O Blessed Joseph

March is here! Today I learned that Pope Leo XIII dedicated this month to St. Joseph, whose feast day is March 19th, in his 1889 encyclical Quamquam Pluries.  

St. Joseph was special to Canada from the earliest days of the Recollect missionaries: they chose him as the patron of New France. From the chapel at Fort Ste. Marie to today's parishes and schools, many places in the Archdiocese of Toronto have been named after St. Joseph.

St. Joseph Chapel - Ste Marie Among the Hurons

S. Somerville, 1982

PH 31S/207SK

ARCAT Photograph Collection

St. Joseph's Parish in Leslieville was erected in 1878 and the first church was dedicated in 1886.

St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, Leslie Street

1880s

B 6-8c

Baldwin Collection, Toronto Public Library

The Sisters of St. Joseph have a long history of serving the people of the Archdiocese of Toronto. They had a convent on Wellesley Street from 1863.

St. Joseph's Convent, Wellesley Street

1870

Y9

Baldwin Collection, Toronto Public Library

The first St. Joseph's in Highland Creek, Scarborough, was completed as a mission church in 1856:

St. Joseph's Church, Highland Creek

1896

PH 075/01P

ARCAT Photograph Collection

St. Joseph's Church in Streetsville, Mississauga was consecrated in 1858:

St. Joseph's Church, Mississauga

1958

PH 152/51P

ARCAT Photograph Collection

Beaverton also has a St. Joseph's since the 1850s:

St. Joseph's Church, Beaverton

1982

PH 129/01CP

ARCAT Photograph Collection

The Sisters of St. Joseph founded St. Joseph's Hospital in 1921 on the site of their west-end orphanage:

St. Joseph's Hospital

1990?

PH 92S/01CP

ARCAT Photograph Collection

One among many schools named for St. Joseph, the high school in Barrie was first opened in a former Sisters of St. Joseph convent in 1946. Go Jags! 

St. Joseph's High School, Barrie

1963

PH 28S/20P

ARCAT Photograph Collection

Clearly St. Joseph has had an influence on the Archdiocese of Toronto! This month, we can say Pope Leo XIII's Prayer to St. Joseph:

To thee, O blessed Joseph, we have recourse in our affliction, and having implored the help of thy thrice holy Spouse, we now, with hearts filled with confidence, earnestly beg thee also to take us under thy protection. By that charity wherewith thou wert united to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God, and by that fatherly love with which thou didst cherish the Child Jesus, we beseech thee and we humbly pray that thou wilt look down with gracious eye upon that inheritance which Jesus Christ purchased by His blood, and wilt succor us in our need by thy power and strength.

Defend, O most watchful guardian of the Holy Family, the chosen off-spring of Jesus Christ. Keep from us, O most loving Father, all blight of error and corruption. Aid us from on high, most valiant defender, in this conflict with the powers of darkness. And even as of old thou didst rescue the Child Jesus from the peril of His life, so now defend God's Holy Church from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity. Shield us ever under thy patronage, that, following thine example and strengthened by thy help, we may live a holy life, die a happy death, and attain to everlasting bliss in Heaven. Amen.

Party Like It's 1947

"Drum majorettes in a monster two-hour long parade which was a feature event of the Marian Congress Saturday, with 20 religious floats."

June, 1947

PH 09M/56P
ARCAT Photograph Collection

It's time to celebrate! Strike up the band! This week was Cardinal Collins' birthday. He was born January 16, 1947. Here in the archives we started wondering what it would have been like for for Cardinal McGuigan in 1947. He had been made Cardinal the year before and was a celebrated leader in the city. The second world war had just ended, and people were thinking about what to do with returning soldiers, as well as reconstructing Europe, and the threats of communism and fascism. The population was rapidly growing as European immigrants moved to Canada and country folk became city dwellers. Lots of changes were coming!

In Toronto there were about a million people. The Maple Leafs won the Stanley cup that year, the St. Mike's Majors won the Memorial Cup, and the Argos won the Grey Cup. The movie Gentleman's Agreement picked up three Oscars including best picture, and music by Frank Sinatra, The Andrews Sisters, and Al Jolson was popular. Radio was well established in the home, though it would soon give way to television.

