Rev. Adrien de Montaubricq
First Pastor of the Canadians at Fall River

By Father Pierre E. Lachance, OP

Talk presented to the Francophone Association of Fall River, May 12, 1984. Author's translation from the French.

I was asked to offer some "Conclusions to the Day of Franco-American Heritage" that we celebrated with great success March 31st last. I shall propose two.

First: the knowledge of history, especially our own history, is important if we want to know who we are. The fact is we are all the product of a past. We have been fashioned by our environment: our family, ethnic and religious environments, without forgetting the larger social milieu of our country. We have inherited traditions that came to us from our parents, for example, and through them from a long line of ancestors. We possess a particular language and culture, customs proper to our family and to our ethnic group. Even our Catholic faith is marked by our ancestral traditions. Whether we are conscious of it or not, we all are carriers of a tradition. We have roots in the past. A past that is very concrete: our family, our parish, our city, our country. The past lives on in us, ever modified by the varied influences of our present milieu.

Let us try to imagine for a moment what we would be if suddenly we underwent a complete loss of memory. All our past is wiped out of our consciousness. We no longer remember our parents, our friends; all our lived experiences that make us what we are, become completely obliterated. Everything we have learned from our childhood exists no more. We have literally lost our personality. We have lost our identity. I am who I am because of all the experiences I have lived from my birth and of all the traditions that have fashioned my soul, my sensibility, and have given me a certain mentality, a sum of values I believe in and that make me the person that I am. In a very real sense our ancestors live on in each of us.

It follows that if we want to know ourselves, understand ourselves, whether as individuals or as a group - ethnic, religious or other, it is necessary and, moreover, fascinating to learn the influences, even remote, that have fashioned us.

To this end, I shall propose a second conclusion to our "Heritage Day", a practical conclusion this one: that the Francophone Association invite some of its members or other able persons to study a certain number of personalities who as pioneers or group leaders have influenced in a more notable way the life of the French Canadians of Fall River. Then let such ones present short monographies of those personages at the meetings of your Francophone Association.

I will give you the example tonight by speaking to you of the Rev. Adrien de Montaubricq, Honorary Canon of Bordeaux in France, missionary to America and founding pastor of Saint Anne's parish in Fall River.

THE REVEREND ADRIEN DE MONTAUBRICQ

Who is this priest who came here from France? What prompted him to become a missionary in America? What was his work among those whom he affectionately called his "chers Canadiens" (dear, beloved Canadians).

French Origins

Paul Romain Louis Adrien de Montaubricq was born at Bordeaux the 12th of December, 1818, the eldest of five children. His family was in easy circumstances. Pierre Montaubricq, the great grandfather of Adrien, "held a distinguished place among the merchants of Bordeaux and left at his death a considerable fortune." The grandfather Montaubricq "acquired in 1781 the office of substitute attorney general at the Parliament of Bordeaux, an office which conferred nobility." His son, the father of Adrien, continued the tradition and was in turn "substitute, general counsel and king's attorney at Bordeaux."

Adrien de Montaubricq was born of a family that was well-to-do, cultured, possessed titles of nobility, but its most valued title of nobility consisted in its being a deeply Christian family. The father of Adrien was above all a man devoted to his family and to "useful and charitable works."

Very early Adrien Montaubricq directed his life toward the priesthood. He studied at the Junior Seminary, then at the Grand Seminary of Bordeaux. He was ordained a priest the 18th of December, 1841, at the rather young age of 23. The next nineteen years, the abbe Montaubricq exercised his ministry in nine different parishes. I find it astonishing to see that he will first be a curate, then pastor in his second year of priesthood, then again curate elsewhere, etc. I am also struck by the fact that he will never stay long anywhere, either in France or later in America. Montaubricq always had, it seems, a frail health. He devoted himself with great fervor to every ministry he undertook, exhausted himself very quickly, left his assignment to go and restore his health, and began anew elsewhere. But it is my impression that he also was a restless man. The longest he ever remained in one place were the nine years he spent as pastor at Saint Anne in Fall River.

After 20 years in the priesthood, his "curriculum vitae", conserved at the diocesan archives of Bordeaux, informs us that for the year 1861-1862 he is "Honorary Canon non resident." He never had any other assignment in the diocese of Bordeaux.

Was the abbe Montaubricq on leave to recuperate his health? Possibly. Perhaps he was preparing for his missionary work in America? A note of April 19, 1864, found in the diocesan archives or Bordeaux, states that the abbe Montaubricq was authorized by Cardinal Donnet to leave the diocese "for as long as he desires." We find him in Chicago that same year 1864.

