Ovide Charlebois

Last updated
Venerable

Ovide Charlebois

OMI
Apostolic Vicar of Keewatin
Monseigneur Ovide Charlebois, O.M.I. 1862-1933, recto.tif
Church Roman Catholic Church
SeeKeewatin
Appointed8 August 1910
Installed7 March 1911
Term ended20 November 1933
SuccessorMartin Joseph-Honoré Lajeunesse
Other post(s) Titular Bishop of Berenice (1910-33)
Orders
Ordination17 July 1887
by  Vital-Justin Grandin
Consecration30 November 1910
by  Louis Langevin
Personal details
Born
Ovide Charlebois

(1861-02-12)12 February 1861
Oka, Québec, Canada
Died20 November 1933(1933-11-20) (aged 71)
Le Pas, Manitoba, Canada
BuriedNotre-Dame du Sacré-Coeur cathedral
Alma mater University of Ottawa
MottoAd Jesum per Mariam
Ordination history of
Ovide Charlebois
History
Priestly ordination
Ordained by Vital-Justin Grandin
Date17 July 1887
Place Ottawa, Canada
Episcopal consecration
Principal consecrator Louis Philip Adélard Langevin
Co-consecratorsJoseph Alfred Archambault
Alexis-Xyste Bernard
Date30 November 1910
Place L'Assomption, Québec, Canada
Episcopal succession
Bishops consecrated by Ovide Charlebois as principal consecrator
Martin Joseph-Honoré Lajeunesse29 June 1933

Ovide Charlebois, OMI (17 February 1862 - 20 November 1933) was a Canadian Missionary Oblate of Mary Immaculate who served as the Apostolic Vicar of Keewatin from his appointment in 1910 until his death. [1] [2] Charlebois worked in the missions first in the nation's northwest and was noted for his extensive travels across Saskatchewan to visit isolated minorities in order to teach them catechism and to minister to those who were open to converting to the faith. His appointment as a bishop allowed him greater freedom as he was able to build new chapels and schools across his apostolic vicariate which he divided into three for greater management. [1] [2] [3] Charlebois was considered a pioneer for his dedication and contribution to education and infrastructure in his apostolic vicariate where he established chapels and schools. He taught catechism on a regular basis in the various schools that he visited and also established a newspaper in order to better connect the more isolated communities. [3] [4]

Contents

The beatification process for the late prelate launched in the 1950s and he became titled as a Servant of God. It remained inactive until it was re-launched in the late 1970s thus allowing for it to continue. [1] [3] Pope Francis titled him as venerable on 28 November 2019.

Life

Ovide Charlebois was born in Oka on 17 February 1862 as the seventh of fourteen children to the poor Hyacinthe Charlebois and Émérente Chartier-Robert; he was baptized after his birth as "William-Ovide". He moved soon after his birth to Saint-Benoît in Mirabel and then in 1864 settled in Sainte-Marguerite-du-Lac-Masson just outside of Terrebonne. [3]

From 1876 until 1882 he attended the Collège de l'Assomption before he entered the Marian Oblate novitiate in Lachine in Montreal. He made his initial profession in 1883 and then began his theological and philosophical studies at both the College of Ottawa and the Saint-Joseph Scholasticae. Charlebois made his solemn profession into the order in 1884 before receiving the tonsure in 1886. [3] He received his ordination to the priesthood on 17 July 1887 from Bishop Vital-Justin Grandin in Ottawa. [5]

His assignment to the missions first started on 2 September 1887 upon being sent for the first time to Le Pas where he would work at Cumberland House. Charlebois expressed his willingness to go there to minister but indicated his fear of being alone and in complete isolation. In 1890 he established a school where he would teach catechism to children. He returned to Le Pas a short while later in order to minister to those indigenous and Métis populations who expressed an interest in the faith at a time when the population in that particular area was less than one hundred people; he also ministered to these populations that were dispersed thus requiring him to travel on a regular basis in order to reach these isolated communities. [2] [3] [4] In the 1900-01 winter period he estimated that he travelled 3000 miles via dogsled and snowshoe and camped outside in the now at least 35 times. His mission in Saskatchewan ended in 1903 at which point he became the director for the Industrial School at Lac Aux Canards; he remained in this position until 1920 which also happened to span during his time as a bishop. [1] He also - in 1903 - became the principal for Saint Michael's Indian Residential School at Duck Lake where he taught catechism and also among the Cree population. He also made it an objective to reduce the school's debt which he managed to achieve. In Duck Lake he founded a French-language newspaper to serve the isolated communities in order to better connect them to each other and began planning for this in December 1908. The paper Le Patriote de l'Ouest was launched in August 1910 but resumed publication in June 1911 after a fire ruined the printing equipment in November 1910. [3] [5]

