EARLY YEARS

In Terrebonne, on April 18, 1809, Esther Blondin¹ was born from a poor background. She later joined the congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame as a novice, where, after experiencing many difficulties, she learned to read and write by the age of 20². She then moved to Vaudreuil, working as an assistant teacher under Miss Suzanne Pineault in the village school³. In 1839, she became the school principal for approximately fifteen years. Confronted with the hardships faced by children, especially underprivileged young girls, she wished to create a place where learning was accessible to all. She longed to found a congregation whose purpose was to educate poor countryside children⁴. She presented her project to Monseigeur Ignace Bourget (1789-1885), bishop of the Montréal diocese, who granted her permission to pursue this challenge.

FOUNDING OF THE SISTERS OF SAINT ANNE INSTITUTE

On September 8, 1850, the Sisters of Saint Anne Institute (later to become the congregation of the Sisters of Saint Anne) was officially created. At its head was Esther Blondin, renamed Mother Marie-Anne. Along with seven fellow sisters, she moved into the institute’s first home (also called the first convent), a school house on Saint-Michel Street belonging to priest Paul-Loup Archambault (1787-1858). In its first year, forty-two children enrolled in the convent. The following year, its attendance grew significantly, rendering its current building too small for the congregation’s increasing needs⁵.

THE CONGREGATION LEAVES VAUDREUIL

On August 22, 1853, the congregation moved to Saint-Jacques, leaving behind only four nuns at the Saint-Michel Street convent. Later, on October 6, 1875, the congregation left this building to move into the new convent situated next to the Saint-Michel Church on the corner of Bois-Vert Road (Saint-Charles Avenue) and Petite-Rivière Road (Jeannotte Street), a convent that Mother Marie-Anne never saw. After the Mother House’s relocation to Saint-Jacques-de-l’Achigan (Saint-Jacques), Mother Marie-Anne’s authority was contested by Louis-Adolphe Maréchal, a young priest who decided to take control of the congregation’s affairs. To end the conflict, Monseigneur Bourget removed Mother Marie-Anne from her duties as superior in August of 1854. From then on, she lived in the Mother House of the congregation, without title or influence, reduced to carrying out humble manual tasks until the end of her life⁶. She died in Lachine on January 2, 1890. Esther Blondin was beatified by Pope Jean-Paul II⁷ on April 29, 2001.