Mgr de Laval and Devotion to the Holy Family
Note: This article was first published on the web-site Canada Fidèle the 8th of January 2017.
This brief summary of Mgr François de Montmorency-Laval’s devotion to the Holy Family was written by Father Jacques Lemieux, former superior of the “Séminaire de Québec”. Although the last paragraph manifests the anthropocentric spirit of Vatican II, the text as a whole is quite interesting.
Devotion to the Holy Family began early in New France. Recalling the history of this devotion as practiced throughout the world, Pope Leo XIII mentions it clearly in his Apostolic Brief dated 14 June 1892, establishing the “Holy Family Association”.
“This devotion was much revered as early back at the 17th Century, and, after having been widely propagated in France and in Belgium, it spread through almost all of Europe. Making its way across the vast Atlantic Ocean, it took root in America, in the region of Canada, where it flourished – due mainly to the pastoral solicitude and activity of the Venerable François de Montmorency-Laval, first Bishop of Québec, and of the Venerable Servant of God Marguerite Bourgeoys.”
-His Holiness Pope Leo XIII
To these two names mentioned by Pope Leo XIII, we should add two more: that of Father Joseph Chaumonot, S.J., and of Lady Barbe Boulogne, widow of the former Governor Louis d’Ailleboust.
It was during his formative years that François de Laval, for his part, saw his devotion to the Holy Family grow. Before his appointment as Apostolic Vicar in New France, he had been a pupil of the Jesuits and he had stayed at the Hermitage of Caen where Jean de Bernières de Louvigny, a layman, master of spirituality, instilled devotion to the Holy Family in his disciples . He was therefore already imbued with this devotion when he left France to come and fulfil his mission in our country. Two gestures made by him very soon after arriving speak eloquently. By founding the “Séminaire de Québec” in 1663, Mgr de Laval placed it under the patronage of the Holy Family. Likewise, the oldest parish on Île d'Orléans, one of the very first founded by the Bishop of Pétrée (Mgr de Laval’s diocese in partibus - today Petra, in Jordan), was erected under the name of the Holy Family.
Here, in the colony, it was the Jesuits who were the first to lay the foundations for this devotion. By simply referring to the mentions made on this particular subject in “les Relations”, one can understand that it was Father Joseph Chaumonot who was the most ardent apostle of this form of piety. This Jesuit priest appeared interested in devotion to the Holy Family as early as 1637.
The Establishment of a First Confraternity
The first Confraternity of the Holy Family in New France was founded in Québec under the auspices of the Bishop of Pétrée. The project, however, had been first conceived in Montreal shortly before.
In 1662, Mgr de Laval had sent Father Chaumonot, missionary among the Hurons near Québec, to bring aid and food to the residents of Montreal who found themselves reduced to great poverty. The good religious made the acquaintance of Madame d'Ailleboust, widow of a former governor who died in 1660, who made it her responsibility to herself distribute the food entrusted to her.
Concerned about the spiritual advancement of all the inhabitants of the colony, Father Chaumonot and Madame d'Ailleboust were looking for a way to promote genuine spiritual growth. It was then that the model of the Holy Family came to mind. They had the idea to establish a society which would put Jesus, Mary and Joseph before the eyes of the men, women and children of this country, to inviting them to imitate the simple and harmonious life of the Holy Family of Nazareth.
Father Chaumonot and Madame d'Ailleboust consulted Monsieur Souart, parish priest of Ville-Marie, and Soeur Marguerite Bourgeoys, superior of the Congrégation Notre-Dame, and it was decided that they ought to submit the project to Mgr de Laval for approval. A prudent man, Mgr de Laval wanted first, before giving his approval, to make sure that such a company could prove for itself. He brought the two instigators of the project to Quebec to lay the foundations for the confraternity to be established. After allowing a few people to meet for a while in the house of Madame de La Peltrie with the goal of founding an association of the Holy Family, Mgr de Laval, by an official mandate dated 14 March 1664, established the Confraternity and himself specified its meaning and objectives.
Institution of the Feast of the Holy Family
The canonical erection of this Confraternity was the occasion, the following year, of the establishment of a Feast of the Holy Family. At that time, it was common to see bishops presenting to their faithful liturgical feasts that were not yet offered to the universal Church. It was first of all by oral permission that Bishop de Laval had his clergy celebrate the feast of the Holy Family – first in Quebec itself, then throughout his diocese. It was not until 1684, however, that an episcopal mandate made the celebration of the feast of the Holy Family official:
“We hereby order, proclaimed the Bishop, that every year shall be celebrated throughout our Diocese a feast in honour of this same Holy Family, which will be a feast of the first class with an octave, as has been the practice for several years already.”
Mgr de Laval took great pains to give to the celebration of this feast all suitable solemnity. He asked two priests of the Seminary and two Jesuits to compose the text of a Mass and an Office proper to the Holy Family. Their work was then submitted to a priest from Paris who composed the hymns. It was Father Charles-Amador Martin, the second priest ordained in Quebec, who composed the liturgical music for the Mass and the Office. It should be noted that the texts of the Mass and of the Office remained proper to the diocese of Quebec until Rome proposed new texts for the feast of the Holy Family, to be extended to the Universal Church.
Mgr de Laval’s Pastoral Concern
Mgr de Laval – who dreamed of seeing the virtues found in the early Church flourishing in the Church he had come here to establish – found no better means by which to achieve this goal than to support, with all his authority, Father Chaumonot and Madame d'Ailleboust’s initiative. No doubt, Mgr de Laval then held up the example of the Holy Family in making the love of God grow in homes, along with mutual understanding between spouses and concern for a harmonious education of children. But Mgr de Laval invited his flock to discover, by contemplation of the virtues of the Holy Family, a model of true social life. The Bishop of Quebec intended to provide models and guides to the whole of New France society. With most remarkable pastoral concern, he sought to ensure the blossoming of social virtues capable of bringing great blessings upon this new country, and offering it promises of vitality and stability.
By establishing, at the beginning of his apostolate in our country, the Confraternity of the Holy Family, and by instituting for his own diocese a feast that the Universal Church would recognise much later, Mgr de Laval revealed his deep understanding of man, and as well as his right vision of social life. By proposing the imitation of the virtues of Jesus, Mary and Joseph to all his people, he allowed the vigour of his faith and the generosity of his soul to be made manifest. He wanted to lead all the inhabitants of this country to find in the Gospel a source of inspiration for each moment of our lives.
Father Jacques Lemieux