His activities in providing additional infrastructure for the people saw him build the Le Pas mission house in 1897 in addition to a little log cabin that was to serve as a chapel. This work took him around two weeks to complete with wood he was able to get from further north. He slept in his attic - which was quite small - from its construction until 1911 as he did his work in the missions. [2] In 1907 discussions were held about establishing an apostolic vicariate and Archbishop Louis Langevin put his name forward to be made its first bishop. Charlebois was named the first Apostolic Vicar for Keewatin on 8 August 1910 in addition to being named as the Titular Bishop of Berenice. Charlebois received his episcopal consecration on 30 November 1910 in L'Assomption from Archbishop Langevin (he was installed in his new see on 7 March 1911); the principal co-consecrators were Bishops Joseph Alfred Archambault and Alexis-Xyste Bernard. He began his first pastoral visit in his episcopate in May 1911 (this would last five months in total) and would travel on foot in addition to rail and wagon though on occasion needed to travel via a canoe in order to reach areas that were often difficult to enter or traverse. He often had to go through forested areas and would sleep on the ground in a small canvas tent during his travels. [1] [2] [4] In 1911 a residence was constructed that was to become the episcopal residence but he loaned it instead to some nuns so that their order could run the first hospital in that area. He lived in its basement until the formal episcopal residence was constructed in 1927. In 1915 he split the vicariate into three districts each under the direction of a superior in order for better management of the vicariate overall. [5]

In 1923 he travelled 1000 miles via canoe and walked 80 miles during his travels in addition to having slept 23 nights in the open. In 1925 he organized the first ecclesial missions located at Hudson Bay. He also authorized a mission at Eskimo Point in Arviat in 1925. His boat twice almost capsized in Lake Winnipeg in 1927 while he was returning from a month-long visit to the missions in Norway House and Cross Lake. Towards the end of his life he became obsessed with condemning communism. [3] [5]

In 1933 he was attending a general meeting of the national bishops in Québec when he became ill. He was taken to hospital as soon as he returned to Le Pas and died there on 20 November. He requested that he be given a pauper's burial and his own coffin cost $40. [3] His remains were transferred to the Notre-Dame du Sacré-Coeur cathedral in 1955. The elders would recount that upon his burial a flock of doves were observed taking flight. His nephew Martin Joseph-Honoré Lajeunesse (who was his coadjutor) succeeded him as apostolic vicar for the see.

Beatification process

Local preliminaries for Charlebois's beatification began on 26 November 1952. [6] The cause remained inactive until 13 April 1978 after the Congregation for the Causes of Saints issued the official "nihil obstat" (no objections) decree. The second process to investigate the prelate's life and saintliness opened on 16 September 1979 and closed sometime later at which stage the C.C.S. validated the two previous processes in Rome on 6 June 1986 as having complied with their rules for conducting these processes. The official Positio dossier was submitted to the C.C.S. on 28 April 2001. Pope Francis titled Charlebois as venerable on 28 November 2019. The postulator for this cause is the Oblate priest Diego Saez.

Writings

Charlebois published one set of writings: [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate</span> Catholic missionary order

The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest later recognized as a Catholic saint. The congregation was given recognition by Pope Leo XII on February 17, 1826. As of January 2020, the congregation was composed of 3,631 priests and lay brothers usually living in community. Their traditional salutation is Laudetur Iesus Christus, to which the response is Et Maria Immaculata. Members use the post-nominal letters, "OMI".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Étienne Rouchouze</span>

Étienne Jérôme Rouchouze SS.CC. was a French Catholic missionary in the Eastern Pacific.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catholic Church in Myanmar</span>

The Catholic Church in Myanmar is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. In 2020, there were approximately 700,000 Catholics in Burma - approximately 1.29% of the total population.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Keewatin–Le Pas is a Roman Catholic archdiocese that includes parts of the Provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Ontario and has the suffragan diocese of Churchill-Baie d'Hudson. The current archbishop is Murray Chatlain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Boniface</span> Catholic ecclesiastical territory

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint-Boniface is a Latin archdiocese in part of the civil Province of Manitoba in Canada. Despite having no suffragan dioceses, the archdiocese is nominally metropolitan and is an ecclesiastical province by itself. It is currently led by Archbishop Albert LeGatt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Churchill–Hudson Bay</span> Catholic ecclesiastical territory

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Churchill–Hudson Bay is a Latin Catholic suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Keewatin–Le Pas.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Labrador City–Schefferville was a Latin suffragan diocese that included part of the Canadian federal provinces of Newfoundland and Québec.

