by Fred Williams pg 108 More Big Hill Country 2009
As a Franciscan Friar, I was assigned to the Retreat Team at Mount Saint Francis Retreat in October of 1960. I spent only one year at this posting, but came back in 1966 for three more years, then again for seven years from 1971 to 1978. A final posting was in 1990, though not on the Retreat Team.
The Franciscan Order was established in 1223 by St. Francis of Assisi in Italy. The Order spread rapidly throughout Europe. These Friars served as chaplains aboard many of the ships coming to the New World at the time of John Cabot, Champlain and Christopher Columbus. The first Franciscans took up residence in Quebec in 1615. Today the Franciscan Order is found in nearly every part of the world. Land northeast of the town of Cochrane was purchased in 1948 from the McConachie family, and Mount Saint Francis Retreat Centre was opened in 1949. It was known then as “The Just Home Guest Ranch”. Charles W. Fisher, a prominent Cochrane merchant, who owned the first general store in town, built the original sandstone house in 1907. A historical note is that Mr. Fisher was elected to the Alberta Legislature when Alberta first became a province in 1905. He became Alberta’s first Speaker in the House. His portrait hangs in the Legislative Building in Edmonton.
Mount Saint Francis Retreat was established to see to the spiritual needs of Roman Catholics of the Diocese of Calgary in southern Alberta. It was the first such Centre in western Canada. Fr. Timothy Gilker, O.F.M. became the founding Director. Most retreats are held on weekends from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon. There are guided retreats with a series of spiritual conferences on a theme. People have private rooms where they can reflect on these talks, or can do so in the chapel, library, and lounge or in summer out on the vast lawn area. The Retreat Team is also available for spiritual direction. As noted already, the Centre was originally meant for Roman Catholics. By the end of the 1960’s, people of other Christian faiths were attending the retreats, mostly Anglicans, United Church and Lutherans. Annual retreats for the clergy of these churches are a regular occurrence. Their own clergy conducts these retreats. When I returned in 1971 for my third posting at The Mount (as it is affectionately called), the Friars were conducting a few retreats for members of Alcoholics Anonymous. I am delighted to say when I left in 1978 on sabbatical we had nine retreats annually for these members, including several for spouses (Al-Anon). Eventually, retreats were held for professional businessmen and women, for married couples and for high school students. Marriage Encounter Calgary had its first weekends at The Mount in 1973. When the Retreat Centre celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 1999 over 100,000 people had made these retreats at The Mount. It really became a spiritual oasis for the people of southern Alberta.
Two historical notes about Mount Saint Francis need to be stated here. The first is that when the Retreat Centre was established in 1949, the land was being used as a ranch. The Friars did not let that part of its history slide by. The ranch was maintained. We used to run about 100 head of cattle, 200 hogs and 200 or so chickens. There used to be a five-acre vegetable garden. When the Friars boasted about fresh food on the table for the retreatants, back then most of it came from right off the land. We were able to run a ranch because a good number of the early Friars came off the farms of western Canada to join the Franciscan Order. Local ranchers, too, pitched in with work and advice. One very notable rancher of the Cochrane area was Mr. Lloyd Dolen, who helped annually with our branding of the cattle. The second historical note would involve directly townspeople from Cochrane. In 1968, the Franciscan authorities decided to move our Postulants
(those beginning training in the Order), to Regina. We no longer had the availability of these young men to help run the Centre from a practical side. It would also lead to the demise of the ranching at The Mount. So, we had to start hiring people from the town of Cochrane. Among the first were members of the Roy Buckler family. Iris and Bernice came to wait on tables for the retreatants. Roy was a master carpenter for us when it came to fixing things. Dot Patterson and Jean Mitchell were among the first to do cleaning of the retreat area. Mary McArthur also helped in the cleaning and then moved into helping with kitchen work. Mary has now been associated with The Mount for over thirty years. She is still on staff.
To conclude, Mount Saint Francis Retreat has had a long association with the town of Cochrane. When the Franciscans arrived in 1949, Cochrane had a mere population of about 250 people. As the Centre grew, a lot of purchasing had to be done in town. Then, there are the thousands of people who have come to Cochrane due to the location of the Retreat Centre. It is hard to say what will happen in the future for Mount Saint Francis as the ranks of the Franciscans are diminishing and few young men today are corning along to replace the ageing Friars. We hope and pray for the best for this spiritual oasis here in southern Alberta.
In the early seventies i would drop off clothing as a gift to the brothers and in return i would enjoy a lovely lunch in return,,provided by the sisters… many great memories..