The King was George VI, the Prime Minister was William Lyon Mackenzie King, and the Premier was George Drew:

"Deeply grateful for your kindness. As I was leaving immediately I had no opportunity to thank you before departure. Have just returned from Germany where conditions are beyond imagination. Will look forward to discussing this with you on my return. - George Drew."

May 27 1947

MG DA33.19
Cardinal McGuigan Fonds

The Pope was Pius XII:

A portrait of Pope Pius XII

1940s

PH 62/33P
ARCAT Photograph Collection

The Pope's inscription reads, "To Our Beloved Son, James Charles Cardinal McGuigan, Archbishop of Toronto, to his Clergy, Religious and Faithful We lovingly impart Our Paternal Apostolic Benediction.

Pius pp.XII

From Castelgandolfo, November 8th, 1947"

PH62/33P
ARCAT Photograph Collection

In 1947 Cardinal McGuigan lived at 264 Old Yonge Street, where he was visited by a few Sisters of Saint Joseph on September 6:

One of the highlights of his year must have been his June trip to the Marian Congress in Ottawa, where he was Papal Legate:

Cardinal McGuigan with other Papal representatives at the Marian Congress.

June 1947

PH 09M/42P
ARCAT Photograph Collection

The Congress drew a few hundred thousand pilgrims to Ottawa, and there were many spectators for the parade held in its honour:

"People cling like flies to every vantage point to watch the monster two-hour long parade which was a feature event of the Marian Congress Saturday, with 20 religious floats."

June 1947

PH 09M/54P
ARCAT Photograph Collection

Besides being a frozen moment in time on a sunny Saturday in June 1947, photos like this allow us to see some of the fashions that year. Many of the women's outfits were still the boxy utility style of wartime, but were giving way to more feminine shapes:

The hats were the best! 

Looking very cool in those shades.

For more of 1947's high points, including footage of Cardinal McGuigan at the Marian Congress, the CNE, the Stanley Cup game, and the Santa Claus Parade, check out this amazing video posted by Library and Archives Canada:





And for more footage of Cardinal McGuigan and the Marian Congress, check out this video:

Angels in the Archives

This week's blog highlights a group of strong, caring, and dedicated women:  nurses. We at the Archives have struggled, unfortunately, to find stories about women in our collection, since the large majority of our records are about cardinals, archbishops, and priests. Of course, these men had their own sisters, mothers, aunts, cousins, and friends, some of whom became nurses, and we would be remiss if we did not mention the religious sisters who have also been instrumental in the field. We are happy to feature a number of records about the different organizations and people involved in this time-honoured and noble profession.

Jean A. Mitchell, Director of Special Registration District 5 of the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario, wrote to then-Archbishop McGuigan asking his permission to send a letter to clergy in the district requesting that all graduate nurses register with the Provincial Civilian Defense Committee in case their services are needed in an emergency:

Letter from Jean A. Mitchell to Abp. McGuigan, March 31, 1942
and the form letter from Jean A. Mitchell requesting all graduate nurses to register, March 26, 1942

SW GC01.74a-b
Second World War fonds

McGuigan was pleased to help Miss Mitchell and provided her with a directory that included contact information for clergy in all districts. One reason McGuigan may have been so accommodating is due to personal experience. In his introduction of Cardinal McGuigan at the 1946 Congress of the Catholic Canadian Nurses Association, Rev. Louis-Emile Hudon, Moral Director of Nurses at Quebec, mentioned one Alice McGuigan, sister to the Cardinal, who was a lieutenant/nursing sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps:

"Three months ago, just on March 27th, two women, ... the first one was Reverend Mother St. George, dean of Studies at St. Louis College, Montreal and the other one was Lieutenant Alice McGuigan of the Canadian Army Medical Corps, were at St. Michael's Cathedral in the joy to see, for the first time, their brother so loved, the Cardinal James Charles McGuigan. ...
Yes, dear Sisters, dear Nurses, one sister of Our Cardinal in Toronto is a member of the large family of all Catholic Nurses of Canada and we are very glad to receive this evening your Eminence in our Congress, because in your life and in your own family the problems of the Nurses were well known."

