| HOME || ARCHIVES || BULLETIN BOARD || CEMETERY || CONTACT || CORPORATION || DAWSON ROAD || DONATIONS || || FINANCIAL SUPPORT || HISTORY || J-B THIBAULT ~ THIBAULTVILLE || MAP& LINKS|| MUSEUM || PROJECTS & REPAIRS || |
|---|
Enfant-Jésus Parish
History
|
1901 Celebration of first mass in the |
||
|
Chapel in 1905 |
1902 Fr. 1903 A lot is given
by Mr. Pierre and Mrs. Hélène (Fabvreau) Michaud for the construction of
a chapel. This is the land where at present stands the Enfant-Jésus Church
the St. Joseph House and the two garages. Parts of the lot have been sold for
the construction of the present 1904 Blessing of the first
chapel by Fr. A. Defoy who has been named first priest of the new parish of
the Enfant-Jésus by Mgr Adélard Langevin. 1905 Donation of the bell for
the new chapel by Mr. Isaïe Richer of Ste-Anne. When applying for a postal
station, the name Richer is assigned to avoid confusion with other villages
and towns with the name of Thibaultville. This is also done to honour Mr.
Richer who was a philanthrope and benefactor in the region. The village also
takes on the name of Richer to coincide with the postal station name. 1909 Canonical blessing of the parish of the Enfant-Jésus by Mgr A. Langevin, on July 3. |
Fr. Giroux, Fr. Defoy, Mrs. and Mr. Michaud , 1905 |
|
1910 Fr. 1913 Second church, the Church
of the Enfant-Jésus; construction started in 2010 and completed in the fall. Blessing of the new
church by Mgr Béliveau takes place on December 14 at which time
confirmation is conferred onto 25 children from the region. |
Enfant-Jésus
Church 1939 |
|
|
1936 Arrival of
the St-Joseph of St-Hyacinthe Sisters, on August 24. Their mission is to
teach catechism, provide public education, organize theatre presentations,
direct the choir for church services, to provide services of sacristans, to
visit the sick and elderly, and to assist the less fortunate of the region. |
||
|
Enfant-Jésus
Church 1940 |
1940 Construction of the church is completed by the efforts and leadership of Fr. François-Xavier Normandin; the bell tower and the interior: support column capitals, marble altar, new tabernacle, communion table, raising of the nave, and varnishing of the pews. It is also during this year that a new school was built in the village. The larger school required more land so the parish sold approx. 1 acre from the south-east corner of the lot for the construction. |
Enfant-Jésus
Church 1970 |
|
1954 Construction of the grotto
in dedication to Our Lady of Lourdes. The structure is built with field
stones from the region. 1970 1979 Under the administration of
Fr. Gérard-Magella Lévesque, a leaning cross monument is erected in honour to
the Knights of Columbus and their relentless efforts for the parish. |
Grotto in dedication to |
|
|
Centennial mass 2004 |
1993 After the departure of Fr. Edmond Baril in 1993, there were no more resident priests in the parish. It is also on June 30 of this year that the St-Joseph of St-Hyacinthe Sisters leave their mission in the village after 57 years of presence. 1995 The last mass is celebrated
in the parish of the Enfant-Jésus by Fr. Edouard Bonin. 2004 Parish centennial on the
5th of September; mass officiated by Mgr Émilius Goulet with Fr. René Chartier as concelebrant. |
Patron Saint of the Parish |
 Enfant-Jésus Church with newly repaired bell tower, bell freshly painted, and the Sacred-Heart statue repaired and repainted; fall 2008 |
2008 In the process of obtaining estimates for having the roof redone,
it was brought to our attention that the bell tower infrastructure had
deteriorated with passing time. With the help of various agencies and
organizations as well as donations from the public, we were able to
have the infrastructure redone. We also took advantage of the occasion
to remove the bell and the Sacred-heart statue in order to repair and
repaint them. Once the infrastructure work was finished, we repainted
the exterior and interior of the bell tower.
On October 22, 2008 with the passing of the By-law 5-2008, the Rural Municipality of Sainte-Anne designated the Enfant-Jésus site and buildings a Municipal Heritage Site. |
 Enfant-Jésus Church, December 2008
|
 New roof on heritage site garage and replaced passage door, May 2009  Enfant-Jésus Church sacristy cleaned up, repaired windows and new curtains, June 2009 |
2009 Various
maintenance and repair projects were carried out on the
Enfant-Jésus Heritage Site: signage, repairs to the cemetery
fence and entrance archway, new roof and new passage door for the garage, reorganization of the
garage space, repaired the sacristy windows and storm windows, repairs
were done to the grotto to re-set the stones in front and on the sides
of the structure, finished cleaning the basement and sprayed the entire
area with anti-mold chemical, cleaning and organizing of the sacristy,
purchase of a display case and cleaned artefacts to have them on
display, offered guided tours throughout the summer with the help of a
summer student employee, and the work continues with hopes of replacing
part of the church roof this fall. |
 repairs to the cemetery north fence grooming of the trees and grounds, June 2009  Mgr Émilius Goulet and Fr. René Chartier, concelebrating mass on July 5th, 2009 |
|
Since the closing of the parish in 1995, The Enfant- Jésus Heritage Site Corporation has seen to the maint- enance of the Church of the Enfant-Jésus prolonging its beauty and splendour. BACK TO THE TOP |
||