The portion of South Africa which would form the Vicariate of Kimberley in Orange had earlier become in the division of the Apostolic Vicariate of Good Hope part of the Eastern District, and later on part of the Apostolic Vicariate of Natal. The Vicarate was promoted to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley in 1951.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew Makil</span>

Mathew Makil was the second Vicar Apostolic and the first indigenous Vicar Apostolic of the Vicariate of Kottayam (Changanacherry), which is the Syro Malabar Archeparchy of Changanacherry today. Mathew Makil was also the first Vicar Apostolic of the Vicariate of Kottayam, which is the Knanaya Catholic Archeparchy of Kottayam today. In 1896, he became the Vicar Apostolic of the Vicariate of Changanacherry, and in 1911, when a new Vicariate Apostolic of Kottayam was constituted exclusively for the Knanaya Catholics, Mathew Makil was transferred to Kottayam as its first Vicar Apostolic. He died at Kottayam on 26 January 1914 and he was declared as Servant of God on 26 January 2009.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Prince-Albert, in Saskatchewan, is a Latin suffragan in the western Canadian ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Regina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Corner Brook and Labrador</span> Catholic ecclesiastical territory

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Corner Brook and Labrador is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of St. John's, Newfoundland. The Cathedral of the diocese is located in Corner Brook.

The Apostolic Vicariate of Tanganyika was a Catholic apostolic vicariate of the White Fathers missionary order at first centered on the mission of Karema in what is now Tanzania, that included parts of what are now Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia and Malawi. As the number of missions, schools and converts grew, different regions became distinct vicariates covering portions of the original territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Apostolic Vicariate of Puerto Princesa</span> Catholic missionary jurisdiction in Philippines

The Apostolic Vicariate of Puerto Princesa is a Latin Church missionary jurisdiction or apostolic vicariate of the Catholic Church located in the Province of Palawan, Philippines. Its cathedra is within Immaculate Conception Cathedral in the episcopal see of Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Philippines. It is not a part of an ecclesiastical province as it is directly exempt to the Holy See, specifically the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, yet for the purpose of apostolic cooperation usually grouped with the Archdiocese of Manila, along with the Roman Catholic Apostolic Vicariate of Taytay. The current Vicar Apostolic is Bishop Socrates Calamba Mesiona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Joseph Hirth</span>

John Joseph Hirth was a Catholic Bishop in German East Africa, known as the founder of the church in Rwanda.

Joseph Francis Marie Sweens, was a Dutch Roman Catholic missionary bishop who served as the Vicar Apostolic of South Nyanza in German East Africa, later in the British-administered Tanganyika Territory, now Tanzania.

Laurent-François Déprimoz, M. Afr. was a Catholic priest who was Vicar Apostolic of the Apostolic Vicariate of Ruanda and then of the Apostolic Vicariate of Kabgayi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henri Streicher</span> French Catholic archbishop

Henri Streicher was a Roman Catholic missionary bishop who served as Vicar Apostolic of Uganda from 1897 to 1933.

Mathurin Guillemé was a Catholic White Fathers missionary who was Vicar Apostolic of Nyassa in today's Malawi from 1911 until his resignation in 1934.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anatole-Joseph Toulotte</span>

Anatole-Joseph Toulotte was a French White Fathers missionary who was Vicar Apostolic of Sahara and Sudan from 1893 to 1897. Under his leadership the first White Fathers missions were established in the French Sudan (Mali) at Ségou and Timbuktu. A solitary, ascetic person, he was not a natural leader and drove himself too hard without regard for his health. He retired in 1897 due to physical and mental exhaustion after a long trip in West Africa. He is known as coauthor of a monumental history of Christian Africa in ancient times.

Pierre Auguste Antoine Marie Guichet, MSC, MBE was the Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Tarawa from 1961 to 1978, when Paul Mea succeeded him.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Quebec History". faculty.marianopolis.edu. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "History of Keewatin-Le Pas Archdiocese" . Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Biography – CHARLEBOIS, OVIDE (baptized William-Ovide) – Volume XVI (1931–1940) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 Audet, F.J. (1917). Canadian Historical Dates and Events, 1492–1915. G. Beauregard. p.  172 . Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 4 The Catholic Historical Review. Catholic University of America Press. 1951.
  6. ↑ Index ac status causarum beatificationis servorum dei et canonizationis beatorum (in Latin). Typis polyglottis vaticanis. January 1953. p. 181.
  7. ↑ Charlebois, Ovide (1974). Débuts d'un évêque missionnaire: Mgr. Ovide Charlebois, O.M.I., évêque de Bérénice, vicaire apostolique du Keewatin; prise de possession installation, première visite pastorale des missions sauvages (in French). Éditeur non identifié. ISBN   9780659096104.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.