June 30, 1946

OC30 HF01
Other Collections - Catholic Nurses' Association of Canada - General Correspondence (1946-1963)

The Sisters of St. Joseph founded St. Michael's Hospital in 1892. Until 1974, when nursing programs began to be offered at community colleges, students were trained at the hospital's Training School for Nurses. Students attended classes and lectures regularly:

Lectures and class schedule, 1910-11
St. Michael's Hospital Training School for Nurses

Religious Orders Series, Sisters of St. Joseph

The first graduating class, which was in 1894 after two years of study, consisted of seven students. The number of graduates increased yearly. In 1929, 53 students were honoured at the graduation ceremony:

Invitation to the School of Nursing graduation exercises,
June 5, 1929

Religious Orders Series, Sisters of St. Joseph

The St. Elizabeth Visiting Nurses' Association (now called Saint Elizabeth) was founded in 1908. Nurses would, as the name indicates, visit patients at their homes in Toronto. A record was kept of the number of new patients, the number of visits made, the number of non-Catholic patients and visits, the number of calls during the day or night, the types of cases (obstetrical, medical, surgical, operations, chronic), and the number of babies born:

Record of the work of the St. Elizabeth Visiting Nurses for the year 1920

MN AE26.10
Archbishop McNeil fonds

Margaret C. Macdonald was a Canadian nurse who, during her thirty-year career, served in the Spanish-American War, the Second Boer War, and World War I. When war was declared in 1914, Macdonald was appointed Matron-in-Chief of the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) and became the first woman promoted to the rank of Major in the British Empire. On June 12, 1920, Macdonald was the guest of honour at a Catholic Women's League luncheon in Toronto. She expressed her delight and fear to Archbishop McNeil about the invitation:

Ottawa 19th May 1920

My dear Archbishop, your very kind note has filled me with pleasure and a wholesome degree of fear as well. I am much flattered at the suggestion of being the guest of honour at so large a gathering, especially one purely Catholic in character. Saturday, June 12th would best suit me. I shall do my very best to meet your wishes in the matter of an outline of our work overseas etc. If the Secretary of the C.W.L. will send me a formal invitation, I shall have no difficulty in obtaining the necessary permission to attend. The military authorities are strict on that point.

I am sure you will be interested to learn that St. F.X. has recognized the work of the army nursing service by conferring upon me the honorary degree of L.L.D. I went down for the commencement exercises -- had the pleasure of again meeting Rev. Mother St. Martin who is, with nuns and pupils, one of the most popular of superiors.

Looking forward to seeing you in June and with many thanks. I realize I am indebted to you for the privilege of this luncheon.

Believe me your Grace, 

very faithfully,

Margaret C. Macdonald

P.T.O.

My correct designation is as follows

Miss M.C. Macdonald R.R.C. L.L.D.

      Matron-in-Chief C.A.M.C.

It is not considered proper to use the title of Major as my rank is only relative. M.C.M.

MN AH09.55

Archbishop McNeil fonds

The Archives is fortunate to have a copy of Macdonald's speech, "Echoes of the Great War," from the luncheon, including hand-written corrections. This is the first page, where she began to describe her experience with nurses during World War I:

To one whose work had long been almost entirely for and with men, the prospect of going to a war in charge of a party of one hundred odd women promised to be more alarming than novel -- so alarming, in fact, that my first step was one of protest. I declared by incompetency to assume responsibility for, what then seemed, so enormous a number of nurses. Instead of assurance or sympathy I was reminded of a soldier's first duty -- obedience. Denied a crumb of comfort, I took up my new duties with the same degree of liking one has for a cold plunge. However, long before the hundred odd had developed into a Corps of twenty-five hundred odd, confidence had succeeded fear, and novelty was swallowed up by a positive greed.

The more I knew of nurses the more of them I wanted to know. To gather all into the ranks of the elect of war became my hobby. An organization that expands gradually is easy of control. One grows along with it and finds that one thousand are quite as readily administered as on hundred; two thousand as two hundred and so on. In the Army, and for the reason that everything -- almost one's mind -- is governed by rule, difficulties of administration are perhaps not so frequently encountered. Still, with all the regulations in the world, there are bound to arise circumstances to which no rule applies. A law must be created to suit the occasion. Then comes in that indispensable quality possessed by nine-tenths of our Canadian women -- initiative.

