Men's Religious Communities

When the Holy Cross Fathers arrived in Memramcook in 1864, their main mission was to continue the work of educating Acadian youth undertaken a few years earlier by the then local pastor, Father François-Xavier Lafrance.  The principal objective was to give the Acadian community professional and political leaders. That was the challenge St. Joseph’s College would undertake. When Father Camille Lefebvre passed away in 1895, there were already quite a few priests, doctors, dentists and a few magistrates who had passed through St. Joseph’s College.

During the second half of the 19th century, the Holy Cross Fathers’ exercised their ministry in nearly every part of New Brunswick and even in the Diocese of Portland, Maine. However, the Congregation’s main activity in Acadia remained the College, which later became St. Joseph’s University. The Memramcook establishment closed with the creation of the Université de Moncton in the early sixties.

Following Vatican II and with the changing world of education in New Brunswick, most priests from the Congregation moved on to pastoral ministry.

Click here for the list Holy Cross religious in the Archdiocese of Moncton. 

When the Redemptorist Fathers officially arrived in Moncton they were preceeded by their reputation for their remarkable preaching of parish retreats and missions in every corner of the archdiocese.

Bishop Norbert Robichaud wanted to maintain this ministry in the archdiocese so he invited the congregation to minister to the new parish of Notre-Dame-du-Perpetuel-Secours (Our Lady of Perpetual Help) in Humphrey (Moncton) in 1948.

Their ministry continued to flourish to such a point that Bishop Robichaud approuved, in 1954, the contruction of a minor seminary in Humphrey that would serve, at the same time, as a residence for the priests involved in different ministries. The minor seminary contributed to the formation of more than 800 young Acadians. It closed in the early seventies at which time it became a residence for seniors, the Villa du Repos, and was finally demolished in 2007.

The Redemptorist Fathers were also responsible for the former retreat house in Bouctouche from 1956 to 1969.

Click here to find the Redemptorists Fathers in the Archdiocese of Moncton.

Visit the Brothers of the Christian Instruction web site.

The Trappist Fathers arrived in Rogersville in 1902, some 34 years before the foundation of the Archdiocese of Moncton. Their arrival was providential as it was an answer to one of Msgr. François Richard’s dreams. He gave the Trappists a tract of land on which they built the present monatery, encouraged them and offered them material assistance during the difficult hard times of the first years.

When the Rogersville monastery was founded, it was located in the Diocese of Chatham. The limits of the new Archdiocese of Moncton ended with the Kent County boundaries. In 1939, the limits of the two dioceses were changed at which time Rogersville and the monastery became part of the Archdiocese of Moncton.

The Trappist Fathers seek to discover God through Scripture reading, Christian spirituality, theology and meditation on the truths found in their studies. They manifest their love by renouncing freely earthly values that can be better directed towards their real finality. They exercise their service towards their colleagues in the monastery and their brothers from outside who are accommodated by the inn.

Visit the Trappists web site.

Message from the Trappist Monks, dated April 30th 2024:

On April 26, 2024, the abbot general of Cistercians of the Strict Observance and his council, sitting in Rome voted to close Our Lady of Calvary abbey here in Rogersville, NB.
It follows that we are officially closed.  A commission has been formed to deal with the practicalities of closure.  We are still here though, living our monastic life until all issues regarding this closure are resolved.

This monastery, Our Lady of Calvary Abbey has officially closed, and we will gradually close this year.  We want you, our friends, and faithful Christians to know this.  We ask you to please respect our privacy, and bear with us.  We will update this information at appropriate times.

Visit the Eudists Fathers web site.