Father Laurent Alarie, a member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI), commonly known as simply the Oblates or OMI, and the longest-serving pastor in the history of St. Lawrence Roman Catholic Church in Thompson, Manitoba, died in Winnipeg March 16 at the age of 98.
The funeral Mass for Father Alarie will take place March 24 at 1:30 p.m. at Despins Residence at 151 Despins St. in Winnipeg, followed by burial in Saint-Boniface Cemetery.
Father Alarie was a retired member of OMI Lacombe Canada’s District Taché, based in Winnipeg, where he lived. He was born in 1925 in Sainte Agathe, Manitoba. Father Alarie took his first vows on Aug. 15, 1947, and was ordained June 15, 1952. He served in the missions of Lestock, Sandy Bay and Fort Alexander before teaching in Winnipeg at the newly-opened Assiniboia Residential School on Academy Road. An old army barracks, it was converted into the first Catholic high school meant exclusively for Indigenous students in Manitoba and opened in June of 1958 in Winnipeg. More than 750 Indigenous students from across Manitoba, Saskatchewan and northwestern Ontario were sent to live at the school between 1958 and 1973. Father Alarie taught and served as school counsellor and later principal there between 1958 and 1973, when it closed its doors. He was then posted to Fort Frances, Ontario where he served as a curate, missionary and priest at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church from 1974 to 1987.
He became pastor of St. Lawrence Roman Catholic Church in Thompson in 1988 and remained until 2001.
Les Oblats de Marie Immaculée, or the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI), established their first mission in the present day Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Keewatin-Le Pas at Ile-À-la-Crosse, now known as Beauval, Saskatchewan, in 1860.
The archdiocese takes in takes in some 430,000 square kilometres and stretches across the northern parts of three province – Saskatchewan, Manitoba and a small portion of Northwestern Ontario. The farthest point west is La Loche, Saskatchewan, near the Alberta border. The farthest point north is Lac Brochet here in Manitoba and the farthest point east is Sandy Lake in Northwestern Ontario.
Eugene de Mazenod founded the Oblates order in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France. Pope Leo XII approved the new congregation on Feb. 17, 1826. De Mazenod served as Bishop of Marseille and was elected superior general of the Oblates. He was canonized a saint by St. Pope John Paul II on Dec. 3, 1995.
He retired from St. Lawrence in September 2001 at the age of 76. There was a large community celebration to mark the occasion nine months later in June 2002 at St. Joseph’s Ukrainian Catholic Hall, across the road from St. Lawrence. Entertainment was provided by the choir, volunteers who performed a skit, and the late Sister Andrea Dumont, and her square dance troupe.
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