Missionary Calling

Vocations do not arise suddenly in a wasteland. They can develop only in an environment of faith. We have already noted the deep Christian spirit of the Montaubricq family. We might add here that a brother of the Montaubricq grandmother was the abbe Jean Baptiste Rauzan, co-founder with Bishop Forbin-Janson, of the "Society of the Missions of France." The abbe Rauzan earned the title of "The Apostle of the Church of France, the glory of the Church of Bordeaux, and the model or priests." A brother of the grandfather Montaubricq became a Carthusian monk and a sister or his a Carmelite nun. Later, the abbe Rauzan founded "The Priests of Mercy" who will send colonies of missionaries as far as New York.

The missionary idea, and in particular that of missions in America, was undoubtedly widespread in France and in the area of Bordeaux in the time of Montaubricq. Let us mention a few well-known persons whose missionary zeal could not have escaped Montaubricq's attention.

First, Bishop de Cheverus, who had been a missionary in America since 1796, then became the first bishop of Boston (1808-1823). He returned to France to become the bishop of Montauban in 1823, and was promoted to the see of Bordeaux in 1826. During most of Montaubricq's studies at the Junior Seminary, de Cheverus was archbishop of Bordeaux. For anyone who knows the zeal he displayed as a missionary in America for nearly 27 years, there can be no doubt that he frequently spoke to his young seminarians about the missions of the New World and that he sought to inculcate in them the missionary spirit and zeal. At the commencement exercises at the Junior Seminary in 1835 the Archbishop presided. Montaubricq graduated that year.

While he was at the Grand Seminary, Montaubricq also knew the abbe de Charbonnel, who was director or the Seminary and was then preparing to go as a missionary to Canada. Being a Sulpician Father, he joined his confreres at Montreal in 1840; he returned to France in 1847, and went back to Canada three years later as Bishop of Toronto (1850-1860). Bishop de Charbonnel spent the latter years or his life preaching in France in support or the Society for the Propagation or the Faith, that had been founded in 1822 by Pauline Jaricot. A great missionary spirit swept over France at the time.

Toward the middle of the nineteenth century, Bishop de Goesbriand of Burlington, Vermont, made several voyages to France begging for French priests to minister to the French Canandians of his diocese. Finally, at the same time, Bishop Duggan of Chicago, appealed in vain to the Archbishop of Quebec to send him French-speaking priests to minister to the French-Canadian settlements in the region of Chicago, especially toward 1859 to counter the action of Chiniquy (an apostate priest from French Canada). So Bishop Duggan turned to France for help. He personally went to France in 1862. Montaubricq gives us to understand that it was in response to Bishop Duggan's pleas that he left for Chicago in 1864. This priest with a big and generous heart, but a frail health, began a missionary career at the age of 45.

Missionary in America

'We shall be rather brief on Montaubricq's missionary work in Chicago and the French-speaking settlements of the Midwest, in order to tarry at greater length on his apostolate among the Canadians of Fall River.

Chicago, October 2, 1864. A parish is founded under the name of "Notre Dame de Chicago," and Montaubricq is appointed pastor. He performs the religious services for a while in the basement of St. Patrick's Church, but immediately gets to work to build a church for his flock. The dedication ceremony took place four months later, February 2, 1865. Scarcely one year later, Montaubricq tendered his resignation because of ill health. The members of the Administration Committee of the parish "are pleased to recognize that he leaves the affairs of the Church in excellent shape." A testimony to his ability as administrator.

After that I find Montaubricq at French Village, then at Besancon in the state of Illinois; then in the diocese of Detroit, in the state of Michigan, from February 3, 1868 to July 16, 1869. At this later date, dimissorial letters from the bishop of Detroit indicate that Montaubricq labored diligently in the mission of Swan Creek, as much as his strength permitted him. Spontaneously, the bishop adds, he requested and we granted him permission to leave the diocese of Detroit for that of Boston. The ministry in the mission was too much for his age. He was 50 years old.

Montaubricq at Fall River

On the 23rd of July, 1869, Montaubricq arrives at Boston, receives the diocesan faculties from Archbishop Williams, and is sent to Fall River to "attend the Canadians."

An old and anonymous manuscript titled "Little Notes on the Foundation of St. Anne's Parish of Fall River, Mass." describes in colorful tones the beginnings of the parish and brings out certain traits of the pastor's personality.

"In 1869, the abbe de Montaubricq arrived at Fall River and took residence in the Connolly house on Second Street (corner of Borden). On Sundays he would say mass for the Canadians (at 9 o'clock) in St. Mary's Chapel, which the Irish were kind enough to let the Canadians use just long enough for the holy mass. This good father did not have the consolation of making long sermons because the Irish people waited for their chapel to be free for their children's mass which followed right after that of the Canadians. The heart of this good father suffered much and he would weep as he spoke of the need to build a church as soon as possible. He organized bazaars to this end and soon founded a Canadian parish as he laid the foundations of a modest church on Hunter Street, which he placed under the patronage of St. Anne." Clearly Montaubricq was a man of heart with a great sensibility. But he was also a man of action.

