Mother Bernard Morin, foundress of the Sisters of Providence in Chile, was born on December 29, 1832, in Levis, a community approximately 25 miles south of Quebec. She was given the name Venerance at her baptism in the parish of St. Henry on the day after her birth.

Venerance was one of fourteen children born to Jacques and Marie Francois Rouleau Morin. Christian values were important in this Catholic household. Mother Bernard remembered that a common practice during winter evenings was for the family to gather by the fireplace with Jacques Morin to read aloud the lives of the saints or the adventures of missionaries. And years later Mother Bernard would also relate the many instances in which her mother had guided her toward love for the poor, humility and prudence in behavior, and respect for all people.

Throughout her childhood Venerance was attracted to the idea of living a virtuous life, and later recalled how she and her little brothers and sisters discussed the idea of religious vocations.

A special memory of these early years was the occasion of her first confession, a sacrament she received earlier than the customary age of seven because she could read by the time she was five and her parents felt she had reached the age of reason. “I recall that I accused myself of seven sins; they were well counted on my fingers so

Mother Bernard Morin

of Chile

Mother Bernard Morin, foundress of the Sisters of Providence in Chile, was born on December 29, 1832, in Levis, a community approximately 25 miles south of Quebec.

I would not forget any. When I concluded my accusation, Father counseled me to remember them and then, blessing me, he sent me on my way.”

She was then eager to receive her First Communion. “At last the tenth of August, 1842, dawned. It was a day a thousand times time happy…”

When she was ten, Venerance followed in the footsteps of her older sisters and went away to a boarding school, the Academy of Our Lady of Beauce. In addition to receiving an education which strengthened the tutoring she received at home, Venerance was introduced to the experience of personally serving the poor. Attached to the academy was a school which gave free instruction to poor children. Venerance sought and received permission to help prepare these students for First Communion.

Due to illness, Venerance had to return home in less than two years. Yet the time she spent at the academy was important to her spiritual journey. Close to the end of her long life she wrote from Chile to the Superior of the academy, “Now I am 93 years old, and before leaving for eternity I wish to thank you for the good seed of Faith and Piety and your Community, holy as it is, deposited in my soul.”

At home in Levis, Venerance returned to good health and began to accompany her older sister Henrietta on social visits. In time she began to enjoy the outings and events, especially dancing, an activity to which her confessor was opposed. After a few months she agreed to abide by his demands that she stop dancing, but voiced her opinion, “I see no evil whatever in that.”

During Lent in 1846, she began to experience a strong call to religious life, a call which she first accepted and then resisted. “I returned to Our Lord and lovingly begged Him to change my vocation. I made a thousand promises to be a good woman, to love and serve the poor. With heartfelt tears I told Him that I could not find within me the strength to be a religious.”

By the end of 1848, after much prayer, Venerance decided to follow the call to serve God as a religious woman.

Firm in her decision, Venerance then looked to find which religious community would best fulfill her vocation. She settled upon the Sisters of Providence, a community recently founded by Mother Emilie Gamelin.

She detailed the reasons for her choice, “To live poor, humble and despised is the life Our Divine Savior had chosen for Himself. Thinking this through, my eyes always fixed on the Lord,

it seemed to me that the life of the Sisters of Providence was most representative of the cross and humiliations of Our Lord. Without a moment more of hesitation, I determined to embrace it and then experienced a great contentment and satisfaction in my soul. One can truly say that I had chosen it from among a thousand and this without offense to the other religious Congregations. I found in it so many means for me to imitate our Lord and to procure His glory; so many means to sanctify myself by the exercise of the most solid virtues that I can but congratulate myself on my selection.”

On May 11, 1850, accompanied by her father, Venerance was welcomed to the Mother House of the Sisters of Providence in Montreal by Mother Emilie Gamelin and two other sisters. On November 1, after six months as a postulant, Venerance received the Holy Habit of the Sisters of Providence and the name of Sister Bernard.

The presence of Mother Gamelin during this formative time left lasting impressions on the young Sister Bernard. Towards the end of her life, Mother Bernard sent her personal recollections of Mother Gamelin to Montreal for the archives of the Sisters of Providence, recollections of a beloved woman of energy, simplicity and caring for Sister Bernard and others.

When relating the historical origins of the Sisters of Providence in Chile, Mother Bernard wrote of Mother Gamelin and included this remembrance, “When the duties of her charge left her some free time, usually she occupied it in mending and darning the stockings of all the sisters since it had not yet been arranged that each should do her own. In this way she fulfilled the advice of St. Augustine that the Superior should always be the least of all the sisters. I remember with edification her Reverence with her large basket of stockings at her side very pressed in her work…”

The personal example of Mother Gamelin was a lifelong inspiration.