FW GC01.108
First World War fonds

It is perhaps unnecessary to state that nurses' work is very serious, sometimes meaning the difference between life and death. From time to time, however, they have had to deal with certain policies that some may find odd. But rules are rules! Dr. O'Reilly at the Toronto General Hospital made this very clear to Archbishop Lynch:

Dr. O'Reilly regrets that some visitors have again violated the rules regarding singing &c in the Wards & begs to state that orders have been given to all nurses to strictly enforce all regulations relating to visitors & readers. Dr. O'Reilly thanks His Grace for the friendly letter & wishes Him all the compliments of the season, & feels sure that the present year will be free from all annoyances, which some mis-guided people have caused in the past in the Wards of the Hospital.

T. G. H. Jany 2/86

L AE04.28
Archbishop Lynch fonds

Thank you to all nurses for your courage and compassion. Your work is appreciated, and your stories will not be forgotten.

Year of Consecrated Life: Sisters of St. Joseph

This month in our Year of Consecrated Life series we are featuring the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto, who arrived in the city on October 7th, 1851. 

In the history of the Catholic Church, a lot of the hardest social work has been taken up by Religious Sisters. Orders of women religious have been responsible for running hospitals and schools as well as reaching out to vulnerable and marginalized populations. 

One of the earliest orders to come to Toronto was the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph (CSJ). The congregation was originally founded in Le Puy-en-Velay, France in 1648. Like so many other orders, the Sisters were disbanded during the French Revolution, and many of the members were jailed or executed. One of the Sisters, Jeanne Fontbonne, was able to refound the order in 1807 in Lyons. In 1836, a group of Sisters was sent to St. Louis, Missouri, and in 1851, four Sisters from that group led by Sister Delphine Fontbonne headed to Toronto at the request of Bishop de Charbonnel. 

Depiction of the arrival of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Toronto from Frontier Women: Sisters of St. Joseph,
written by Sister Veronica O'Reilly, CSJ, with artwork by Pierre Huffner, 1986.
Religious Orders Series, Sisters of St. Joseph

The work of the Sisters of St. Joseph quickly expanded. They became health care workers, educators, and cared for the city's poor. In Toronto, they founded House of Providence, Sunnyside / Sacred Heart Orphanage, St. Michael's Hospital, Our Lady of Mercy Hospital, St. Joseph's Hospital, and St. Joseph's College. Sisters from Toronto went to Hamilton, London, Barrie, and other Ontario places as well as expanding into Western Canada. 

St. Joseph's Convent, Wellesley and Bay, 20 September, 1877
Photographs Collection, PH 28S-11P
Originally published in James Esson's Glimpses of Toronto.

A Sister nurses patients at St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ca. 1954
Photographs Collection, PH 28S-18P
Original held by St. Michael's Hospital Archives

House of Providence, 1914. Originally located on Power Street, near St. Paul's Basilica.
Photographs Collection, PH 31P-227AL(17)

Sacred Heart Orphanage, 1914. Located on the site of present day St. Joseph's Hospital in Sunnyside.
Photographs Collection, PH 31P-227AL(22)

The Sisters of St. Joseph continue to be dedicated to working in the community in many different ways. For more photos and more information about the history and present work of the Sisters of St. Joseph, check out their website.

Happy (Bishop Francis) Valentine (Allen)'s Day

It should be easy to write a blog post about a feast day named for a saint. However, St. Valentine is one of those early Christian martyrs whose hagiography is so vague that the Catholic Church removed his name from the General Roman Calendar in 1969 (although he is still recognized on February 14th in the Roman Martyrology).

Disclosure: We have absolutely no archival records remotely alluding to St. Valentine’s Day.

Instead, we are taking this opportunity to highlight our own Most. Rev. Francis Valentine Allen, Auxiliary Bishop of Toronto from 1954-1977.  His middle name, from the Latin valens (meaning "strong, vigorous, healthy") honours his father, Valentine James Allen.

