St. Mary's College is a former high school and junior seminary that was operated by the

Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer The Redemptorists, officially named the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (), abbreviated CSsR, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men (priests and brothers). It was founded by Alphonsus Liguori at Scal ...

, a missionary order of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

more commonly known as "Redemptorists." The school was located on a campus on the north bank of the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawren ...

in Maitland,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, several kilometres east of

Brockville Brockville is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Although it is the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, it is politically Independent city, independent of the county. It is included with Leeds and ...

. St. Mary's College (Juvenate) was established by the church's Ecclesiastical Province of Toronto in 1918 when campus construction took place. The date of canonical erection was September 5, 1920. The school functioned as a preparatory college for students initially drawn from

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Prescott Prescott may refer to: People Given name * Prescott E. Bloom, American lawyer and politician * Prescott Bush, American banker and politician * Samuel Prescott Bush, American industrialist * Prescott F. Hall, American lawyer, author and eugenicist ...

and

Kirkwood, Missouri Kirkwood is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis located in western St. Louis County, Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 29,461. Founded in 1853, the city is named after James P. Kirkwood, chief engineer of the Pacific Railr ...

under its first Rector, The Reverend Charles Kelz. For the next 50 years, aside from the juvenate closing temporarily from 1941-1944 because of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, St. Mary's College educated nearly 550 boys, constituting nearly every English-speaking Redemptorist in Canada as part of the initial stage in the formation process of training for the priesthood. St. Mary's College was the First Novitiate for Chorists and Laybrothers from 1944-1947 and it reopened as a juvenate in 1947 and operated as such until its last class graduated in June 1968. One of the primary reasons for declining enrollment at St. Mary's was a 1960 decision by the Ecclesiastical Province of Edmonton to establish a junior seminary,

Holy Redeemer College Holy Redeemer College is a Roman Catholic institution that provides housing to priests and religious brothers who are pursuing studies in Washington, D.C. Located at 3112 7th Street, NE in the city's Brookland neighborhood, it is run by the Balti ...

, for training western candidates. The date of canonical suppression at St. Mary's College is January 21, 1969. The school's campus and buildings were sold later that year to a group called Berean Christian Schools who hoped to use the facility as a private school. In 1975, the campus evolved into a private university preparatory school called

Grenville Christian College Grenville Christian College is a former private boarding school located in the rural community of Maitland, some northeast of Brockville, Ontario, on the bank of the St. Lawrence River. " The independent university preparatory school was comp ...

. Grenville Christian College operated for 37 years and closed its doors in July 2007 due to declining enrollment.

References

External links

St. Mary's College - alumni website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's College, Brockville Educational institutions established in 1918 Catholic secondary schools in Ontario Education in Brockville High schools in Leeds and Grenville United Counties Educational institutions disestablished in 1969 1918 establishments in Ontario