The Girouxville people, as well as those in Donnelly, wanted a church. Those who had taken land west of Girouxville had a long way to go to mass in Falher.
So they decided there was no major problem; they would go into the bush as lumberjacks to get wood. After a few months of work, the men figured that they had enough logs so they decided to saw these logs and to leave the wood to dry for one year. They piled the wood in a large lot near Dréau (the original Girouxville). All seemed to go well and everyone seemed happy. They even had a plan for the church (drawn up by Mr. Philias Maisonneuve). In the spring the farmers seeded their fields and did what was needed on their land., but one day some felt that the piles of wood in Dréau were getting smaller. So they decided to watch more closely…One evening at twilight a truck was seen with three men charging up the wood…for the Falher church; in the meantime, Father Falher was collecting everyone for the Falher church.
One morning the priest arrived at Mr. Fillion’s place and said that his friend Edouard Cimon had given $100.00 and that Mr. Fillion should give as much. Mr. Fillion, known as a very generous man, (ex. When Donnelly rebuilt their church in 1951, Mr. Fillion gave a quarter section of land or $5000.00) so Mr. Fillion gave him $100.00 then Father Falher went to my father and told him that Mr. Fillion had given $100.00 and that he could do as much…so Father Falher left with $200.00. The Falher parish had their wood from Girouxville and now the Donnelly people were being collected . (N.B. My father never mentioned this; he never said a word against the clergy. We learned about this much later.)
During this time, Father Falher wanted that there be only one large parish with a big church, and that the surrounding villages be considered missions and that all tithes from these missions would go to the Falher church….Tithes from the farmers were $8.00 for the first quarter section of land and $4.00 for each additional quarter section.
In general things went well, except for one person. One day, Mrs. Philias Maisonneuve told her husband to go to the Bishop in Grouard to tell him what was happening. Finally Mr. Maisonneuve with two other men from Donnelly, Adélard Pariseau, and Adrien Coté went to see Bishop Grouard. They reached the Grouard diocese rectory and were received by Father Falher, who asked them what they wanted. Mr. Maisonneuve asked to see Bishop Grouard; Bishop Grouard who was behind Father Falher said, “I want to see them.” Father Falher, the Bishop’s secretary was surprised and said in a harsh tone to Bishop Grouard “Go to bed!” Not one word was added in explanation. This was the end of the visit…the three Donnelly men were flabbergasted and left to go back to their car.
Things did not go well, but I must admit that sometimes I am surprised at the faith of these Catholics who said little, yet accepted a lot.
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