Centre Acadien, Université Sainte-Anne

Religion and the Sunday mass – Until the late 1960’s, no one worked on Sundays, so it was a time to go to church and to visit family. Churches were packed with the faithful. People socialized on the church steps before Sunday Mass: men especially told stories and exchanged news from various cantons until the church bell rang, encouraging them to come inside.

In the early 1900’s, there were stables built close to the churches to service those who came by horse and buggy. In Meteghan they were called “les petites granges” In the late 1940’s and 1950’s there were few cars so many walked miles to get to mass. Others would get aboard trucks and for a small fee, they would be driven to church for Sunday morning mass (as seen in this picture).

During the first thirty years after the first settlers arrived in Clare, the area was served by missionaries who only visited every few years. In order to control young boys, and young girls in particular, stories about the devil being a predator were common.

Alain LeBlanc remembers a story told by his paternal grandmother. “One summer evening, she was at a social gathering with her sister. They were having a great time when all of a sudden, the door opened and a handsome, well dressed man entered the premises. To the envy of all the women there, he asked my grandmother to dance. As they started to sway to the music, she felt claws inside his white gloves. Shocked and frightened, she backed away, noticing in that same moment that he had black hoofs instead of black shoes. Both she and her sister quickly left the hall and raced home, followed by a huge, unknown black dog. Inside they went, never to venture again into the night”.

Topic: Community Life

Date: [ca. 1950]

Reference: John Collier Collection Centre Acadien Photo 13

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