Bishop LePailleur in Bengal
Source: BAnQ numérique
Bishop Alfred LePailleur was the first bishop of the diocese of Chittagong (Bengal). From 1927 to 1951, he lived in India, of which this territory was part until 1949.
A 20-page booklet recounts, among other things, a brief history of Bengal, its geography, local flora and fauna, climate, inhabitants and a description of the trip from Canada:
The trip from Canada to Chittagong through Rome, Naples, the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, Bombay, Calcutta, lasted at least fifty days and resulted in an expenditure of more than $700.00.
The first part of the document relates how LePailleur became a bishop in a country so far from his home. It tells how his family insisted that he stay in Canada, but in a letter to one of his uncles, Monsignor Georges-Marie LePailleur, he responds:
The work, the trials, I accept them with love for Our Lord […]. Here I am, therefore, doomed to the martyrdom of the cross, a martyrdom no doubt disguised under garments and bands of gold, but the ordeal is no less near and certain …
Transcription:
R.P. Eustache GAGNON, C.S.C.
Un diocèse canadien aux Indes
S.C. Mgr ALFRED LEPAILLEUR, C.S.C.
Évêque de Chittagong
L’OEUVRE DES TRACTS MONTRÉAL