, which has remained so popular with the
French-Canadians, at St. Francois-Xavier, the Brotherhoods of the Holy
Rosary and of the Scapulary of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. He encouraged,
above all, devotion to the Holy Family, and prescribed wise regulations
for this worship. The Pope deigned to enrich by numerous indulgences the
brotherhoods to which it gave birth, and in recent years Leo XIII
instituted throughout the Church the celebration of the Festival of the
Holy Family. "The worship of the Holy Family," the illustrious pontiff
proclaims in a recent bull, "was established in America, in the region
of Canada, where it became most flourishing, thanks chiefly to the
solicitude and activity of the venerable servant of God, Francois de
Montmorency Laval, first Bishop of Quebec, and of God's worthy
handmaiden, Marguerite Bourgeoys." According to Cardinal Taschereau, it
was Father Pijard who established the first Brotherhood of the Holy
Family in 1650 in the Island of Montreal, but the real promoter of this
cult was another Father of the Company of Jesus, Father Chaumonot, whom
Mgr. de Laval brought specially to Quebec to set at the head of the
brotherhood which he had decided to found.

It was the custom, in these periods of fervent faith, to place
buildings, cities and even countries under the aegis of a great saint,
and Louis XIII had done himself the honour of dedicating France to the
Virgin Mary. People did not then blush to practise and profess their
beliefs, nor to proclaim them aloud. On the proposal of the Recollets in
a general assembly, St. Joseph was chosen as the first patron saint of
Canada; later, St. Francois-Xavier was adopted as the second special
protector of the colony.

Montreal, which in the early days of its existence maintained with its
rival of Cape Diamond a strife of emulation in the path of good as well
as in that of progress, could no longer do without a religious edifice
worthy of its already considerable importance. Mgr. de Laval was at this
time on a round of pastoral visits, for, in spite of the fatigue
attaching to such a journey, at a time when there was not yet even a
carriage-road between the two towns, and when, braving contrary winds,
storms and the snares of the Iroquois, one had to ascend the St.
Lawrence in a bark canoe, the worthy prelate made at least eight visits
to Montreal during the period of his administration. In a general
assembly of May 12th, 1669, presided over by him,