Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1920-2002 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
1m of textual records
Context area
Name of creator
Archival history
Records were transferred from novitiate to congregational archives 1989-2011.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
This series consists of the records created at the Novitiate, the residence for postulants and novices training for a missionary life as a Sister of Service. The Vocations section documents the promotion material designed to attract candidates. The Formation section evolved after the Second Vatican Council and depicts an informal program for women discerning a religious life as a Sister of Service.
The first Novitiate was established in 1922 at the Motherhouse at 2 Wellesley Place, which became overcrowded within five years. For a larger novitiate, benefactor Theresa Small, wife of missing theatre magnate Ambrose Small, purchased the 20-room mansion of Sir Casmir Gzowski at 60 Glen Road which was within sight of her own large home on the same street in Rosedale, a socially-prominent residential area of Toronto.
From 1927 until 1970, young women entered the Novitiate for up to three years in a fixed regimen, studying theology, learning the rules and customs of the community and preparing for service in the Canadian missions.
By the end of the 1960s, the decline of vocations prompted the 1970 sale of the Glen Road house. A smaller house was rented on Willard Avenue in the city’s west end for the next five years. To reflect the changes since the Second Vatican Council, candidates for religious life resided in an informal manner under the term of Formation, attending varied courses to upgrade their education in teaching, social work or nursing courses or working in the city. The three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience were replaced with a vow/promise of service to God and humanity.
Some women interested in the SOS often stayed for a weekend. In the summer of 1975, a house in the same area of Toronto was rented at 286 Runnymede Road. By May 1976 and with only two sisters in residence, the decision was made to relocate the Novitiate in July to 12 Montcrest Blvd., the house adjacent to the Motherhouse. In 1997, the last woman in formation left the community, and the vocations and formation programmes were discontinued.
The series is divided into the following subseries:
- Novitiate
- Vocations
- Formation
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
No future accruals expected.
System of arrangement
Series arrangement not altered from received arrangement except where related folders were combined into a single intellectual file. These are indicated at the file level by the previous identifier.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Access is open, with the exception of the list of inquiries and non-permanent members, which are indicated at file level.
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Dates of creation revision deletion
Created by F Rousselle, 4 November 2024.
Revised by F Rousselle, Nov 13 2025.
Language(s)
Script(s)
Sources
Archival History and Content descriptions by MC Havey, congregational archivist, and inherited upon USMC transfer.