From the Archives


On this page, we share from time to time the things that our archivist found and wants to share with you! It tells you about our history in Canada and how our mission began and developed over the years. "From the Archives" currently draws on content from the Franciscan Archives of Western Canada, which contains records from BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. To learn more, visit us at archives.franciscanfriars.ca.
In a previous blog post, we shared the story of the first celebration of St. Anthony’s feast at St. Francis friary in Vancouver on June 13, 1928. On the front page of the friary guest book, Archbishop Timothy Casey wrote Peace to this House (…)
- From the Archives
- 20 September, 2019
The following is an excerpt taken from Men in Brown written by Canadian friar, Fr. Walter Bedard. It follows a Franciscan priest, Fr. Anthony, as he goes about his day and tells short stories from his reflections and memories. The booklet was published by (…)
- From the Archives
- 5 September, 2019
On August 4, 1963, the Franciscans welcomed over 6,000 guests to the dedication and opening of the newly constructed St. Michael’s Retreat House near Lumsden, Saskatchewan. This retreat house was the first of its kind in Saskatchewan and was operated by the Franciscans until (…)
- From the Archives
- 9 August, 2019
On May 9, 1955, Fr. Ulric Ell received approval to construct a new church building at Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba. The old church had been built in 1905 using logs covered with siding, and by the 1950s it had become too small for the (…)
- From the Archives
- 19 July, 2019
As this school year comes to a close, we congratulate all the graduating students! And we would like to share some school memories from St. Anthony’s College in Edmonton. In 1925 with the blessing of Archbishop O’Leary, the Franciscans approved the foundation of a (…)
- From the Archives
- 27 June, 2019
St. Anthony’s feast is celebrated every year on June 13. On June 13, 1928, St. Anthony’s feast was celebrated for the first time in Vancouver’s St. Francis Friary with a Pontifical High Mass said by Archbishop Timothy Casey. This memorable event was recorded in (…)
- From the Archives
- 13 June, 2019
The Franciscan archives is full of fascinating and fun records. One such record is a scrapbook that contains photographs of church buildings across Saskatchewan taken in the 1910s. It is likely that the photographs were not taken by a friar but was collected into (…)
- From the Archives
- 27 May, 2019
The first parish school in St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Vancouver began in 1946, and classes were held in the parish hall beneath the church which had been partitioned off into classrooms. That first year, 82 students attended, divided into eight grades. But (…)
- From the Archives
- 18 April, 2019
In 1918, Fr. Boniface Heidmeier became the priest in charge of the Pine Creek and Warspite missions in Alberta. That same year, the Canadian National Railway built a new rail line with four new stations through the district, but not one station was near (…)
- From the Archives
- 8 March, 2019