My Dear Sisters, Father,
Ladies and Gentlemen
Dear Friends,
It is with immense joy that our City Council welcomes you to LA BAUCHE,
to celebrate the 200 years of your foundation as Sisters of Saint Joseph of Chambéry,
since, through you effective presence for 170 years in LA BAUCHE, you have written
a part of the history of our town, and there is still a number of us who have the
opportunity to be with you at the location of the "Convent".
As such, I would like to briefly summarize for you the history of the
"Convent," and your presence in the commune.
In 1823, there lived at the Château of La Bauche, surrounded by a few
servants, Mademoiselle Françoise Christine Perrin d’Avressieux, born in Chambéry
December 2, 1765. She was the daughter of the nobleman, Nicolas Perrin, who served
as Senator and President of the Senate of Savoy. He had 7 children, 3 girls and 4
boys. She was the cousin of Joseph and Xavier de Maistre. For four years, she had
welcomed the elderly l’Abbé Isnard, born February 18, 1730 at St. André les Embruns
(hautes alpes), who had been curate in La Bauche since 1758, until April 6, 1819,
when he was replaced by the priest, Pierre Gay, born August 21, 1790, in Villy le
Bouveret (haute savoie). On April 18, 1823 André Isnard died at the age of 93.
Françoise Christine Perrin had known the curate Isnard since her youth. He
had been somewhat her director of conscience and had greatly influenced her
thinking. She wrote a manuscript of 424 pages at the Château de La Bauche between
1793 and 1797, in which inspiration and religious meditations predominate. It was
shortly after the death of the curate, that Mademoiselle Françoise Christine Perrin
decided to establish a house of Sisters of Saint Joseph in La Bauche, who would
devote themselves to training young girls and caring for the sick. To give more
solemnity to this proposed foundation, she sought, through the mediation of l’Abbé
Antoine Rochaix, Canon of the metropolis of Chambéry, the authority of King
Charles Felix, which he granted her by letters patent on September 16, 1823.
Immediately after, Mother Saint John, foundress of the Congregation of the Sisters of
Saint Joseph in Chambéry, sent three of her sisters to La Bauche.
This small community was installed in old barn near the church, which was
owned before the revolution by the curate, and which had been purchased and repaired
in 1882 by the priest, Pierre Gay.
In June 1824, Mademoiselle Françoise Christine Perrin made a will and
testament that she filed at the sovereign Senate of Savoy, on September 25, 1824. She
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wrote: "I set up as my sole beneficiary, the house of the Christian school established
in La Bauche by the Royal Patent of Charles Felix, for the Sisters of St Joseph and
under the direction of the curate of said parish... written in La Bauche June, 1824.”
On May 10, 1825, in a pastoral visit to La Bauche, Monsignor BIGEX,
Archbishop of Chambéry, praised publicly Mademoiselle Perrin from the pulpit, and
lauded her donations, according to the record of the visit.
Mademoiselle Françoise Christine Perrin died of complications from a fall
December 2, 1831 in Bissy, at her sister’s, Marie Marthe Félicité, who in 1802 had
married her first cousin, Colonel Nicolas de Maistre, the brother of Joseph and Xavier.
During the difficult years of the revolution, the two sisters were the only
residents of the Castle. Françoise Christine continued her mystical dreams, while her
sister, Marie Marthe Félicité, who was much closer to daily reality and much less of a
dreamer, defended with ardor, energy and success, the family heritage against the
ambitions of revolutionaries.
Six months after the death of Mademoiselle Perrin, on July 2, 1832,
Monsignor Martinet made a pastoral visit to La Bauche. He noted in the minutes he
wrote that the estate of the deceased had been attested, and that it consisted of
property located at Oncin and variously placed capital, all producing an annual
income of 1647 francs.
For the Sisters of St Joseph, doomed to poverty, it was a fortune, which would
enable them to fulfill their obligations towards the poor, give free education to girls to
a greater extent and care for indigent patients more widely.
After the death of its founder, the Christian School of La Bauche continued to
thrive. The priest, l’Abbé Gay administered their property until his death on
September 1, 1871.
After his death, it was the mother house of Chambéry that carried out the
administration of the property.
In 1866, the primitive House, a roughly restored hovel, was demolished and
replaced by construction more appropriate to the needs of the foundation. In 1880, a
small boarding school was added, which was a big success.
In 1845, Mother Saint John, founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of
Saint Joseph of Chambéry, which had provided the first three sisters to the foundation
of Mademoiselle Perrin, retired to the "convent" of La Bauche as a simple sister. She
spent 10 years there and died May 10, 1855. She was buried two days later in the
cemetery of the parish, accompanied by a large crowd. On the modest stone of her
tomb, were engraved her name, and about her dignity, these simple words:
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« She loved God, death was given to her, and blessings accompanied her to her last
home. »
For more than a century and a half, you brought help and devotion to our
commune, and some of us remember Sister Gabrielle, who was the mother superior in
the 1950’s, but also sister Martienne (very kind) who cooked and also nursed at the
convent, and Sister Amélie (very serious), who nursed and took care of the sick in
their homes by walking there.
In the 1960’s, the mother Superior was Sister Hyacinth, very friendly and
devoted, who went about her ministry to the homes of the sick in a 2 cylinder Citroën.
At that time the convent had evolved into an IMPRO for girls (medical
pedagogical institute). There were Sister Agnes, Sister Pierre, and Sister Marie
Claude. The presence of the considerable fields around the buildings justified the
presence of a barn and a cow maintained by an elderly woman called, "Mary of the
Cows.”
Today, your presence among us reminds us of these memories, that are not so
distant, and the composition of your delegation, representing 18 countries, confirms to
us, if this were necessary, the spreading of your missions throughout the world, and
for this, I thank you.
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