The following biography was obtained from the Archives of the Grey Nuns, Saint Boniface, Manitoba.  Translation from French was provided by Jo-Anne Allison and Odile LeFloch (Thanks to Beryl Nesbit!). 

note: Sister Flore Martel died December 23, 1951

The only child of Ulphie Cossette of Champlain, Quebec and Zoe Martel his wife, a teacher from Three Rivers, Marie-Flore was born March 21, 1870 in Holy Cross (Wild Rice, N.D.) but only baptized the following May 3^rd.  She was only 1.5 years old when her dear mother died of pneumonia at the age of 30.  Her father was employed by the Hudson’s Bay Company.  He was a trapper in the great north and because of his travels became friends with the great Bishops Tache, Lafleche and Faraud, Missionary Oblates, as well as our Sisters especially Sister Ward, whom we hold in sacred memory.  When Mr. Cossette was widowed it was through the intersession of Monseigneur Tache, that he was able to place his little daughter Flore as a boarding student at our school in St. Boniface.  This happened on November 21, 1873. Following the example of the little Virgin of Nazareth, the little girl at the age of 3 entered the blessed institution that she would only leave to consecrate herself to God’s service.  The Sisters called her their little gift and it was a pleasure for them to take the place of her dear departed mother.

            Flore soon revealed a genuine talent for singing and music.  One night she sat down at the piano and under agile fingers banged out an awful din of discordant and hurried notes.  Sr. Marie-Anne interrupted her hullabaloo and told her to come and eat but the little girl responded, “You go and eat, I am playing the piano.”  A few days later there was a meeting at the school and Flore, who was just old enough to stand, was part of the choir.  All on her own she tapped out the beat evenly and with unusual confidence.  Monseigneur Tache, who was in the audience, couldn’t help himself and took her in his arms and turned her towards the audience, which broke out in applause.  By the age of nine, she participated in charity concerts which were held in the cathedral.  One day she was on stage with a group of players and because she was so small she perched on a ladder and sang in both French and English with such confidence that everyone in the audience was filled with wonder.

            On May 24, 1879, when she was nine, Flore made her first communion and was confirmed by Monseigneur Tache.  This was an extraordinary happening in that age when Jansenism (a doctrine challenging the traditional view of grace and original sin) was all the rage.   Flore continued her studies and obtained a diploma in both English and French language studies.  In this way horizons were opened up for this young girl.  She was kind hearted, reliable, intelligent, possessing a good education and sound musical training and with the voice of a nightingale.  She could have shone in the world pursuing a brilliant and successful career in the theater.  There is nothing to indicate that she did not dream of this.  However, she refused offers from sympathetic society women who offered her singing lessons.  Rather she responded, “I will consecrate the voice God gave me to him entirely.”  She made a pledge.  She was religious and with few exceptions she never wanted to sing of worldly things.  The exceptions were “L’Envers du ciel” (about the sky) and “Les Sourires du bon Dieu” (the smiles of Our Lord) and some other songs with edifying content.  This young girl was not vain about her appearance and never wanted to accept pretty dresses that were offered from outside the convent even though they were sneaked passed the nuns.  One day when Flore was supposed to sing at a charity concert a woman took the liberty of curling her hair.  She gave the woman complete liberty to do what she wanted and then she wet her hair and appeared on stage with it all smoothed down.  Her song that day had an engaging sweetness.

            Flore was not insensitive, far from it!  She suffered a lot from not having known the joys of family life.  Once she confided to a friend, “Whenever I saw boarders going off to their homes I felt a profound nostalgia.  How many secret tears did I cry!  One day when I thought I was alone in the chapel, I knelt in front of the statue of the Virgin Mary and I cried my eyes out.  I was even sobbing. Monseigneur Tache who was reciting his daily office let me cry but when I left the chapel he called to me and I opened my heart to him.  He listened patiently, gave me encouragement and made me understand that the good Lord had plans for me.”  He said “There are many beautiful things in the world.  There are those from whom the divine master requires absolute devotion.  Listen to me my girl, forget about your family and your father’s house.  Come and follow me.”  “I would slip away from my teachers so that they wouldn’t see me cry, they were so kind to me.  They guessed all my desires and the warm atmosphere they created for me made me forget the joys of the family life that I never knew.  Who can give the sisters the honour they so richly deserve?”

            On December 8, 1887 Mademoiselle Flore Cossette entered the Manitoba novitiate of her former teachers.  On the following July 7^th she assumed the name of Sr. Martel, the patron saint of Reverend Mother d’Youville.  In spite of her devotion, the young novice caused the Reverend Mother and her superiors some disquiet.  She slept all the time “even during holy mass while waiting to sing her solo,” said some elder sisters.  Would it be necessary to send back such a loyal and faithful novice?  It was decided that a change of climate would do her good and so one evening without preamble the reverend Mother announced that one of the novices would be sent to the Mother House for the second year of her novitiate.  This caused great agitation.  They all asked themselves, “Is it me Lord?” “Sr. Martel you will leave in a few days with Sr. Payette who is returning to the east.”  “Thank you Mother’” replied the young novice.  But in her heart she wondered and worried.  “What will become of me?” The sacrifices made by this young novice in the face of the unknown were no doubt eased by the confidence she had in her superiors. She understood that this important step had been decided for her well being.  Sr. Martel was fraternally welcomed by her new teachers and companions who, in order to soften the sacrifice of her novitiate, introduced her most cordially to the routines of the Mother House.

            On August 22, 1890 she had the happiness of consecrating herself to the Lord.  After a few days rest she was sent to the Nazareth Institute to further her study of music and on April 9, 1892 the young teacher returned to the Manitoba novitiate in order to  give music and voice lessons to students at the St. Boniface boarding school.  It was thus until 1898 when the boarding school became an orphanage.

