Closure of the Convent, Arichat, Nova Scotia, Canada

“After a pleasant trip and a night spent at the Port of Mulgrave, we boarded the steamship at ten o’clock and reached Arichat at three in the afternoon. It was Christmas Eve”…

With these words written in her journal, Mother Marie de Ste Elizabeth describes her arrival in Arichat with Sister Paterne-Marie on December 24,1902.

Our hearts are filled with emotion as we reread the pages of her journal, pages that describe in detail the founding of the first Daughters of Jesus community in Acadia. We are deeply touched because we are preparing to leave Arichat where our Sisters labored during 112 years, giving of themselves fully whether it be in teaching at the boarding school or in the public schools, in nursing, in catechetic, in pastoral ministry. The Daughters of Jesus were ever present to the population, sharing joys and sorrows and leaving deep roots which spread out to other neighbouring villages in Richmond County.

Over the years, our numbers have diminished and today, in July 2014, we remain only two in our large convent. Age as well has rendered our continued involvement more difficult. We are deeply saddened as we leave this sympathetic milieu, but at the same time we rejoice in the knowledge that our charism will continue to live on in this house after our departure. Soon, it will become home for a group of young handicapped adults. We enthrust this project dear to our hearts to Our Lady of the Assumption and to Saint Joseph

We render thanksgiving and praise to God for these 112 years, for all the Sisters who lived the charism of the Daughters of Jesus in Arichat, for the people of God who welcomed us so warmly and who continue to assure us of their affection and their gratitude.

The last two Sisters left Arichat on July 22, 2014.