The foundress of the Institute of the Religious Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary in Marseilles, France, Mother Marie Catherine de Saint Augustin de Jésus (Catherine Ruel) died on July 26, 1874 in her native country. Her institute did not survive the new laws decreed by the French government between 1901 and 1905.
The history of the SNJM congregation founded in Quebec is linked to this French institute. It inherited the name, the rules of life and the dress. The French institute gave them these elements after having refused the request of Bishop Ignace Bourget to establish itself in Quebec. In an Archives in the Spotlight, we trace the journey of the only nun from the French Institute who came to Quebec to pursue her religious life, Sister Marie de Sainte-Marthe (Claire Roubaud).