While a novice, Sister Bernard was sent from the Mother House to nearby Sorel where the Congregation had undertaken the work of caring for 80 orphans and several infirm elderly women, and had assumed responsibilities for providing free schooling for local poor children. It was while Sister Bernard was serving in Sorel that Mother Gamelin died at the Mother House in Montreal on September 23, 1851.

After making profession at the church in Sorel, Sister Bernard completed her mission and returned to Montreal. At that time the Most Reverend Ignace Bourget, Bishop of Montreal, was selecting Sisters of Providence to go to the American West, in response to a request from the Most Reverend A.M.A. Blanchet, Bishop of Nesqually. Sister Bernard was chosen to be one of the five missionaries.

Led by one of the first seven Sisters of Providence, Mother Victoire Laroque, and accompanied by a chaplain, Father Gideon Huberdault, the group left Montreal on October 18, 1852.

Theirs was to be a long voyage. Mother Bernard would later recall the journey across the Isthmus of Panama by riverboats and by mules as one of the worst parts of the trip. Going across the Isthmus was always extremely hazardous; shortly before the Sisters of Providence were to take the same route, two sisters from another congregation had died enroute.

At last the Sisters of Providence group arrived in the Diocese of Oregon City on December 1, 1852. Due to poor communication, no provisions had been made for the arrival of the Sisters of Providence, and there was much confusion about where they were to go.

In addition, much of the population they had expected to serve had left for the gold fields of California. After their arrival, they went to St. Paul to be the guests of the Sisters of Notre Dame. Later, the Sisters of Providence party went by boat to California. After staying with the Sisters of Charity, they decided to return to Canada by way of Cape Horn.

On Easter, March 27, 1853, they left on a 180-ton Chilean cargo ship, Elena, from San Francisco for the first leg of the journey home. From Chile they planned to book passage on another ship to take them around the horn.

The Elena dropped anchor on Friday, June 17, 1853, in Valparaiso Bay, Chile, and the sisters became the guests of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary while they sought passage to Canada.

Word spread of their arrival. On June 20 a high official of the Republic of Chile visited the Sisters of Providence, asking them to stay in Chile and undertake the care of orphans and other works of compassion. Concurring in this request for a foundation in Chile was the Archbishop of Santiago, the Most Reverend Rafael Valentin Valdivieso.

Mother Bernard later recalled the situation, “Flattering were the invitations, but they posed a terrible conflict for us. Our eyes and hearts were set on our homeland. We wanted to reach Canada, to see our beloved superiors and sisters. That was our yearning. What to do? To pray to know the will of God and to submit ourselves to it was our wish. On one side, the dangers to the soul intimidated us. To make another long voyage this time around Cape Horn when we had no money for passage on a boat; to wait until Canada would send it to us would take a long time. To decide to remain in Chile without knowing the will of the Montreal Superiors seemed an irregularity; to sigh, to pray was all we could freely do.”

The sisters and Father Huberdault looked to the Archbishop of Santiago for an opinion. He announced that the sisters could make a conditional agreement with the government to care for the orphans in Santiago while awaiting word from Montreal.

The sisters traveled to Santiago and assumed the care of orphans, opening what would be the first house of Providence in Chile on October 30, 1853. That day was celebrated throughout Santiago with displays of the national flag, flowers adorning balconies, a parade, and the presentation of arms by a military battalion.

The archbishop celebrated Mass at the house and addressed the sisters in his homily, saying in part, “Beloved Sisters, you are truly Sisters of Providence because surely it is Divine Providence who has led you here where we have longed for you without knowing you. For years we were daily in want of an Institution of charity to take care of the poor and the orphans of this large city and, behold, when we least expected it, our prayers are heard in a miraculous way.”

In a few days eight orphans arrived, the first of many who quickly filled the house and kept the sisters busy as they awaited word from Montreal.

Meanwhile, in Montreal, the sisters thought that their missionaries and Father Huberdault had perished because they had received news that a priest and a party of sisters had been assassinated on a sailing vessel near Cape Horn. They rejoiced to learn all were alive.

After receiving correspondence from the sisters in Chile, from the Chilean government and from Archbishop Valdivieso, Bishop Bourget with Mother Emilie Caron, Superior General, consented to the continued presence of the Sisters of Providence in Chile.

The sisters in Chile expanded the extent of their care for orphans by moving to a small farm with a spacious house and fields and orchards. That area of Santiago became known as “Providence.”

Thus, the mission of the Sisters of Providence had been brought to Chile, a mission to which Sister Bernard would bring her gifts of leadership and vision.

In 1857, Mother Larocque died, and a new Superior, Sister Amable, was elected. In January of 1863, Archbishop Valdivieso named Sister Bernard to the position of interim Superior when Sister Amable was called to the Mother House in Montreal. Sister Bernard was later elected Superior and, as Mother Bernard, directed the community.

