Skip to main contentAccessibility feedback

Diocese of Saint Hyacinthe

Located Province of Quebec, suffragan of Montreal

Click to enlarge

Saint Hyacinthe, Diocese of (SANCTI HYACINTHI), in the Province of Quebec, suffragan of Montreal. In answer to a petition from the Fathers of the First Council of Quebec to the Holy See, portions of the Dioceses of Montreal and Quebec were formed into a separate bishopric by a papal Bull dated June 8, 1852. At first the new diocese was limited to the south side of the Richelieu River, and contained the greater portion of the Eastern Townships, a tract of land granted in the latter part of the eighteenth century to the American Loyalists, but now a part of the Sherbrooke Diocese. Later three parishes on the north side of the Richelieu River were annexed. Today the diocese embraces the counties of Bagot, Iberville, Missisquoi, Richelieu, Rouville, Saint Hyacinthe, and a part of the counties of Brome (2 parishes), Shefford (9 parishes), and Vercheres (3 parishes).

St. Hyacinthe, the titular city, is a typical French Canadian industrial town; it stands on the banks of the Yamaska, thirty-five miles from Montreal, and has a population of 10,000. Right Rev. J. C. Prince, Coadjutor Bishop of Montreal, was the first Bishop of St. Hyacinthe. Bishop Prince took possession on November 3, 1852, and from the outset encountered great difficulties. The old seminary building was turned into a cathedral and residence; unfortunately, it was burned in May, 1854. The bishop built a new residence as well as a chapel-cathedral. Bishop Prince showed untiring activity, founding twenty new parishes, establishing several missions, and in 1853 introducing from France the Sisters of the Presentation. He died on May 5, 1860, at the age of fifty-six.

By papal Decree dated June 22 of the same year, Right Rev. Joseph La Rocque, titular Bishop of Cydonia, and Coadjutor of Montreal, the second bishop, was appointed. From November, 1856, to July, 1857, he had administered the diocese during the prolonged illness of Bishop Prince, but now, overwhelmed by the responsibility forced on him, and suffering from a series of maladies, he petitioned the Holy See to be relieved of this burden. His request was granted on August 17, 1865. As titular Bishop of Germanicopolis and vicar-general, he remained in his diocese, at the monastery of the Sisters of the Precious Blood (a community which honored him as its founder), until his death on November 18, 1887, at the age of seventy-nine.

The vacancy was filled on March 20, 1866, by the Right Rev. Charles La Rocque, cousin of the former bishop, who for twenty-two years was pastor of St. John’s. The new bishop was a highly-cultured man with rare financial ability; realizing that the debts of his cathedral called for unusual measures, he closed the episcopal palace and retired with his staff to Beloeil, where he combined the duties of bishop and pastor of this parish till his death on July 25, 1875. Bishop La Rocque assisted at the Vatican Council. He was instrumental in founding the Sherbrooke Diocese. He opened the first house of the Dominicans in Canada by giving them a parish in his titular city, and had the satisfaction of effectively reducing the cathedral debt and placing the diocese on a satisfactory money basis.

The fourth bishop, Msgr. Louis-Zephirin Moreau, was consecrated on January 16, 1876. He had come from Montreal in 1852 as secretary to Bishop Prince. Bishop Moreau reopened the episcopal residence, and on July 4, 1880, dedicated the stone cathedral which he had built with the money amassed by the economy of his predecessor. His cathedral chapter was installed in August, 1876, by the Most Rev. Dr. Conroy, Bishop of Ardagh and first Papal Delegate to Canada. On Bishop Moreau’s invitation the Marist Brothers came from France and established their novitiate in the diocese; he also founded a community to take charge of rural schools for boys and girls, under the name “Les Soeurs de St. Joseph“. After seventeen years of administration he was given as coadjutor the Right Rev. Maxime Decelles (d. July, 1905); the latter was consecrated titular bishop of Druzipara on March 9, 1893, and entered on his administration of the Diocese of St. Hyacinthe immediately on the death of Bishop Moreau (May 24, 1901). During his administration he opened the patronage of St. Vincent de Paul, and agitated the question of a new and larger cathedral. The execution of this idea, however, was left to his successor, Rt. Rev. Alexis-Xistus Bernard, who was consecrated by Archbishop Bruchesi on February 15, 1906. Bishop Bernard is now in his sixty-third year. From 1876, either as secretary, archdeacon, or vicar-general, he was constantly a member of the administration. In a series of ten volumes he has compiled and published with additional biographical notes the letters of the preceding bishops of St. Ilyacinthe to the clergy and faithful of the diocese. Notwithstanding delicate health, since his elevation to the episcopate he has proved himself an indefatigable worker and an ardent apostle of temperance. He placed the patronage of St. Vincent de Paul on a stable basis, and, at the cost of $200,000, completely and beautifully restored and enlarged the old cathedral.

In the episcopal city of St. Hyacinthe are the following: the College-Seminary (dating from 1811) with 400 students, all following a classical curriculum; the motherhouse of the Sisters of Charity (the Grey Nuns) with 400 members who have charge of the Hotel-Dieu; the motherhouse of the Sisters of the Presentation, with 600 members; the motherhouse of the cloistered Sisters of the Precious Blood; the central monastery of the Dominican Fathers; the motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Joseph; the convent of the Sisters of St. Martha, a community in charge of the domestic arrangements of the seminary; the novitiate of the Marist Brothers; the Institute of St. Vincent de Paul; a commercial college and an academy, both conducted by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart.

The Diocese of St. Hyacinthe has 74 parishes, and a population of about 120,000, of whom 108,000 are Catholics. The clergy number 183 secular and 18 regular priests. The religious communities number 337 men and 861 women. In the diocese are: 2 superior teaching institutions, the Seminary of St. Hyacinthe and the Petit Seminaire de Sainte-Marie de Monnoir, both under the direction of secular priests; 6 commercial colleges; 56 academies; 435 primary schools. Six hospitals and asylums provide for charitable wants.

C. P. CHOQUETTE


Did you like this content? Please help keep us ad-free
Enjoying this content?  Please support our mission!Donatewww.catholic.com/support-us