History

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The religious order of the Dominicaines des Saints-Anges Gardiens was founded in 1905, in the insular town of Korcula, in Croatia. In the early 1950's, on account of the geopolitical context in Croatia, the religious order found itself in a precarious situation. In 1952, when Father Roméo Demers, director of the Société de Réhabilitation, took the necessary steps to recruit a religious order to contribute to the charitable organization, the opportunity and the context were favorable to the calling of the Dominicaines des Saints-Anges Gardiens. On their arrival in Sherbrooke on 17 October 1953, the nuns gradually took charge of different services, providing care first for the children and later for the elderly.

From 1953 to 1965, the nuns served at Val-du-Lac. In 1954, they set up the first nursery. Between 1955 and 1962, they were in charge of the Hôpital Saint-Louis in Windsor. From 1965 to 1971, they took charge of the Centre Notre-Dame de l'Enfant. During those years, the Dominicaines des Saints-Anges Gardiens established the Foyer Saint-Frédéric in Windsor. As of 1971, the sisters received their first boarders at Mont Saint-Dominique in Sherbrooke. From 1980 to 1996, the nuns also operated the Résidence Bienheureuse Hozanna, and the Résidence Sainte-Catherine-de-Sienne from 1981 to 1998.

During their presence in Sherbrooke and Windsor, the Dominicaines des Saints-Anges Gardiens have  served for nearly sixty years in the Sherbrooke archdiocese. Following the sale of Mont Saint-Dominique in 2012, the last sisters left the area for Crotia.