Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 13.djvu/427

 SAINT-SULPICE

379

SAINT-SULPICE

the age crept into that of Paris, in consequence of the weakening of morals at the Court, contact with the world, and the great number of sons of the nobility who had become seminarians. At this period kSaint- Sulpice was charged with the spiritual direction of schools of philosophy and even of pelits seminaires both at Paris and Angers, always with the object of preparing the pupils for the priesthood. When the Revolution broke out the seminary of Paris alone had trained more than five thousand priests, and more than half the bishops who faced that dreadful tem- pest (about fifty) had been in Sulpician seminaries. Claude Bourachot (1770-77) and Pierre Le Gallic (1777-82), who governed with the mournful presenti- ment of the Revolution, were succeeded by Andre Em- ery, the man providentially chosen to guide the society during those dark days. He beheld the seminaries closed, his brethren scattered, hunted, and compelled to seek safety in exile, but he had the great consolation, at a time of frequent defections, of seeing them all faithful to their promises. Not one of them took the oath to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, and eighteen of them died for their faith. The hfe of this illustrious priest belongs to the whole Church, whose rights he defended with unshakable firmness against Napoleon I (see Emery). After the Concordat he reopened the seminary of Paris. He should be regarded as the restorer of the Society of M. Olier.

During the nineteenth centurj' the Society of Saint- Sulpice has quietly continued its work of clerical training while sharing all the vicissitudes of the Church in France. The following superiors general have governed it: M. Duclaux (1811-26); Gamier (1826-45), a noted Hebrew scholar; de Courson (1845-50); Carriere (1850-64), an eminent theolo- gian; Caval (1864-75); J. H. Icard (1879-93); and Captier (189;i-1900), the founder and first superior of the procure of Saint-Sulpice at Rome. Living within the walls of its seminaries, which, constantly increas- ing, numb(red twenty-six in 1900, the Society of Saint-Sulpicc has, so to speak, no history. Its mem- bers, absorbed in their professional duties, share the hfe of the seminarians, being solicitous to train them not only in the ecclesiastical sciences, but also in priestly virtups, and this more by their own daily ex- amples than by the lessons which they teach. A good Sulpician constitutes himself everywhere and always the companion and the model of the future priests, in their pious exercises, recreations, meals, and walks, briefly in all the details of their life.

That such a hfe is eminently fruitful is proved by the numerous prelates, dist inguishcd priests, founders of religious orders, missionaries and religious from Sulpician seminaries, but it will be readily under- stood that it furnishes few facts of histor>'. For the Church of France Saint-Sulpice has been a great school of ecclesiastical dignity, love of study, regu- larity, and virtue. Pius X paid the society this tribute: "Congregatio Sulpicianorum fuit salus Gal- ha;" (Audience of 10 Jan., 1905, to the pastors of Paris). The recent persecutions brought about in France by the separation of Church and State did not fail to attack it. A circular of Minister Combes (1904) declared Saint-Sulpice unfitted to teach in seminaries. At the same time the old seminary of Paris was taken away from it. Nevertheless the society was not dissolved. It subsists in its essen- tial organs, and its members, in most instances in the seminaries of their native dioceses, continue work of devotion to the clergy and the Church.

At different dates the society extended branches to American soil, to Canada in 1657, to the United States in 1791. (See Sulpicians in the United States.)

M. Olier had desired to go to Canada to work for the conversion of the savages; this he was unable to do, but in union with several pious persons, among

them Jerome Le Royer de la Dauversiere, he founded the Society of Notre-Dame de Montreal. The under- taking was inspired by the desire to found a city in honour of the Blessed Virgin (Villemarie in the Island of Montreal) which should serve as headquarters for the Indian missions and as a stronghold again.st the Iroquois. The manner in which Alaisonneuve ac- complished this foundation is well known. In 1657 the dying Olier sent four of his disciples to the mission of Villemarie, where the colonists were asking for them. They were led by M. De Queylus and thence- forth the Sulpicians shared the vicissitudes of the Montreal colony. Two of them, Vignal and Lemaitre, were slain by the Iroquois (1660). In 1663 the asso- ciates of Notre-Dame, reduced to eight by death and wearj' of a colony which yielded only expenses, ceded their rights and duties to the Society of Saint-Sulpice, which was thenceforth owner and lord of the Island of Montreal. It paid 130,000 livres in debts and pledged itself never to alienate the property of the island. M. de Bretonvilliers gave no less than 400,000 livres of his personal fortune for the maintenance of the colony and M. Faillon has calculated that from 1657 to 1710 the seminary of Paris transmitted to that of Montreal not less than 900,000 livres or one million dollars. Personal devotion was added to these expenses. Eleven Sulpicians were labouring at Montreal in 1668, teaching boys, exercising the sacred ministry, or doing missionary work among the savages. MM. Trouve and de Fenelon founded the mission of Kent6 on Lake Ontario. DoUier de Casson and Brehan de Gallince explored the region of the Great Lakes (1669), of which they made a map. In 1676 was opened the mission of the Mountain on the site of the present seminary, where M. Belmont built a fort (1685). The brandy traflic necessitated the removal of this fixed mission and in 1720 it was transferred to Lac-des-Deux-Montagnes, where it is at present. At the end of the seventeenth century the Sulpicians had created and organized in the vicinity of Montreal six parishes which they zealously administered, besides sup- plying them with churches, presbyteries, and schools. During the eighteenth century the history of the society in Canada continued closely linked with that of Montreal, in all of whose works it assisted by its re- sources and devotion. The number of priests in- creased to meet the needs of the time, and at the con- quest (1760) they numbered thirty. They were headed by worthy men: Vachon de Belmont (1700- 31), who succeeded Dollier de Casson; Louis Normant du Faradon (1731-59), who assisted Ven. Mere d'You- ville in the foundation of the Grey Nuns; Etienne Montgolfier, who had the difficult task of governing his community during the period of conquest. To the Sulpicians who remained after the Treaty of Paris (1763) the seminary of Saint-Sulpice ceded its possessions in Canada on condition that they would carry on the work of M. Oher. Being unable to re- cruit their numbers the Sulpicians of Montreal would have become extinct had not the Enghsh Govern- ment humanely opened Canada to the priests perse- cuted by the French Revolution. Twelve Sulpicians reached Montreal in 1794. After lengthy disputes the possessions of the society coveted by the English agents were recognized by the British Crown (1840) and the Sulpicians were free to continue undisturbed their work for the Church and society. Beside.^ the College de Montreal, founded in 1767, and which per- formed important services after the conquest, they founded a higher seminary (1840) for the education of the clergy. In this house several thousand priests have been trained for the priesthood. They have since founded (1894) for the benefit of the clergy a seminary of philosophy at Montreal, opened the Ca- nadian College at Rome for higher ecclesiastical study, and quite recently (1911) have organized the School of St. John the EvangeUst for the recruiting of clergy