On November 6th, 2025, a glorious history came to an end: the chapel of the Ursulines in the city of Quebec was deconsecrated.
The Ursulines first arrived in New France in 1639, founded by Saint Mary of the Incarnation, and their monastery became the first institution for the teaching of women in all of North America (north of New Spain).
They survived the bitter cold, famine, wars, the British conquest, the upheavals of the American Revolution, the two world wars in which Canada played so noble a part -- they survived everything, except Vatican II.
Vatican II, and the huge part it played in the secular "Silent Revolution" that destroyed the Catholic soul of French Canada. With Vatican II, the habits and veils went away, and emptiness triumphed.
Some remaining Ursulines will remain in the city, but their chapel became too big in recent decades, and was deconsecrated. Tragic beyond belief, especially considering that female orders that kept Tradition have thrived.
Video by the Canadian public broadcaster below (in French, subtitles are available in English):
