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The classroom1930
Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Manitoba
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Hello! My name is Jean-Pierre and I'm twelve. Today is the first day of school and our teacher has asked us to work on a very interesting project. We are asked to write in a diary for a whole year. We have to write down every detail about school life, cultural and religious activities as well as family life in our community. Our teacher has asked us to treasure this diary because it might be interesting to read it to our future grandchildren and explain to them how life was in the 1930s. So to start, I'd like write that I attend the Notre Dame de Lourdes school and I'm in sixth grade. I have seven brothers and sisters and my mother is expecting her ninth child.3
The École Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes school1930
Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Manitoba
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I live on a farm a mile and a half from town. Morning and night, I have to walk all of this way to go to school. I have friends who live right by our place. We walk to school together and we have a lot of fun on the way. I'm very happy since the start of school because I can see all of my friends from last year.5
The country school1898
Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Manitoba
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I have cousins who don't attend the town school because they live simply too far away. Instead, they attend a country school. In that tiny one-room school, the teachers are laypersons, not nuns like in Lourdes.7
The teacher1930
Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Manitoba
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My teacher is a Chanoinesse. Actually, all of the teachers in the town school are Sisters. They live in the convent right by the school. I like them a lot because they are always doing things with us.9
The Chanoinesses1930
Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Manitoba
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The Sisters in our town are called the Chanoinesses Régulières des Cinq Plaies du Sauveur. They came from Lyon in France to settle in Notre Dame de Lourdes in 1895 because our parish founder, Father Dom Benoît, could not shoulder by himself the responsibility of educating the colony's children. Immediately after their arrival, the Chanoinesses opened a school and started educating the parish children.11
The convent1920
Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Manitoba
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The Chanoinesses have been living in this convent since 1906. Before that, they lived in a tiny house until, with the help of the parishioners, they moved into this beautiful building. Aside from the school hours, they teach drama, painting and music. They also do bookbinding, weaving and needlework. They assist the sick and the elderly in the community. They also direct various religious organizations such as the Jécistes, the Jacistes, the Enfants de Marie and the Dames de Sainte-Anne.13
The Jécistes1930
Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Manitoba
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The Jeunesse étudiante catholique (Catholic student youth) is a movement founded just recently. This active Catholic movement targets young people grades 8 to 12. They have meetings and talk about the Gospel of Christ. |
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