Sister CATHERINE PARÉ - Saint Louis des Anges

Sister Catherine Paré was baptized in Lachine on August 25, 1698; her father was M. Jean Paré, Sergeant of the garrison, Commander of the fort of Lachine; her mother, dame Marguerite Picard, daughter of Hugues Picard and Antoinette Liercourt, was the sister of Jacques Picard whose widow, Marie-Anne Lefebvre, made profession in our Community under the name of Saint Michel. In 1734, Catherine Paré, a candidate in our Institute, was sent with Sisters Saint Placide and Saint Gertrude to the mission of Louisbourg. Bishop Dosquet having authorized the Sisters of Ile Royale to form novices in this country, because of the difficulty of travel, in 1736, after two and a half years of testing, Mademoiselle Paré, in religion Saint Louis des Anges, made profession. She shared the misery of our sisters during the first siege of Louisbourg, was transported to France with the others, and had the sorrow of seeing Sister Saint Placide (Montbrun) die at the hospital in La Rochelle. In 1750, Sister Saint Gertrude having been paralysed in Louisbourg, to which the sisters had returned in 1749, the Community sent, to replace the sick Sister Saint Thecla, and in place of Sister Saint Louis des Anges, Sister Saint Vincent de Paul. Since there was another professed Sister Saint Louis in our community, when Sister Paré returned to Ville-Marie she was named only soeur des Anges. She worked at the Indian mission, Lake of Two Mountains until her death. She died on February 7, 1778; she was 80 years old.