On Tuesday the 8^th of October 2024, an assembly of thanksgiving to the Lord was held at Kermaria in Trois-Rivières (Canada), marked by a solemn Eucharist. Mgr Martin Laliberté, Bishop of the Diocese of Trois-Rivières presided over the celebration, accompanied by his two chancellors and the priests who say mass at our Lokia Residence. During this celebration, we experienced the event of the desacralisation of the chapel, which has been in existence for 90 years.

“There is a time to look back to the past with recognition and gratitude,

and a time to embrace the future with confidence.”

Sr Patricia, General Superior

Daughters of Jesus, Associates, Religious of the Congregations who share our daily life at the Residence, representatives of Habitations Populaires du Québec, collaborators and friends made up the assembly : an assembly filled with gratitude, lasting memories, regret and confidence, open to a future of fraternal solidarity.

Appreciative respect

The project to convert Kermaria into sixty-nine affordable housing units will preserve the religious, architectural, and cultural heritage of the chapel. The chapel is one of the most beautiful religious monuments in the Province of Quebec, and one of the finest examples of Gothic art in Canada. It was inaugurated on the occasion of the Congregation’s centenary, on 25 November 1934, under the name of Saint-Joseph de Kermaria.

Resounding symbols

Throughout the Eucharistic celebration, we were deeply touched by a number of symbols that gave meaning to the difficult moment we were living through:

– Significant offerings in the form of the photo of our beautiful chapel, so rich in precious memories, offered by our 101-year-old Sister Jeanne d’Arc Lachance, and the voluminous roll of plans for the transformation of Kermaria, presented by the president of Habitations Populaires, Mr Ghislain Aubin, and Sr. Monique Brûlé, fj.

– The large candle lit at the moment of the commemoration of all our deceased Sisters from 1902 to today made them present to us.

– The open tabernacle and the removal of the sacred vessels.

– Monsignor Martin Laliberté, Bishop of Trois-Rivières, presented the decree for the desacralisation of the chapel of St Joseph de Kermaria to Sr Micheline Cormier, Regional Bishop.

– The exit procession preceded by the lighting of the Paschal candle and the word of God, which went before us and walked with us on our journey to Emmaus.

– A friendly drink extended the intense experience, as we shared our emotions and so many memories at once varied and held in common.

Still sent today

This celebration marked a very moving ‘passage’ lived in thanksgiving for so many blessings received throughout our history as Daughters of Jesus in Canada.

Sent by the Bishop to announce the Good News of an ongoing life story, we respond to vulnerable people suffering from the great housing crisis in Trois-Rivières.  Our self-denial, like the grain of wheat, gives new life.

We carry a treasure

For us as Daughters of Jesus, in addition to the treasure of its architecture, this chapel is a symbol of the treasure that several generations of Daughters of Jesus across Canada have welcomed into their lives by making their commitment as women consecrated to God and to the mission, according to the charism of the Daughters of Jesus.

We carry a treasure in clay vessels, which we share with our Associate brothers and sisters and which we are happy to pass on, in another form, to the people who will come to live or work under this roof of Kermaria, protected by Saint Joseph of Kermaria and Our Lady of the Lights.

The dispossession of our desacralised chapel deepens our desire to become more and more ‘living stones’ within our great family and the Church.

From the bottom of our hearts

Thank you to Micheline, our Regional Superior, and to the members of the talented team who, for weeks, worked out the programme down to the smallest detail, and to all the collaborators who contributed their skills behind the scenes,  in a fraternity with a Gospel flavour.

Thank you to our Congregation which, through the many messages received from all the countries where we are present, has made visible our great fraternal and missionary body!

Sr Lucy Larouche fj,

Trois-Rivières, Canada