            Apart from a few months at St. Norbert, Manitoba and two years at St. Albert, Alberta, Sr. Martel spent from 1921 to 1944 at the Tache Hospice where she was in charge of singing, the admission of orphans and the visiting room.  The singing!  The dear sister skillfully managed this until her energies were exhausted.  It is remarkable that she kept her pure, liquid voice until old age.  It was Sr. Martel who inaugurated Gregorian chant at the Tache Hospice.  It is also she who alternated the orphans and the sisters singing at high mass and at vespers.  It was reported that often His Excellency Monseigneur Beliveau eavesdropped in the sacristy, listening to the Gregorian melodies that Sr. Martel rendered with piety, rhythm and perfection.   One of the orphans wrote, “Sr. Martel’s voice was a prayer that always stayed in the souls of those who heard her sing.”  As for Sr. Martel, she was never arrogant about her voice because she had learned from childhood that this was simply a gift from God. 

            What can one say about the tender solicitude of Sr. Martel for the orphans?  She very well understood the dear children who, just like her, had been denied the affection of their parents.  Did she discover their talents?  When she did, she set herself the task of placing the children in one of our boarding schools.  Due to her zeal the Tache Hospice was responsible for producing a number of fervent religious, teachers and good mothers.  What a shock for Sr. Martel on June 22, 1935 when it was announced that the orphans were leaving Tache Hospice and being moved to the convent at St. Norbert.  Given that these children would still be with the Grey Nuns and that they could more easily complete their education there, she reconciled herself to their departure.  Even though they were gone she continued to be interested in each and every one of the children.  Monseigneur Leonide Primeau wrote, “It would take a whole article to document the care Sr. Martel directed towards generations of young women who benefited from her kind attention.”

Housekeeper for many years at Tache Hospice and later at the Provincial House Sr. Martel conducted herself in a grave, delicate and discrete manner.  In the last years of her life she continued to work on behalf of the poor.  How many rosaries did she pray!  How many boxes did she prepare for the benefit of the churches and their bazaars?  Those who benefited from her solicitude must have such grateful memories!

            On March 27, 1940, in the middle of Easter celebrations, Sr. Martel feted celebrated the golden anniversary of her final vows as a religious sister.  A few weeks later she took a trip to her beloved Mother House, an experience she re-lived in 1944.  In that year (1944) Sr. Martel made her trip home (to the Mother House) with the intension of finishing her days there.  She was received with open arms.  She took part in the annual retreat, went to visit her mother’s parents in Trois Rivieres, and was admitted to the senior sisters’ residence.  However, believing that she was still too active to confine herself to what she viewed as a sick room, she requested permission to return to her beloved St. Boniface to again take up the role of housekeeper.

            It was at the Provincial House on July 14, 1950 that she celebrated her diamond jubilee.  Invited with her co-celebrant Sister St. Sabine to perform at a concert in their honour, Sr. Martel sang like she did when she was 15.  “I honour you sainted and blessed Mother” and “When you call me to your celestial home.”  Sister Sabine accompanied her on the piano.  It was very touching.

            Life continued for the dear octogenarian who had only two worries; one was intensifying her intimate relationship with God and the other equally noble; taking care of those around her.  Every night it was her pleasure to visit the sick for whom she recited prayers and sang.  On December 23, 1951 she sang “O Come Divine Messiah.”  Her voice was still so strong and powerful that one couldn’t help saying, “But you sing like a youngster.”  It was the song of a swan!  That night she started to pray the rosary as usual with her fellow sisters but had to go to her room where she was put to bed.  At approximately 7pm she tried to get up to get some medicine but she collapsed and was transported to the infirmary. The Honourable Sr. Flora St. Croix, Mother Provincial, stayed at her bedside until 9pm when she left because Sr. Martel seemed better.  Less than two hours later her room mate Sr. Olivine Magnan noticed a change for the worse in Sr. Martel’s condition.  She called the nurse, who urgently called Mother Provincial.  Monseigneur Abbot Massicotte was also called and he performed Extreme Unction and Indulgence In Articulo Mortis.  Sr. Martel found comfort in these rituals.  Her soul departed the earth to be joined with the Lord at 11:40pm on this the anniversary of Mother Youville’s death. Sr. Flore Martel was in her 88^th year of life and 61^st year of religious life.  Her cousin Monseigneur H. Lapointe, P.D. performed the funeral service however her grave was not ready because of the intense cold.  Her wake was held at Tache Hospice where she had spent the most fulfilling years of her life.

            Do you think that Sr. Martel died without knowing her father?  God does not miss an opportunity to be generous.  A few years after her final vows Sr. Martel had the pleasure of visiting her father’s house.  Her father had remarried when she was seven years old.  Eleven children were born of this second marriage, five boys and six girls, whom she loved as her brothers and sisters.  She paid attention to them and was interested in their lives until her dying day.  Mr. Cossette was his family’s patriarch; a good man of important stature; his children admired and venerated him.  All knew that God came first under his roof.  The rosary was never missed and evening prayer was said by the whole family.  Even though the house was far from church, Mr. Cossette made sure he took his children to Holy Mass every Sunday.  Coarseness and criticism of the priest were not tolerated at home. Mr. Cossette was a conscientious father who did not go to bed until all his children were safely home.  On this he never compromised.  He was fortunate in his choice of wife.  She was a good woman of which he and Sr. Martel, his first born, were justly proud.

            To all the survivors of this Catholic family as well as Monseigneur Lapointe, P.D. we express our most sincere sympathies. 

Other References

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