André Garin (May 7, 1822 – February 16, 1895) was a

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

, missionary, and

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Biography

Garin was born in

La Côte-Saint-André La Côte-Saint-André () is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. Demographics Notable people *Hector Berlioz was born here. His birthplace is now a museum: Musée Hector-Berlioz. * Philippe du Contant de la Molette w ...

Isère Isère ( , ; ; , ) is a landlocked Departments of France, department in the southeastern French Regions of France, region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère (river), Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.

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. He received his education at the lesser seminary of his native town, and entered the Order of the

Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest later recognized as a Catholic saint. The congregation wa ...

on November 1, 1842. As he was still too young to be admitted to the priesthood, he was sent to Canada, where he was ordained on April 25, 1845, by Bishop Bourget of Montreal. Garin, who spoke both Montagnais and English, worked for twelve years in the Indian missions of Eastern Canada. In 1847 he succeeded Jean-Nicolas Laverlochère as missionary to

James Bay James Bay (, ; ) is a large body of water located on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. It borders the provinces of Quebec and Ontario, and is politically part of Nunavut. Its largest island is Akimiski Island. Numerous waterways of the ...

, and completed Laverlochère's work on a

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and prayerbook translated into

Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...

. Afterwards he occupied the post of superior successively at

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and at

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. Later, Garin was sent to minister to the French Canadians in

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, United States. Alongside Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, it is one of two traditional county seat, seats of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in ...

, where he remained as pastor for twenty-five years. There he built a number of churches and schools, as well as establishing several religious confraternities. He died on February 16, 1895; two years later, the members of his parish built a statue in his honor.

References

cites: *''Notices nécrologiques des Oblats de Marie Immaculée'' (Bar-le-Duc, 1899), VII. 19th-century French Roman Catholic priests French Roman Catholic missionaries 1822 births 1895 deaths Roman Catholic missionaries in the United States Roman Catholic missionaries in Canada French expatriates in Canada French expatriates in the United States Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate {{RC-clergy-stub