A brief history
The Society of Saint Sulpice in Canada
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| Jean-Jacques Olier |
The birth of the Society is closely linked to the great movement of
evangelization and renovation which took place in France in the 17th Century. Jean-Jacques Olier's missionary and pastoral gifts were foremost in this regard.
As a disciple of Monsieur Vincent (Vincent de Paul) and of Father de Condren, Jean-Jacques Olier (1608-1657) joins in the "missions" organized by them in France. He realizes that without the reformation of the clergy, these apostolic ventures would have no future. Advised by
Father de Condren, he refuses the offer to become a bishop, and opts for work in the seminaries. He feels called to "bring contemplative prayer into the priesthood".
In December 1641, with two other priests, he opens a house of retreats or "seminary", for young men wishing to become priests. This was at Vaugirard, a village close to Paris. A few months later, Olier is appointed pastor of Saint-Sulpice parish. The seminary now moves
over near the parish rectory. Other priests join in to help out in the parish and seminary. From then on, the formation team is called "Les Messieurs de Saint-Sulpice" or Society of the Priests of the Seminary of St. Sulpice. Thus was born the Society of Saint Sulpice whose members are called
Sulpicians.
Jean-Jacques Olier had in mind a small society of priests without vows of poverty and obedience, but bound together by sacerdotal charity and the dedication of their life to the formation of priests. To nourish their spiritual life they were to cultivate an "apostolic spirit",
the sense of adoration and the "interior life". The seminary was primarily a community where there was no distance between seminarians and their educators; the latter were to be primarily spiritual guides.
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| Old seminary of Saint-Sulpice adjoining to the Notre-Dame de Montréal Basilica
Residence of the Sulpicians since 1687 |
The superior of the seminary is very interested in the Nouvelle France colony in Canada. In 1649, he is one of the founders of the Société Notre-Dame de Montréal (Our Lady of Montreal Society) whose aim is : to
establish a colony in Ville-Marie (Montréal) in 1642 and evangelize the American Indians. Just before his death in 1657, Monsieur Olier sends to Montreal four Sulpicians who take over from the Jesuit Fathers and care for the faithful in the newborn town. Gabriel de Queylus is the superior of this
small team who takes charge of the urban parish of Notre-Dame, and later on, of 11 other rural parishes on the island of Montréal. As the worship of our Lady is prevalent in the Company, the Sulpicians are led to take charge of two chapels dedicated to our Lady :- In 1670,
Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours chapel near Notre-Dame Church
- In 1881, Our Lady of Lourdes chapel, close to St James urban parish (1904) served by the Sulpicians
The Notre Dame Society became deeply in debt. In 1663, they had to transfer their property of the Seigniory of the Island of Montréal to the Society of Saint Sulpice. The family fortune of the General Superior of Saint Sulpice at that time made this possible : the onerous
obligations were assumed and the debts were paid. A century after the New France conquest, the Seigniory system was abolished in 1859 by the English government in Canada.
In 1668 and thereafter, many Sulpicians go out to evangelize the American Indians: the Iroquois at the bay of Kenté on the northshore of lake Ontario (Kingston), then the Micmacs in Acadia, the Iroquois on the present site of Ogdensburg N.Y. and finally the Algonquins in
Abitibi and Temiscaming.
It was only in 1840 that Bishop Ignace Bourget of Montréal asked the Sulpicians to establish the Montréal Grand Seminary. Since then, more than 6000 priests studied there. In 1888, they open the Canadian Pontifical College to priests studying in the Roman
universities.
The Montréal area was in sore need of schools. The Sulpicians set up two classical colleges, who are still operating today under lay corporations separate from the Society. In 1767 Pastor Curatteau, S.S. starts the Montreal College in his rectory of Longue Pointe. Later it
moves in 1861 to a building adjoining the Grand Seminary and becomes a Secondary School in 1968. In 1927 the André Grasset College opens in the north of Montréal as another classical college open to day students exclusively, a first in the province of Quebec. In 1970 it adopts the CEGEP
system and its curriculum prepares students either for the university or some technical degrees.
Later on, in Canada and out, the missionary movement resumes. The Company assumes the direction of many seminaries for the formation of priests:
- Past seminaries, either closed or left by the Society :
- In the Canadian West
- Saint Boniface in Manitoba (1954-1968)
- In the Congo
- In Central America
- Guatemala (1967-1970)
- Panamá (1977-1988)
- In Colombia
- Bogotá (1960-1980)
- Zipaquirá (1981-1999)
- Present seminaries :
- In Japan
- In Colombia since 1950
- Manizales - 1950
- Cali - 1981
- Cúcuta - 1986
- In Brazil, starting in 1976
- Brasília - 1976
- Londrina - 1994
- In the Canadian West
In 1972, we set up a Provincial Delegation for Latin America. Its headquarters are in Bogotá, Colombia's capital city. In December 2004, the Canadian Province of Saint Sulpice has 110 members : 66 Canadians, 37 Colombians and 7 Japanese.