On December 23rd, exactly five months after his arrival at Fall River, he purchased a parcel of land on Hunter Street to build his church. A few weeks later, ground was broken and the foundations laid. On the 20th of March the cornerstone was blessed. Things moved briskly so that on May 15 the new church was open for worship. Bishop Williams will come from Boston on November 12 to officiate at the dedication ceremonies.

Let us turn once again here to the anonymous author of the "Little Notes." "The laying of the cornerstone took place in the spring of 1870. This beautiful ceremony was accompanied by an accident that will remain engraved for a long time in the memory of those present. Suddenly the supports of the platform gave way, precipitating priest and assistants into the basement, a depth of 15 feet. Panic spread among the people, some were shouting, others weeping; many tried to enter the church in spite of the police officers to look for their people, parents looking for their children and children for their parents, others for their hats. It was a sad scene. Two persons were seriously injured, Miss Menard and Miss Bourre.

"When calm returned, the ceremony was continued and the cornerstone put in its place. After the ceremony was over, the Rev. Father, who had hurt his legs in the fall, was supported by two men and he took up the collection amid the large crowd made up of Canadians, Irish and Americans. It was truly moving to see this good father, and also the banknotes that were dropped from all sides into the venerable father's hat."

The above accident was reported at length the next day in the "Fall River News", including a long list of persons who had been hurt (many had broken bones). "Probably the most serious accident that ever occurred in this city," according to the newspaper. The Tuesday following, the News reports: "We are glad to learn that one of our kind hearted and benevolent ladies is busily engaged today in soliciting subscriptions in aid of the children of those poor widows who were so severely injured by the accident at the French church, Sunday." The following Saturday, Montaubricq wrote a long letter, in English, in the Fall River News, to express his sympathy for all the wounded, and to thank those who had quickly provided help. And he adds these few words which tell us a lot: "The great trial has not discouraged us. I shall not spare any efforts to carry to a successful termination this good, noble undertaking, notwithstanding the opposition we are meeting at every step."

Montaubricq did not have an easy life. Certain persons, maybe certain groups, ethnic or religious, were trying to oppose his efforts to organize the Canadians into a parish and give them a church. And, of course, there were the financial worries which he shares with Archbishop Williams in a letter of August 22, 1870.

"I do not know if you have yet learned what we have done since your departure (he had left for the Vatican Council, October 19, 1869). But God has abundantly blessed our labors. In the first place, we had many difficulties, difficulties of all sorts. Mostly, alas! must I say so, coming from our poor old neighbor confrere, since his arrival... ( Father Murphy, pastor of St. Mary's, who was a difficult man to get along with, even for his Irish people). But I tried to follow your advice with all the courage I could muster, and now since the 15th of May, we have a church 100 feet long by 50 feet wide, open to worship, with a beautiful basement 8 feet high, that later can be used for classes and which, in the meantime, provides me with comfortable lodgings. (The holy man accepts gladly, without complaining, conditions which in fact were very uncomfortable in a damp basement.)

"The land (108" of frontage by 133" in depth) which is situated on a magnificent hillside overlooking the river, cost us $1650, and the building of the church and priests quarters about 10,350 dollars, a total of 12,000, not including the plastering. With God's help, I was able to amass through subscriptions and a bazaar, 6,000 dollars since January. At the time many of us came together to buy the land we took out a loan of 3,000 at the Fall River Savings Bank, which brought our total assets up to 9,000 dollars, certainly a happy result. But now, it's the 3,000 more dollars that bother me cruelly. The population is too exhausted to permit us to obtain from them such a large amount for a long time and yet the various creditors keep pressing us beyond measure..."

Let us come back for a moment to the "Little Notes" and see the pastor caring for the spiritual needs of his flock. "The parish, begun with about 3,000 souls, increased rapidly. The Rev. Father founded the society of St. John the Baptist for the married men, that of St. Joseph for the young men, and that of the Children of Mary for the unmarried women. A collection was taken in the families to purchase the statue of the Blessed Virgin and that of St. Joseph. One person donated the Stations of the Cross, another a beautiful carpet for the sanctuary.

