As part of the celebrations to mark the 350th anniversary (1st October 1674) of the founding of the Diocese of Quebec (Canada), a special evening was planned for 26 September 2024 to pay tribute to all the religious communities in the diocese.
Some sixty people responded by sending a delegation to receive from the Bishop the bronze medal commemorating the 350th anniversary (depicting Saint François de Laval, the first bishop of Quebec), as well as a copy of the volume entitled "Florilège" [“Anthology”] by Pierre Loiselle, a layman involved in the Church of Quebec.
This 231-page volume, launched on the same day, contains four sections, which treat the ‘gardens’ of teaching communities, ‘gardens’ of compassion, ‘gardens’ of prayer and ‘gardens’ of mission.
We, the Religious of the Blessed Sacrament described in the third ‘garden’, were represented by Father Loyola Gagné (at the left on the photo), whereas the Servants were represented by Sister Marie-Thérèse, the superior in Quebec, accompanied by Sister Claire.
Here’s a copy of pages 143 and 144, concerning the SSS religious.
Peter-Julian Eymard was born in 1811 in La Mure, a small village near Grenoble. His family was influenced by the Jansenist movement, which was very strong at the time. As a young boy, he imitated his father's ascetic practices. Little by little, he experienced God’s love for him, which freed him from the Jansenism of his childhood. Peter-Julian Eymard became a diocesan priest in Grenoble in 1834, then joined the Marists in 1839. He worked as a spiritual guide in a college before being asked by the founder of this community [Jean-Claude Colin] to assist him. During a visit to Paris, he met people who were working to make the Blessed Sacrament better known. His attraction to the Eucharist, which began at an early age, became a central part of his life. He founded the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament on 13 May 1856. Composed of priests and brothers, its aim was to promote Eucharistic worship through frequent communion, adoration and preaching. In 1858, Father Eymard also founded the Congregation of the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament for perpetual adoration. On 8 May 1863, Pope Pius IX approved the Congregation. Realising that it was not the gift of himself that was central, but the gift of God, what God was doing for him, in 1865 he made the "vow of personality", i.e. the gift of himself, a solemn commitment that he put into practice until his death in 1868. In this way, he lived his daily life contemplating Christ at work through him. The Constitutions were definitively approved by the Holy See in 1895. He was canonised on 9 December 1962 by Pope John XXIII. It was only from this time onwards that historical and spiritual research was carried out on the founder to capture his insights. Today, the main aim of the Congregation is to make known and live the mystery of the Eucharist in all its dimensions.
Father Loyola Gagné, sss