A chapel in Lachine will soon cease to be a sanctuary for the Sisters of Saint Anne congregation in Lachine.
It is part of the 112-year-old convent that will be converted to low-income housing, something that the nuns have been working on for a couple of years now.
The plan is to have about 350 apartments of up to three bedrooms, most of which will be for elderly people over 75 years old. There will also be units for others with reduced mobility.
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At one time, there were more than 300 people living in the convent, but the decision was made to sell the property now. It is too big for the remaining 180 nuns, most of whom are over 80 years old.
“It’s like old people,” smiles Dupuis. “When their house is too big, what do they do? They move to a smaller apartment! So it’s the same for us.”
Their aim was not to make a huge profit from the sale. Instead, they are trying to achieve something which is simply a continuation of their mission.
A new smaller residence is to be built next to the current one where the nuns can live out the rest of their days. The entire project is expected to be completed by 2021.
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