St. Mary's University, Halifax

 
CANADA, 2002, the 2nd centenary of St. Mary's, Scott 1944 and its FDI cancel

Founded in 1802, St. Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia had been run by the Christian Brothers of Saint John the Baptist de la Salle from 1868, by the Irish Christian Brothers from 1918, and by the Jesuits of the Upper Canada Province from 1940 until a new Act of Incorporation in 1970 gave authority to a Board of Governors and Academic Senate. The Jesuits still provide for the Campus Ministry Program there and the present Chancellor is the Jesuit Archbishop of Halifax, the Most Rev. Terrence Prendergast, SJ. More

Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, Midland

CANADA, 1989, $100 gold coin for the 3rd centenary of the founding of the mission, showing the chapel

In 1639 the Jesuits in New France were joined by laymen who came from France to build on the banks of the Isaraqui (Wye) River the mission that was named Sainte-Marie among the Hurons. This was to be a place apart from the villages, which would serve among other things as a place of retreat and meditation for the missionaries. It quickly became virtually self-sufficient, a miraculous achievement for a community 1,200 kilometers from Quebec. St. John de Brébeuf and other Jesuit missionaries from Sainte-Marie— the North American martyrs—were killed by the Iroquois. In the spring of 1649 though, under growing pressure and attacks, the remaning Jesuits, their helpers and Huron followers withdrew from Sainte-Marie and went to what is now Christian Island where they established a new Sainte-Marie. More

 

Villa Manrèse , Quebec

CANADA, 1946, a cinderella for the 25th anniversary of Villa Manrèse

The first Villa Manrèse was founded in 1891 in the environs of Quebec City, making it the oldest retreat house in Canada. A chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Way was opened next to the Villa Manrèse, which in 1929 passed to the secular clergy. At first retreats were for individuals only. In 1912 the modern closed group retreats began at Villa. The Jesuits at the Villa split their work between pastoral activities and closed retreat work and it eventually became desirable to open a house specifically for closed retreats and to let the old Villa connected with the church be given over to pastoral activities. The Jesuits moved from the original site and opened a second Villa Manrèse across the street in 1921 keeping the name. The history of the two retreat houses is told in Blanche Gagnon's book, Autour de Manrèse

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