Mother Bernard was elected Superior General in 1880 when the Congregation of the Sisters of Providence in Chile became a separate institution independent of the Sisters of Providence in Montreal through an apostolic decree from His Holiness Pope Leo XIII.

By 1880 there were 56 professed Sisters of Providence serving at eight houses of Providence. Six of those houses were in the diocese of Santiago, one in the city of Concepcion, and one in the diocese of La Serena. During that year more than 1700 girls were educated in the Providence schools, 1700 orphan boys were tended in Providence orphanages, and 2600 people participated in the spiritual exercises at the retreat houses run by the sisters. In addition, the sisters cared for numerous infirm elderly women, handicapped people, and others in need.

As Superior General, Mother Bernard continued founding houses of Providence up and down the length of Chile. Other Sisters of Providence works she guided included feeding the hungry, caring for victims of natural disasters, nursing the sick and the dying during epidemics, and tending the wounded during times of war. These works of compassion were undertaken in the spirit and tradition of Mother Gamelin. In the last year Mother Bernard was Superior General, there were 20 houses of Providence in Chile and 153 professed Sisters of Providence.

Always special to Mother Bernard during her years of leadership was the first work of the Sisters of Providence in Chile, caring for orphans. She worked continuously and lovingly for their betterment. In 1885, when a new facility for them opened, she wrote, “As soon as the children slept in their new, well-ventilated and spacious dormitories, we saw a notable improvement in the health of all and an intellectual awakening with a liveliness that rejoiced our hearts.”

Witnesses would later recall how orphans would run up to her when she was making one of her many visitations, and how she embraced them and made time for them.

Throughout these years Mother Bernard was also mindful of the well-being of the Community and its members, offering guidance on life as a Sister of Providence. She expressed this concern in many of her writings. On the subject of prudence she advised the sisters “to do all in the spirit of the Rule and in conformity with it without confusion or spiritual anguish, always giving first place to graciousness and Christian charity.”

This concern was also expressed in the counsel she gave to Superiors of the houses to exercise their authority with maternal kindness. In this theme she once wrote, “A good word said on time sometimes cures very deep pain. Remember that you also have been sad at times. Very often a manifestation of love and interest takes away pain and mortifying temptations.”

Mother Bernard was also concerned with the unity of all Sisters of Providence. However, unification was not to occur until July 1970, through a decree of union granted by the Holy See.

Mother Bernard gave voice to her vision of unity in a letter to the Superior General of Montreal, Mother Mary Godfrey, on a winter day in 1887. “Upon writing this letter I recall that you, my good Mother, Sister John of the Cross, and I were born in the same Parish. Also we are more or less the same age, and today we form a triangle encompassing all of America: You in Montreal (East); Sister John of the Cross, Provincial in Vancouver, Washington Territory (West); and I, a resident in Santiago, Chile (South). May heaven grant that the sides of this triangle be restored, that our hearts, our souls, our works be united by the same practice of the same rule…”

Mother Bernard recorded much in her writings, which included the three-volume History of the Congregation of the Sisters of Providence in Chile and Practical Advice for the Superiors of Providence as well as other books. Her array of correspondence included letters to the successive Superiors of the Sisters of Providence in Montreal and to Saint John Bosco, founder of the Salesians. In addition, she carried out her duties of administration, leadership, and guidance as the Sisters of Providence sought to meet the needs of the people of Chile.

Her contributions to the people of Chile were formally recognized by the government on June 27, 1925, when she was 93 years old and still an active Superior General making annual visits throughout Sisters of Providence works in Chile.

On that date she was presented with the Diploma and Medal of First Class Decoration of Merit, an honor bestowed by the Chilean government on foreigners who distinguish themselves by great service to the country.

Shortly after this occasion, Mother Bernard celebrated her diamond jubilee and, during the Chapter of 1927, was released from the duties of Superior General. More than seventy years of caring and dedicated service in Chile came to a close.

Mother Bernard Morin died on the afternoon of Friday, October 4, 1929, at the age of 96 years and 10 months. She was buried amid great public acclamation.

The remains of Mother Bernard now rest in the chapel of the Mother House in Chile, beneath an inscription which reads, “Here rests in Christ the Reverend Mother Bernard Moran Rouleau. Foundress of the Sisters of Providence in Chile, maternal help of orphans and the helpless. Canadian in origin, she arrived in Chile June 17, 1853. She flourished in our land and was like the fruit tree of the parable. She fell asleep in Our Lord on October 4, 1929.”

Of her own life, Mother Bernard wrote in 1925, “The good God has not saved me from heavy sufferings, but His grace has sustained my faith and my confidence in His Divine Protection united to a constant love of my vocation and so I can affirm that my life has been a happy one.”

RE14-20119 | Reformatted 8/2014