The Mother House of the Religious Hospitallers of Saint Joseph is situated at the heart of the city of Montreal. The surrounding wall on des Pins Street shelters the crypt where Jeanne Mance and 600 Sisters are buried. Hundreds of women of action and vision who dedicated their life to the well-being of others. Gradually, the congregation decreased its activities. In 2017, the City of Montreal acquired the whole property, as well as all the heritage buildings. For us, it’s a time of recognition and memory for these outstanding women who always looked out for us.
Since 1642, Jeanne Mance and her friends, the Religious Hospitallers of Saint Joseph, are an integral part of our history. Many history books and specialized works prove it. Our series «Extraordinary stories of Hospitallers» propose a different point of view, that of a human scale perspective of their works.
Indeed, since its origin until our days, the congregation witnessed thousands of human dramas among the most needy. These slices of life revealed us very surprising ordeals. We were inspired by them to develop twelve stories, representative of their humanitarian missions. It was not a question of making journalism, realizing documentaries or historical reconstitutions. Our short dramatic stories had to be dedicated to the kind of emotional course which we found in the missions. Stories which allowed us to put ourselves in the skin of the other. To assure the universality of the themes and respect the confidential nature of certain information, we sometimes had to keep silent about the identity of individuals, modify circumstances and use other scripting processes.
Beyond this series in homage to the sisters, these capsules present challenges that children, women and men whom fate does not favor, have to take up. This way, they make us socially aware. We underline the generosity and the talent of our comedians who knew how to reveal this state of mind.
The Production
