Pierre tombale du père Alexis Bélanger dans la crypte de l'Église de St-Roch-des-Aulnaies
C'est grâce à Nancy Nolette de Rocklin, CA, É.U.A. et Pauline Nolette d'Ottawa, sa cousine,
L'importance d'Alexis Bélanger était telle qu'un fond a été créé"Now that in Newfoundland, the faith of Catholics is being challenged in so many directions,
it may be well for us to remember with how much suffering and zeal the faith was originally
planted on our soil. Among the main architects of this "temple of the Lord" were a whole phalanx
of zealous priests who laboured under the most appalling conditions to bring the consolations
of the faith to their people. It is sad to think that the majority of present-day Catholics
have probably never even heard the names of many of these men. In the next few issues of
The Monitor we would like to recall for our readers some of these heroes of the past.
One of these is Father Alexis Bélanger, the pioneer apostle of the west coast."
"His last voyage was in 1868 to Bay of Islands which he had previously visited five years earlier.
Except when an occasional merchant could be found to accommodate him, he lived in small
fishing huts on the shore where people from all around came to seek his spiritual help.
So exhausted was he at this stage that even when baptizing a few children he had to take
frequent rests.""Eventually he set out on the hundred-mile journey back to Sandy Point huddled in the
uncomfortable cabin of an old fishing schooner. Arrived at Sandy Point he took to his bed
and the people were shocked to discover four or five days later that he had died with no one
to attend him.""Knowing that there was no possibility of obtaining a priest from St. John's for the burial
service and unfamiliar the proper procedure for the burial of a priest, the parishioners took
the difficult decision of conveying his body the six hundred mile journey to Quebec.
For this purpose his body was preserved in salt, a vessel was chartered and an honour guard
of four men accompanied his remains to their final resting place. There he was buried with due
ceremony in the church grounds of St. Roch des Aulnaies, his native parish."
"L'abbé Alexis Bélanger a fait don au Collège d'un montant d'argent dont les intérêts devaient servir à des élèves dans le besoin. Ce contrat était valide pour une période de 20 ans, avec la fondation de l'Oeuvre Saint-Charles en 1934. Tous ces dons et prêts à fonds perdus ont été regroupés pour venir en aide aux élèves désireux de fréquenter le Collège et qui pourraient en être empêchés à cause d'une situtation financière difficile". Adrien Vaillancourt