(From Robert Pichette’s Book appendix)

1902

April 3, Father Marcel‑François Richard, parish priest of Rogersville, N.B., aware of the anticlerical movement in France, invites the Cistercian monks of the Abbey of Our Lady of Bonnecombe, in the diocese of Rodez and Vabres, Department of the Aveyron, in France, to establish a refuge for their community in his parish.

September 1, Father Richard deeds a large personal property to the monks. It includes dilapidated farms buildings, a small, decrepit house, a sawmill and a grist mill situated near Tunnel Siding, on the Intercolonial railway.

October 12, six monks leave Bonnecombe for Canada. They are: Dom Antoine Piana (1859‑1938), superior, Father Jean Laguet (1868‑1916); Brother Marcellin Maillebuau. (1867‑1944); Brother Paul Ratier (1872‑1927); Brother Raphaël Boudet (born in 1871), and Brother Hippolyte Bru (1884‑1954).

October 31, the monks arrive by train in Rogersville.

November 1, the feast of All Saints, they take formal possession of the land and celebrate the first Office and Mass in their temporary monastery dedicated to Our Lady of Calvary.

1903

May 9, with the approval of the Most Reverend Thomas E Barry, bishop of Chatham, the monastery is incorporated by an Act of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick under the name The Model Farm and Agricultural School of Rogersville, N.B.

June, Dom Émile Lorne, Abbot of Bonnecombe, arrives in Rogersville with four monks: Brother Augustin Magne (1852‑1918); Brother Humbert Maistre (1873‑1938); Brother Célestin Chastan (1874‑1935), and Brother André Romieu. (1860‑1944).

Dom Émile draws up, on the spot, a rudimentary plan for a wooden chapel and a monastery, which are erected by the monks in a matter of a very short time.

November 1, on the first anniversary of their arrival, the monks move into their new monastery, built to accommodate fifty persons.

1904

May 3, Cistercian nuns from Our Lady of All Consolation, from Vaise (Lyon), France, arrive in Rogersville. Housed temporarily in the parish hall, the nuns move into the Cameron farmhouse on June 4.

July 12, Pope Leo XIII, at the request of Bishop Barry, gives canonical sanction to the elevation of the monks' monastery as a Cistercian priory.

• Second visit by Dom Émile Lorne, who brings four more monks to Rogersville: Father Stanislas Viguier (1838‑1917); Father TimothéeJaillet (1857‑1930); Brother Benoît Couronne (1838‑1905), and Brother Étienne Roques (born in 1885).

1905

• Third visit by Dom Émile Lorne.  The pontifical decree creating the monastery as a priory for canonical purposes is read in a solemn assembly, chaired by Msgr. Marcel‑François Richard, newly created as a Domestic Prelate of the papal household.

• July 25, Brother Benoît Couronne dies.

1907

Msgr. Richard visits Bonnecombe, accompanied by Father Patrick Dixon, parish priest at Newcastle. He is received ceremoniously and gratefully as the founder and benefactor of the Rogersville refuge.

1908

Pierre Comeau, from Petit‑Rocher, becomes the first Acadian novice. He is given the name of Brother Joseph (1865‑1943).

1912

August 15, Dom Antoine Piana, directs the recently formed Rogersville brass band on the occasion of the inauguration of a shrine dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption, erected by Msgr. Richard on the grounds of the church.

1915

June 18, Msgr. Richard dies and is buried in the crypt of the chapel built as a monument to Our Lady of the Assumption. The shrine is, to this day, a favoured pilgrimage site.

1918

May 25, Dom Émile Lorne dies in Bonnecombe.

1919

The monastery is faced with the threat of closure by Bonnecombe. Dom Antoine Piana goes to France and staves off the menace.

1921

September 18, the Cistercians' General Chapter decrees the holding of a special inquiry into the viability of the monastery.

1922

• September 15, the General Chapter adopts the recommendations formulated by the commission of inquiry and postpones for two years a final decision as to the future of the monastery.

• November 1, Dom Antoine Piana is replaced as prior by Dom Hippolyte Bru.

• November 16, fire destroys the mills as well as the bridge.

1923

September 14, the General Chapter orders a second extraordinary visit of the priory in order to take a final decision as to its future.

1924

September, the General Chapter maintains the priory as a refuge of Bonnecombe and authorizes the building of a permanent monastery.

1925

·        April 25, the reconstructed sawmill is destroyed by fire.

1926

During the night of July 25‑26, a demented novice sets fire to the barns, the smithy, the bakery, the carpenter's workshop and the apiary.

1927

• July 25 the comer‑stone of the new monastery is blessed and laid to mark the 25th anniversary of the arrival of the pioneers.

• October 6, Father Louis Daigle becomes the first Acadian recruit to be ordained to the priesthood, at Bonnecombe.

1930

• June 13, the professed monks make their vow of stability at Calvary.

• June 14, Dom Hippolyte Bru is elected first titular Prior.