Sister Louise Morin
“I trust in you, Lord, and I say, “You are my God.” (Ps. 31:14)
On the 21st of May 2019, Sister Louise Morin,
in religion M.-Omer-de-la-Croix,
went home to God.
She was 92 years of age, of which 70 years as a professed religious.
Born in St-Louis-de-France, Three Rivers, Québec,
she was the 11th of the 21 children
born to Omer Morin and Rose-Alma Lemire.
Sister Louise reminds us that in her family, prayer and work were part of their daily life:
“Every morning and evening, our family gathered together, on our knees, in the big kitchen, and prayed the rosary and other prayers. We took turns every 15 days to go to Sunday Mass by horse and carriage. We did the Stations of the Cross before or after mass. We celebrated the month of Mary at the cross on the road. Our family organized the celebration of the Queen of May and we invited everyone in our area. If it rained we gathered on our huge porch.”
To get the work done, everyone had a part to play. Father was the butcher and he had his own stand at the market in Three Rivers. “At the house, we prepared sausages, blood pudding, jellied drippings, meat paté; in the summer, we picked wild berries with mother and we made preserves: vegetables, jellies and jams…” As an adolescent, Louise accompanied her father to the market and helped cut and serve the meat. At 15-16 years of age, she worked as a housekeeper in private houses, doing 10-hour days for a dollar a week. Each year, “My father and mother, and my sisters went to make a three-day closed retreat. It was there that I felt a call to religious life and I knew the parishioners who became Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. At the age of 19, I requested to enter the novitiate: I received the name of Sister Omer-de-la-Croix.” “My sister Suzanne followed me the year after.”
Throughout 45 years, the kitchen was the principal occupation of Sister Omer, first at Valleyfield, then at Marie-Rose school in Beloeil. After that, the missions rapidly followed one another. Sister Louise was easily adaptable: she liked to organize her work and she loved to learn. In 1992, she lived at the Motherhouse for the third time and stayed for 13 years. Whether it was laundry, mending and sewing on the 4th floor West, everything she did was done well, After a short mission in Cartierville, Sister Louise went to Marie-Rose-Durocher residence devoting herself to the cafeteria, sewing and handicrafts. It would be her last mission.
“With her health problems, while appreciating the services and attention she received, Sister Louise gave witness to her bravery. Active, hard worker, efficient, Sister Louise rendered service all her life, in every house where she lived. She was interested in community life, readily participated in meetings and in common prayer. She reserved a part of her working day for the Lord and for the Virgin Mary; she nourished her spiritual life with readings and religious programs.” Her nephews and nieces give testimony to her interest in their daily lives and of her ability to put aside pieces of her work for them.
When Marie-Rose Durocher Residence closed, Sister Louise moved to the infirmary in Longueuil, where, despite the challenges of moving, she envisioned many projects…But God had a surprise for her: only six days after her move, He called her home to his eternal banquet! It is God who then prepared the feast for his good and faithful servant. “Louise, come now and rest: you have won the prize.”