Interesting facts about Bishop Francis Valentine Allen: 

• Bishop Francis Valentine Allen (Frank to his friends) was a true Torontonian. He was born in Toronto on June 25th, 1909.  He attended Toronto schools, was ordained at St. Michael's Cathedral and served in Toronto his whole life.
  
• Francis was brought up in a devout household; of the seven children in his family, the four girls became religious sisters, and two of the three boys became priests. 

Photographs Collection PH 11/07P and PH 11/13P

Left: Studio family portrait shows two-year-old Francis V. Allen held by his mother Martha, with older brother Edward and maternal aunt Annie Malcolm, ca. 1911.  Edward was the only sibling who did not enter religious life.

Right: All seven Allen siblings, including Edward (in the suit), Murray (centre) and Francis (right).  Three of the four sisters were members of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph. 

• Father Allen served as pastor at a few parishes, but he quickly gained more responsibility. He was named Secretary of St. Augustine’s Seminary in 1935, Vice-Chancellor in Temporalibus in 1936 and Chancellor in Spiritualibus in 1942.
  
• Father Allen accompanied Cardinal McGuigan to Rome for the Cardinal's reception of the Red Hat and while there was named a Domestic Prelate (Monsignor) by Pope Pius XII in 1946.

Photographs Collection PH 09C/11P

In 1946, Archbishop McGuigan was elevated to the Sacred College of Cardinals and Rev. Allen accompanied him to the consistory. Pictured on the tarmac, departing for Rome are: Msgr. John V. Harris, Rev. Francis V. Allen, Most Rev. James McGuigan and Catholic journalist Henry Somerville.

• In 1954, Monsignor Allen was appointed titular Bishop of Avensa (in North Africa) and Auxiliary Bishop to Cardinal McGuigan. As well as assisting Cardinal McGuigan, Bishop Allen continued as Pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish. He was Toronto’s third Auxiliary Bishop.

Photographs Collection PH11/04P

This official portrait of Francis V. Allen shows him wearing a pectoral cross, which is a sign of a bishop’s office. Bishop Allen wrote, “The Pectoral Cross, worn on the breast, is a sign of episcopal dignity. It signifies the love which should burn in the breast of the Bishop for the Cross and his Crucified Lord. Usually this cross contains relics of the True Cross or of the Martyrs.”  (AL SR15.04)

Interesting fact about this pectoral cross: the images are actually inlaid micro-mosaics, which are made of many tiny, tiny pieces of opaque glass.

Bishop Allen fonds, Stationery sets

Bishop Allen's motto: Ad Jesum Per Mariam (To Jesus Through Mary) - particularly appropriate as he was named bishop during a Marian Year.

Bishop Allen's coat of arms:

• Green Galero (hat) with six tassels representing the office of Bishop. 
• Top half of shield: arm holding a cross representing St. Francis of Assisi, the bishop's patron saint
• Bottom left of shield: pierced heart representing Our Lady of Sorrows. He was a long time pastor at Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Etobicoke.
• Bottom right of shield: a cross from the Allen coat of arms.

• Bishop Allen was also involved in various other activities. He was a Council Father at the Second Vatican Council. He was Chairman of the Archdiocesan High School Board, the Archdiocesan Moderator of Religious Congregations, Moderator of the Holy Name Society of Canada and was on the board of the Catholic Church Extension Society.
  
• Francis Valentine Allen died on October 7, 1977, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary and the anniversary of his episcopal consecration. More than 1200 people attended his funeral. He was interred in the family plot in Mount Hope Cemetery, Toronto. Allen was 68 years old, a priest for 44 years and a bishop for 23 years.
  
• His eponymous Toronto high school, Bishop Allen Academy, celebrated its 25th anniversary last year. Bishop Allen wrote extensively on Catholic education in high schools: 

“Education of the whole man necessarily includes a fourfold development: physical, mental, moral and spiritual. Not only must the body and mind be educated, but the soul also must grow and develop along the lines determined by its Creator, if the child’s development is to be entire and his education complete.”

Read a full biography here.

"All of Toronto Sorrows:" 80th Anniversary of the Death of Archbishop Neil McNeil

May 25th marks 80 years since the death of Most Reverend Neil McNeil, a beloved Archbishop of Toronto.

