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Echo from the Archives n°3

E eventThursday, 28 March 2024

The main focus of the Archives’ news is the move to the new room, located on the second floor. This issue of the Echo from the Archives offers you a tour of the room, which will allow you to preserve the documents in better conditions. The move of the documents will take months as we are taking the opportunity to make an inventory of all the documents and to digitize this inventory. This will make the research work much easier in the future. External help was planned, but the world situation is delaying this. Sister Marie Claude and Sister Véronique are therefore working on preparing the boxes and organizing them. Some Sisters from the Auteuil Community also helped with the material preparation of the boxes. Thanks to all of you!

The furnishing of the new hall

A strong cupboard, which protects against fire. In this cupboard will be kept our most precious documents: the 12,000 original letters of Marie Eugenie, written in her own hand; the original registers in which the first Sisters wrote and signed their profession formula; the workbooks on the first constitutions, corrected by Marie Eugenie and Therese Emmanuel.

A movable piece of furniture. It saves a lot of space and allows the storage of a maximum of documents by saving the space of the corridors. You have to turn your big wheel to access the documents! It’s fun! Classic floors. They are reserved for more used or more recent documents. The coloured boxes make them look cheerful! Large cabinets with sturdy shelves. They will hold photo albums, larger and heavier documents.

The packaging of Mother Marie Eugenie’s letters

Corinne Blanc, the lay person who belongs to the international team, came to spend a few days in Auteuil to begin the safekeeping of Marie Eugenie’s letters: each letter is wrapped in a special paper, PH neutral to reduce acidity. A sheet of this same paper is slipped between each sheet of letters. Some letters can contain up to 10 pages! We have also already prepared the Education Tips and the Intimate Notes. This gave us a lot of emotion. This has allowed the Sisters present in the house to come and see the originals with their own eyes.

The museum project

The room on the first floor, when it is empty, will become a museum which is intended to be an interactive place, carrying the history of the Congregation from its origins to the unfolding of the charism in the Provinces. In addition to the various souvenirs of our Mothers (rings, books, rosaries, etc.), the Archives team would like it to become a resource place for Sisters passing through, with the possibility of interactive research. Do not hesitate to let us know your dreams for this museum. Some of them may come true! You can also send us pictures of installations you have seen in other museums and that you liked! You will soon receive a more precise consultation to co-construct this project.

Archive documents on the new site of the Congregation

You may have explored the Archive Documents section of the new Congregation’s web page. We want to give you some keys to help you find your way around. The documents have been divided into two categories: the original documents (in the section entitled “XIXth”) and the later documents (in the section entitled “XXth-XXIst”). Many of them are open access. Feel free to explore. We will add documents little by little. If you wish to see a document that you cannot find, you can always submit it to the Archives, after checking that it is not in the “Resources” section.

Thank you for all the mails received in response to our work! Thank you also for your requests because they make the Archives live as a Resource Centre, which is their vocation.

Sister VÉRONIQUE THIÉBAUT

Archivist of the Congregation,

and the International Archives team