From Canada to California

Newly canonized saint served Christ by serving His priests

By Mary Powers

Mother Marie Léonie at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park in 1908.

“When we learn to serve, our every gesture of attention and care, every expression of tenderness, every work of mercy becomes a reflection of God’s love.”

Pope Francis’ reflection on the profound beauty of service in his homily for the canonization of new saints on Oct. 20 finds a powerful echo in the life and mission of Mother Marie Léonie Paradis, the founder of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family.

Founded in 1880, her congregation has long dedicated itself to living a “life of prayer and humble and joyful service,” supporting priests spiritually and materially.

Early Years

Mother Marie Léonie was born in 1840 in L’Acadie, Quebec, and at the age of 9 she was sent to live with the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre-Dame in La Prairie, Quebec. Five years later, she entered the Marianite convent in Saint-Laurent, Quebec, the female branch of the Congregation of the Holy Cross. Holy Cross founder Father Basile Moreau admitted her to make her vows on Aug. 22, 1857.

Early on in her vocation, she felt a desire to support the ministry of priests. It wasn’t until the fall of 1874 when she moved to Memramcook, New Brunswick, to take charge of the sisters and young Americans who performed domestic work at St. Joseph’s College that this charism began to take shape and flourish.

Her work at the college began to draw vocations of generous young women to a life of service, leading to the founding of her institute: the Little Sisters of the Holy Family.

In 1895, Bishop Paul LaRocque invited the sisters to establish their motherhouse in Sherbrooke, Quebec, and to help serve at the seminary and his residence. Mother Marie Leonie accepted his invitation and transferred the motherhouse and novitiate to Sherbrooke.

Archdiocese of San Francisco

In 1900, Bishop LaRocque traveled to California due to health issues and met San Francisco Archbishop Patrick Riordan. Upon hearing about the Little Sisters of the Holy Family, Archbishop Riordan inquired in 1901 as to whether they could come to California to serve at the new seminary he built in Menlo Park: St. Patrick’s Seminary.

“We opened some two years ago a seminary under the care of the Sulpician Fathers and had the hopes that we should be able to secure the services of a sisterhood to take charge of the domestic arrangement,” wrote Archbishop Riordan to Bishop LaRoque in 1901. “I have just learned through the president of the seminary that your Lordship has a community in your diocese that we might possibly secure. We have a beautiful building, admirably suited for sisters and would do everything in our power to make them comfortable.”

Upon hearing of the invitation, Mother Marie Léonie responded to the Archbishop in November of that year to say they would not be able to come until 1903 due to needing time to form the sisters in novitiate before sending them to the West.

A contract was drawn up in early 1903 and signed upon the sisters’ arrival that same year. The nine sisters who first came to Menlo Park arrived with the hope of more to come to support the seminary and the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

St. Patrick’s Seminary & University was home to the Little Sisters of the Holy Family from 1903 until 1994. Over the years, 184 sisters served at St. Patrick’s Seminary, St. Joseph’s Minor Seminary in Mountain View and in the Archbishop’s residence.

Mother Marie Léonie visiting her sisters at St. Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park along with Bishop LaRocque’s sister in 1908.

Responding to a letter from Sister Nativité, one of the first sisters in California, Mother Marie Léonie wrote, “You are all in our thoughts, especially in our prayers at the novitiate; you are so far away, so far away! (God watches over you.)”

Mother Marie Léonie came to visit her sisters and the seminary in 1908. Not much is recorded of her visit, but one can imagine that she cherished the time with her sisters there — seeing their work and encouraging them in their mission — while also meeting with Archbishop Riordan and planning the expansion of the order in California.

She always held fast to her mission and insight to support priests in their vocations. “Always have great respect for the priest,” she once told her sisters, “who is the representative of our Lord.”

A year later, a novitiate was opened at the seminary, and St. Patrick’s became a place of formation not only for future priests of the Church but also for the Little Sisters of the Holy Family. Diary entries from sisters living at the seminary at the time show that there were many professions of all levels done in the chapel, and the sisters flourished in the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

Memories of the Sisters

Priests who remember the sisters said that at first the seminarians did not have much contact with the sisters. They cooked for the men — serving them through slots in closed doors — and did their laundry. As time went on, there was more contact with the sisters, and they were a joyful presence on campus.

Father Larry Goode, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in East Palo Alto, remembers the sisters fondly, recounting the time the seminarians organized a trip to a local ice-skating rink. The sisters loved the outing since they had a frozen lake close to their motherhouse in Canada where they would skate, so being able to skate again was a joy for them. The seminarians and the sisters took turns skating at the rink.

Sisters serving at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park.

Over the years, the sisters who served at St. Patrick’s and St. Joseph’s regularly requested the prayers of the students and faculty for the canonization of Mother Marie Léonie. It was also well known that in turn, the sisters kept an eye out for students who may be having a difficult time and offered special prayers for the intercession of Mother Marie Léonie to especially assist these students in their time of need.

With their prayers answered, the priests of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, among many others, have a special patroness looking out for them from heaven.