Nomenclature

Congregation:

Association of priests and nuns subject to vows and common rules.

General Council:

The General Council is made up of five members. It assists the Superior General in her authoritative duties with enlightened information, advice, and consent through an advisory or deliberative voting process. It takes part in the Congregation’s governance in line with the General Chapters’ constitutions and guidelines.

Teacher Training School:

School where seculars and nuns could earn complementary diplomas and teaching certificates. The programs thus trained teachers based on a higher education system recognised by the Department of Education. The Teacher Training School gave access to teaching careers, but also assured next-generation teachers.

Family Institute:

The Family Institute aimed to educate women on household management, maternity, and family values. They learned the secrets of child care, culinary art, and craftsmanship. It also had the secondary purpose of preparing young women who wanted to become teachers in the field.

Mother Bursar:

Under the guidance of the Superior General and General Council, Mother Bursar administers the Congregation’s collective heritage, in compliance with universal rights and the Congregation’s constitutions and regulations. She oversees the common good, charity requirements, justice, and collective poverty. She can provide counsel regarding financial situations, but does not have a voting right.

Postulant:

Young nuns begin their community life as postulants, a stage of preparation, adaptation, and immersion. They test their aptitude for religious and spiritual life, and for the inherent charisma of the Bon-Conseil.

Novice:

One who has newly adorned the religious habit in a convent while undergoing a probationary period before taking a profession of faith. She spends her days studying and carrying out the manual labour that has been assigned to her.

Professed:

At the end of her novitiate, the nun officially joins the community when taking religious vows in a public ceremony. The symbolic celebration entails three vows: chastity, poverty, and obeisance. Three years hence, she pronounces her perpetual vows and receives her divine ring, which symbolizes her union with God.

SNDBC – Sœurs de Notre-Dame-du-Bon-Conseil:

The NDBC Sisters provided educational support in the majority of schools in regional dioceses: Saguenay, Lac-Saint-Jean, Charlevoix and Côte-Nord. They worked at educating the young, promoting the status of women, and training future nuns. As educators, human and Christian growth was always at the heart of their endeavours.