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Mgr. Michel-Thomas Labrecque, founder of the Congregation

Portrait of a man in his forties wearing a bishop’s habit.

Mgr. Michel-Thomas Labrecque, 3rd Bishop of the Chicoutimi Diocese

1894

SNDBC Archives

 

In 1892, Michel-Thomas Labrecque became 3rd Bishop of the Chicoutimi diocese. Due to a lack of teachers in the parishes of his Diocese, classrooms were overpopulated. To remedy his problem, he wanted to found a community of nuns dedicated to educating children.

He soon put his project into action, seeking the assistance of Ms. Françoise Simard. After much deliberation, she accepted the summons, leading to the official founding of the Notre-Dame-du-Bon-Conseil Congregation in Chicoutimi, on November 4, 1894.

The Bishop, vowing devotion to the Bon-Conseil Virgin, designated Ms. Simard the first Mother Patron Saint of the Congregation.

As needs arose, the Notre-Dame-du-Bon-Conseil Sisters fulfilled their educational role in the majority of Chicoutimi, Charlevoix and Côte-Nord parish schools.