Archbishop McNeil served the Archdiocese of Toronto for 22 years starting in 1912. That means he was Toronto's ordinary for the sinking of the Titanic, the Great War, the rise of Communism, the Jazz Age, the rise of radios and talkies, the renaming of the Toronto St. Patricks to the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the stock market crash that started the Great Depression. 

Closer to home, Archbishop McNeil was very involved in social justice issues and was an advocate for Catholic education. He oversaw the completion of St. Augustine's seminary and the creation of thirty new parishes for the burgeoning Catholic population.

Below are a few of the artifacts from the days after Archbishop McNeil's death:

A spiritual bouquet offered by the Sisters of St. Joseph, Toronto.
"For the repose of the soul of our beloved Archbishop."
"Spiritual Offering: Solemn High Mass: 1. Masses said: 14. Masses heard: 1224. Holy Communions: 1224. Visits to the Bl.S: 1224. Deprofundis: 1224. Stations: 1224."

Commemorative Order of Service to enable funeral attendees to follow along with the mass. According to reports, the Cathedral started to fill up at 6:00 am on the morning of the 30th. As many as 15,000 people surrounded the Cathedral to hear the mass over a loudspeaker.  

A memorial card printed for the Archbishop.

The following obituary from an unknown newspaper elegantly describes Archbishop McNeil's life:

"All of Toronto Sorrows

"Toronto is one of the most ardently Protestant cities in Canada, but the whole community profoundly regrets the death of Most Reverend Neil McNeil, the Roman Catholic archbishop. His Grace was a native of Canada and his blood was a blending of Irish and Scotch strains. His life work and his character were such as to endear him to Canadians of every creed and every racial origin.

"Neil McNeil had a humble beginning. His father was a village blacksmith in Cape Breton, a man of sterling character and giant physique who made himself a person of local consequence by sheer worth. Neil was one of eleven children and at the anvil under his father's supervision learned lessons of industry and honesty. At an early age he was destined for the church; at 28 years he already was a doctor of divinity. As a priest he ministered to lonely souls in the sparsely-settled districts of Newfoundland, trudging rocky trails with a pack on his back in storm and wintry weather. He served for a number of years as editor of a church paper and as president of a college, became bishop of St. George's, Newfoundland, in 1895, when 44 years old, and in 1910 was chosen as archbishop of Vancouver. He was doing truly splendid work on the Pacific coast and setting up many new churches, schools and convents when he was surprised to receive word from Rome of his appointment to the larger task at Toronto. He was so attracted by the opportunities he found in the west that he freely stated on his arrival here that if the choice had been his he would have remained in Vancouver.

"But he was needed in Toronto. The situation here in 1912 called for a diplomat to be in Wellesley Place, a man of broad vision and conciliatory manner who could formulate broad policies and command the respect of citizens of the Protestant faith. No other prelate possessed the required qualities in happier combination than they were to be found in the person of Archbishop McNeil. And so he came east to Ontario to earn for himself an extraordinarily large place in the affections of the people.

"The late archbishop was scholarly and versatile. He could speak Gaelic and Latin. He had a gifted pen and wrote many articles for newspapers and magazines. He was something of an authority on astronomy. If need be he could shoe a horse, repair an engine, build a road, draw plans for a building, do carpentering and act as architect and contractor. He had sound business judgment and was an efficient administrator. All of his talents were consecrated to the service of humanity and mother church.

"His Grace did not abate one jot of the proud claims of his church. But he had no love for controversy and preferred to gain support for his views by the gentleness of his spirit rather than by the logic or even the justness of his position. His heart was set on obtaining a fair proportion of the corporation tax for the primary schools of his church and many who do not belong to his faith will regret that he did not live to see the realization of that fond desire. Pomp and ceremony and vestments were all about him on occasions, but his spirit was ever distinguished by meekness and humility. His amiable, modest, almost shrinking manner was that of one who would be the servant of all. He was a natural democrat and was revered by the whole priesthood. A lovable man, one of God's good men, who never was too busy or too burdened with cares to enlist in some new enterprise for the promotion of human welfare, his passing is a great loss to the city as well as to the world-wide communion that commanded his soul's loyalty."