| ITEM | m0002 |
| TITLE | Soeur Ste-Jeanne D'Arc Rosary |
| CLASS | Religious Article |
| Family | Joseph |
| DESCRIPTION | The rosary, although consisting of the usual five decades (each decade having one bead for the 'Our Family' and ten 'Hail Mary's', ending with a 'Glory be to the Father') is especially constructed to be worn as part of the habit of a religious sister of the 'Religieuse Hospitalières de St-Joseph'. A brass crucifix is mounted at one end of the rosary and a brass medal at the other end. There are two strings of black-painted wooden beads between the crucifix and the medal, one string having three decades and the other, two. The rosary was hung at the waist on the left side of the nun's habit with the crucifix toward the front and the medal towards the back. (See the 1940 photo of Soeur Ste-Jeanne D'Arc below. She was 32.) The brass crucifix measures about 3 inches long and 2 inches wide and has a black-painted wood inlay. The body of Christ is also brass. On the back of the crucifix is the faint marking: "FRANCE". The medal is also brass with an image of the Holy Family on one side and of St-Augustine on the other. Around the impression of the Holy Family is the inscription: "Ste Famille Patronne et Protectrice de Notre Association" around the outer edge of the medal, and with "Nous Avons Tous Recours A Vous" at the bottom of the medal. Around the top of the St-Augustin side is the inscription: " St Augustin Priez Pour Nous" |
| MARKINGS | None. |
| PROVENANCE | This
is the rosary worn by Söeur Ste-Jeanne D'Arc (née Marie Anne
Almida), (Joseph), born 31 July 1908 in St-Hilaire. She took her permanent
vows around 1935 with the 'Religieuse Hospitalières de St-Joseph',
an religious order of nursing sisters working largely in northern New Brunswick.
Söeur Ste-Jeanne D'Arc passed the rosary to her brother Joachim when
she died. Annie later passed it on to Theodule.
Söeur Ste-Jeanne D'Arc, as she was called by the family was a director at the Hotel-Dieu hospital in St-Basile. According to Georgette (Joachim, Joseph), Söeur Ste-Jeanne D'Arc was a 'match-maker' and had set her mind that a young medic at the hospital named Rémi Cyr was just the right man for her niece, Georgette. Georgette took sick one day and was hospitalized in St-Basile. During her stay, Söeur Ste-Jeanne D'Arc had the right opportunity to try to 'match up' Georgette with Rémi. Although Georgette was reluctant at first, the 'match' eventually caught on. |
| PHOTOS |  
(Left click on photos to zoom.) |