"At different times, there was a French school in the basement of the church. A venerable priest sent to Father Montaubricq, with his congratulations, a beautiful large picture of Saint Anne the installation of which gave occasion to a beautiful parish celebration. It vas carried in procession around the church and placed over the high altar. Oh! how good it was for the pastor and his flock to have a little home of their own! On the Children of Mary's Sunday , a small statue of the Blessed Virgin adorned with flowers was carried in procession in the church by the Children of Mary. This ceremony was most dear to the heart of the Reverend Father. He said it reminded him of the ceremonies in his own country.

"Four years after the arrival of Father Montaubricq, it was necessary to divide the parish and enlarge the church. An extension was built on each side or the sanctuary that gave the church the shape of a cross. (The church gained 50 feet more in length and 50 feet in width at the transepts. It could now accommodate one thousand persons.)

"As soon as the basement of the church was a bit livable, the Reverend Father came to live there. The doors were not yet all in place. He would shut them as best he could and his housekeeper would keep watch during the night so that no one would enter. In spite of many hardships, he was happy and liked his modest dwelling. But since his health was deteriorating greatly because of the humidity of the place, he built a rectory as soon as the parish could afford it (the building we have known serving as a school house on the corner or Hunter and Hope). He lived there for a short time. Then he became seriously ill and could no longer perform his pastoral duties alone. Fathers Gleason and Briscoe came in turn to help him, but he finally had to get away for a complete rest. He left the parish in 1878."

He left for France the 1st of June, 1878, after writing the following letter to be read to the parishioners:

"To all the good parishioners of St. Anne. My dear friends:- Your Pastor, exhausted by 10 years of labor he expended for the foundation of your parish, is obliged to take a rest for a while. If his health is restored, he will come back in a few months with the same courage and the same dedication. But should God decide otherwise, your poor Pastor recommends himself to your kind remembrance and to your prayers. Meanwhile he thanks all the good Canadians who helped him do some good during those 10 years, and although far away, should he not return, he promises you the blessings of the Lord.

Your father and friend in Our Lord,
A. de Montaubricq, pastor of St. Anne of Fall River

Montaubricq returns to Fall River after one month and a half. The 18th of July he buys a parcel or land at Tiverton, on the Fall River line (State Avenue and Main Road). Since he had no more parish, Fr. Briscoe having succeeded him at St. Anne, he went to see Bishop Hendricken, in Providence, and asked permission to build, at his own expense, a small chapel next to his residence at Tiverton, to serve the Canadians of the area, as they lived so far from St. Anne's Church. The project seemed so reasonable and the offer so generous that Bishop Hendricken agreed to it at first. But then Fr. Briscoe insisted with the Bishop that this new church or chapel had to be under the control of St. Anne's Parish. The Bishop notified Fr. Montaubricq that it would be so. The latter, feeling offended by this decision, resolved to sell his properties and go back to France. He left with a wounded heart, determined that he never again would set foot in America where people allow themselves to do such strange things. (L'Independant, March 24, 1886)

The former pastor of St. Anne spent five years in Tiverton, sad and lonesome. Let us listen to a last testimony from the "Little Notes." When his health permitted he said the holy mass in his private chapel. He felt great pleasure and was very grateful when former parishioners of his came to visit him. He would say: "My dear children, after performing my ministry in the midst of a numerous congregation, it is sad and boring to find myself so alone, to say mass in my chapel with nobody around." But the generosity of his noble priestly heart and his great resignation to the will or God would soon console him.

Last Years: Luynes, France (1883-1886)

The abbe de Montaubricq retired at Luynes, a suburb of Tours in France. When he died three years later, September 27, 1886 at the age of 67. He had spent 19 years of his life as a missionary in America of which nine as pastor of Saint Anne and five in residence at Tiverton.

The charity of Montaubricq and his affection for his "dear Canadians" of Fall River, were manifested even after his death. In his will, he bequeathed $7,500 to his brother in France, $7,500 plus two houses at Luynes to the Archbishop of Tours, for the benefit of orphans and poor children; and $5,000 to Miss Elizabeth Markham, his housekeeper at Fall River, with instructions to use this money towards the building of a church for the Canadians of the south end of Fall River and of Tiverton. On the 26th of October, 1887, Miss Markham presented this donation to Bishop Harkins, "towards the erection of a church at Tiverton, money left by Fr. Montaubricq." (Harkins Diary) This money, it was reported, served to purchase the land on which St. Dominic's Church was built in 1889, later to be called Blessed Sacrament, at the Shove.

That is, in summary, the story of the first pastor of the Canadians of Fall River. I would like to see other monographs written of people who have influenced the Franco-American community of the Fall River area. Interesting stories could be written, for example, of Father Bedard, the founding pastor of Notre Dame, at the Flint, and of eminent laymen like Hugo Dubuque and Philippe Armand Lajoie.