This series contains records related to the ministries in St. Philippe d’Argenteuil, Quebec, carried out by the Sisters of St. Joseph in the Pembroke diocese. The parish comprised about 550 families. The records contain annals, correspondence, photographs, a souvenir booklet, a newsclipping, and a few parish bulletins. The photographs depict the convent, Sister Constance Lacroix, one of two Sisters missioned there, and the church. The souvenir booklet celebrates the centennial of the arish in 1988. It is illustrated with photographs and is in French. The correspondence is in French and in English, and the primary correspondents are Sister Margaret Glofcheskie, the General Superior, Bishop Charles Valois, Sister Constance Lacroix, and two parish priests. The annals were kept by Sister Constance who arrived in the parish on August 31, 1985 to serve as the parish coordinator and a pastoral animator with the Laurentian School Board. The annals note interesting local events such as the feast of the cemetery held on the second Sunday in September during which people came to pray for the dead and to ensure the graves were decorated. As Sister Constance notes, “I felt that I could carry out what our first Sisters did in 1650, but I in 1986,” as she embarks on her ministry in the parish. She was to give guidance to parents for baptism, couples for marriage, and on burials. Sister Constance was joined in December 1986 by Sister Alice Meilleur.

This sous-fonds contains records pertaining to Sister Margaret Ferris’s education, professional career, artistic endeavors, personal life, and travels. Sister Margaret Ferris was an avid academic and eventually became an instructor. There are various records from her academic pursuits present here, including her many degrees and certificates, research notes, papers, theses, report cards, transcripts, photographs, a scrapbook, and regalia from her Doctorate commencement ceremony. Based on her areas of interest in her studies, she wrote and published a book in 1993 called Compassioning: Basic Counselling Skills for Christian Care-Givers which was translated into Chinese in 2010. Drafts, correspondence with publishers, English and Chinese editions of the book, and material from the book launching party are included. There are also records from when she was teaching. These records are primarily concerned with her career as an instructor at St. Peter’s Seminary and the adaptations of Compassioning: Basic Counselling Skills for Christian Care-Givers as course books for classes at the University of Western Ontario, but there is also a speech by Sister Margaret and her Stewards in Catholic Education Award.

Sister Margaret was an artist, and she created the design for the cards and pamphlets of the congregation’s 2004 Jubilee celebration, which was her Golden Jubilee. Original artworks, preliminary sketches, and replicas are included in this sous-fonds. She was also an avid traveler and photographs, travel diaries, a scrapbook, and ephemera from these trips are present. She made trips to Yellowknife, Quebec, Peru, Florida, California, Rome, and a pilgrimage to France. On the trip to Rome, she acted as a correspondent for the Catholic News Times. There are also personal memorabilia, such as photographs, scrapbooks, a papal blessing, a yearbook from St. Patrick’s High School where she was principal, and an invitation to the 1976 Opening of the Ontario Legislature reception.