Sister Rose-Aimée Gamache

Sister Rose-Aimée Gamache, s.g.m. (1877-1957) Coming from a farming family in Témiscouata, Rose-Aimée Gamache is originally a teacher in the Rivière-du-Loup region where she is inspired to create school gardens. Entering the Grey Nuns in 1920 at the late age of forty-two, she obtains the following year a diploma in agriculture from the École Supérieure […]

Sister Marguerite Hudon

Sister Marguerite Hudon, s.g.m. (1918-1974) Marguerite Hudon is born on November 1st, 1918 into a large family in Rivière-Ouelle, county of Kamouraska. After entering the Grey Nun novitiate in 1940, she works for seven years as a cook at the Motherhouse and the Saint-Charles Farm. Assigned to the Châteauguay farm in 1949, she dedicates herself […]

Sister Claire Ménard

Sister Claire Ménard, s.g.m. (1922-1998) Claire Ménard is still seventeen years old when she joins the Grey Nuns, whom she knows well from two elder sisters who preceded her and from her studies at the congregation’s École Ménagère. Throughout her life she puts her cooking talents to good use, starting at the Motherhouse kitchen (1942-1955), […]

Motherhouse, Eating

Eating The various residents of the Motherhouse eat their meals in different refectories or dining rooms, while the Nuns eat in the community refectory. Until the 1960s meals are eaten in silence while a Sister reads aloud from scripture, newspapers and other approved books. Meals are served by Nuns assigned to this task, who also […]

Motherhouse, Cooking

Cooking The Nuns, assisted by lay kitchen staff, prepare more than 2000 meals daily. Industrial-sized kitchens are set up on the ground-floor of each wing. Smaller kitchens next to the refectories are used to reheat dishes. Various industrial machines were added over the years to assist in preparing meals: steam cauldrons, roasters, mixers, percolators, freezers, […]

Motherhouse, The Vegetable Garden and the Orchard

The Vegetable Garden and the Orchard Located between Saint-Mathieu and Guy Streets, the vegetable garden and orchard occupy an area of approximately two acres. Until the 1960s, many Nuns work there assisted by hired labourers. A wide variety of vegetables and fruits are grown but despite the abundant harvests it is not enough to feed […]

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 […]

Motherhouse, 124 Years of Presence at the Motherhouse

Motherhouse, Montréal 124 Years of Presence at the Motherhouse In 1871 the Grey Nuns depart the General Hospital in Pointe à Callière, where they resided and worked since 1747, to escape the local urbanization and industrialization, the continual expansion of Montréal’s port, and the inevitable annual spring flooding of the neighborhood. They move to their […]

Saint-Charles Farm, A Prosperous Farm for Almost 50 Years

Saint-Charles Farm, Montréal (Côte-de-Liesse) A Prosperous Farm for Almost 50 Years With part of the proceeds from the sale of land at Pointe Saint-Charles, in 1907 the Grey Nuns acquire a parcel of agricultural land in the Côte-de-Liesse municipality. Subsequent acquisitions increase the property to a total of 575 acres, aptly named the Saint-Charles Farm […]

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-Charles Farm, Departure

Departure The continual expansion of metropolitan Montréal invariably leads to parcels of land being expropriated for railways, roads, electrical and telecommunication grids, until almost all the properties are sold apart from the lots where the Notre-Dame-de-Liesse School and the Youville Nursery are located. Additionally, the rapid development of the sector and the implementation of factories […]

Saint-Charles Farm, Animals, Women and Men

Animals… An impressive number of livestock is raised on the farm. In 1946, there are 150 Holstein cows including 90 dairy cows, 300 Yorkshire pigs, 3,000 chickens, 1800 hens and 60 draft horses. Sister feeding hens, 1945. Photography: author unknown. Grey Nuns of Montréal’s Archives, Saint-Charles Farm (Montréal, Côte-de-Liesse)’s Fonds, L071-F Hen, undated. Photography: author […]