Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception

The Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception are members of a religious congregation of women dedicated to serve in the nations of the world most in need. Founded in 1902 by Délia Tétreault (1865-1941) in Canada, they were the first such institute established in North America. Members of the congregation use the postnominal initials of M.I.C.

Tétreault was born on a farm in rural Quebec. Having lost her mother in infancy, her father entrusted her care to her maternal aunt and her husband before emigrating to the United States for work. She was raised in a very religious household and grew up reading stories of the missions run by the Catholic Church in Africa and Asia. As a young woman she felt called to take part in this effort, and attempted to join a religious institute twice. Both times, however, her lifelong poor health prevented her from achieving this goal.

Tétreault spent twenty years serving the needs of the residents of a poor neighborhood in Montreal. During this time, she remained convinced that she was being called to establish a way to contribute to the overseas missions, in the same way that the people of Canada had been served by the Paris Foreign Missions Society in the early centuries of its development. She came to know a Catholic priest, Gustave Bourassa, who supported her vision and guided her through the process of presenting her proposal to the Archdiocese of Montreal.

In 1902, Paul Bruchési, the Archbishop of Montreal, gave permission for the founding of the congregation. Tétreault drew together a small group of women who had expressed interest in this project and opened an apostolic school to train them for serving overseas. The following year, they found a permanent home at 27, Saint Catherine Road, Outremont. In 1904, Bruchési had to travel to Rome on Church business, during which time he spoke to Pope Pius X about this new foundation.The pope immediately answered, "Found, found, and all the blessings of Heaven will fall upon this new Institute and you will call them the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception."

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