outbuildings […]

Motherhouse, Food Preservation

Food Preservation A summer pavilion is built behind the chapel in 1926, a covered area serving as a place of recreation and reading for novices. In good weather the entire community occasionally gathered there for its meals. In preparation for the winter season, postulants, novices and professed Nuns gathered to preserve vegetables and fruits freshly […]

Saint-Charles Farm, A Model Farm

A Model Farm The numerous buildings onsite in 1952 underline its scale: a convent for the Nuns, two stone houses, eight dwellings for employees and their families, a cattle stall, three grain silos, a pigsty, a slaughterhouse, a chicken coop, an apiary, a horse-stable, a granary, sheds, a greenhouse, a soap factory, a cannery, barns, […]

Saint-Bruno Farm

Saint-Bruno Farm Located in what is today downtown Montréal, the Saint-Joseph Hospice was on the verge of expropriation for a new Grand Trunk Railway station when the start of the Great War put the project on hold. That same year, 1914, the Hospice is gifted a 135 acre farm in the village of Saint-Bruno, county […]

Farm and Convent of the Hospice Youville

Farm and Convent of the Hospice Youville, Saint-Benoît In 1859, the Grey Nuns establish a hospice for the needy & infirm as well as a girls’ school in the village of Saint-Benoît, county of Deux-Montagnes. Map of Saint-Benoit Farm/Nelson Cossette (agronomist), undated. Grey Nuns of Montréal’s Archives, Convent and Hospice Youville (Saint-Benoît)’s Fonds, L011-K-03 Youville […]

Farm of the Hospice Lajemmerais

Farm of the Hospice Lajemmerais, Varennes Founded in 1859, the Hospice Lajemmerais in Varennes houses an orphanage, a wing where the elderly reside, a section for adult boarders and also a kindergarten. The early years are very difficult with the Nuns living in conditions described in the mission chronicles as heroic. The most severe poverty […]

Châteauguay, The Farm and Livestock

The Farm and Livestock The Nuns at the Châteauguay farm diligently apply technical and theoretical knowledge acquired from Provincial government agronomists and the Trappist Monks of Oka. Successive directors manage the farm with the goal of continually increasing production. Although very fertile, a major challenge is that sections of arable land are prone to annual […]

Châteauguay, Acquisition and Beginning

Châteauguay By its longevity, the Châteauguay farm holds a unique place in the history of the Grey Nuns. For over 200 years it helped to supply food for the Congregation and its works, as well as providing a place of gathering and rest for the Nuns, boarders and students of their institutions. Acquisition and Beginning […]