Mother
Bernard
(Vénérance Morin-Rouleau)

Who are you ?
 

In St. Henri de Lauzon, Quebec, Venerance was born in 1832 into the family of Jacques Morin and Marie-Françoise Rouleau Morin. A basic value of the family was to provide their 14 children with a Christian formation.

Jacques Morin
Françoise Rouleau

 

 

 

 



Her mother observed that young Venerance had a vivid intelligence and an energetic temper, so despite her young age, she taught her to respect and love the poor.

In May 1850, accompanied by her father, she left home and entered the new Congregation of Providence, with a desire to dedicate her life to the most destitute. As a novice, with the name Sister Bernard, she confided to her Director what she believed the Lord had told her: "You will not enjoy the sight and company of these sisters very long. You will go to a remote land where you will need to serve me. You will not profess in this house, and this religious habit that you love so much will be changed."

Convent
at Sorel

  
Prophetic signs - "You will not enjoy…" As a novice, she was sent to Sorel, where she made her religious profession in August, 1852. "You will go to a remote land…" She was the youngest of the first five missionaries who moved away from the cradle of the young Congregation.

The sisters arrived in Oregon on December 1, 1852. However, for Providence, it was not the right time; problems arose, and it was decided to return to Canada. But how? They took overland passage to California, then boarded the ship "Elena", which departed from California on March 27, 1853, and landed in Valparaíso, Chile, June 17, 1853, a foreign land where the sisters begged for hospitality, without knowing either the language or the customs.

The church and government leaders exclaimed: "These are the Sisters of Charity that the Lord is sending us!"
La Serena, Chile / Limache, Chile. These were difficult times : orphans needed care. The offer was accepted and the work of Providence began. Some sisters returned to Canada and others arrived in the new mission. Mother Bernard never again saw her dear motherland, but her heart remained faithful to the testament of Mother Gamelin: "Humility… simplicity.. charity… above all charity."
Mother Bernard was prolific in the work of establishing orphanages, hospitals and schools the length of Chile. People called her "a model of strength, sublime in charity." In 1880, she was appointed superior general, thus establishing an independent Congregation in Chile, with the name "Sisters of Providence of Chile." So great was her love and devotion to the Chilean people, that the President of the Republic of Chile awarded her, at 93, the Medal of Merit, the country's highest honor.

At the death of Mother Bernard in 1929 at age 96, the daily paper, El Mercurio, published: "Filled with merit, she bent towards the earth, like a branch folding under the weight of much fruit…a life dedicated to providing consolation, lending a helping hand …with a motherly attitude, always ready to welcome the poor…originally Canadian, she made Chile her second motherland, to which she dedicated the wealthy treasure of her talents, labor and virtues."

Throughout the years the Sisters in Chile retained the charism and spirituality of the Sisters of Providence of Montreal, living it so vividly that on July 1, 1970, the two congregations once again became one.

Chapel at the Provincial House, Santiago, Chile.

 
 

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