Joseph Staub

After his ordination, Father Marie-Clément Staub was appointed sub-master of novices in Louvain from 1904 to 1906, then master of novices for the lay brothers in Gempe (Tielt-Winge) from 1906 to 1908. At the end of 1908, his superiors sent him to England to found the first Assumptionist minor seminary in London. It was during this time that he corresponded with Édith Royer, a French mystic devoted to the Sacred Heart. This spiritual encounter convinced him to propagate the Archconfraternity of Prayer and Penance of Montmartre, whose members commit to praying and doing penance for the salvation of souls.

In 1910, he was sent to the United States to teach and preach at Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts. It was in this city that he matured the project of founding a female religious congregation dedicated to the spiritual and material support of priests and religious. On December 31, 1914, he officially founded the congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joan of Arc in Worcester, in collaboration with Célina Benoît (in religion Sister Jeanne du Sacré-Cœur).

In order to give his foundation a Francophone base and to meet the pastoral needs of the Canadian clergy, Father Marie-Clément sought to establish the community in Quebec. In March 1917, he obtained authorization from Cardinal Louis-Nazaire Bégin, Archbishop of Quebec, to establish the Assumptionist Fathers and the Sisters of Saint Joan of Arc in the diocese. The community settled in Sillery (today a district of Quebec City). Father Marie-Clément also founded there the Canadian center of the Archconfraternity of Prayer and Penance, known as the "Canadian Montmartre."

Father Marie-Clément Staub dedicated the remainder of his life to the development of his congregation and to spiritual direction. A man of intense prayer and a zealous preacher, he tirelessly propagated devotion to the Sacred Heart and love for the liturgy. He passed away on May 16, 1936, in Sillery (Quebec), at the age of 59.

During his funeral, Cardinal Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Villeneuve, Archbishop of Quebec, paid him a solemn tribute by declaring to his spiritual daughters: "Your founder was a true priest, a holy priest, an ardent soul." His body rests in the crypt of the motherhouse of the Sisters of Saint Joan of Arc in Sillery, which quickly became a place of devotion and pilgrimage.

The cause for the beatification and canonization of Father Marie-Clément Staub was officially opened on January 6, 1966, by Cardinal Maurice Roy, Archbishop of Quebec. After the examination of his writings and his life by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the Positio was submitted in Rome. On April 3, 2014, Pope Francis authorized the publication of the decree recognizing the heroic nature of his virtues, thereby conferring upon him the title of Venerable.

The spirituality of the Venerable Marie-Clément Staub is deeply marked by devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, love for the Church and the priesthood, as well as a filial devotion to Saint Joan of Arc. He transmitted to his congregation a profound love for the liturgy, writing to his religious sisters of his desire to "make your life an essentially liturgical life."

Today, Father Staub's legacy continues through the congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joan of Arc, who pursue their mission of supporting the clergy and parochial apostolate in Canada and the United States. The sanctuary of the Canadian Montmartre in Quebec also remains an active spiritual center, bearing witness to his zeal for prayer and adoration.