Garin, André
GARIN, ANDRÉ
Missionary; b. Côte-Saint-André, Isère, France, May 7, 1822; d. Lowell, Mass., Feb. 16, 1895. After studies in the local seminary of his birthplace, he entered the Oblates of Mary Immaculate on Nov. 1, 1842 and was sent to Canada to be ordained on April 25, 1845, in Montreal by Bp. I. Bourget. Garin's 12 years as a missionary to the Native Americans from the Saguenay to Hudson Bay and Labrador were filled with hardships, but also with great apostolic achievement. When he went to Springfield, Mass., in October 1866 to preach a mission for Canadians, he attracted the attention of Bp. J. J. Williams of Boston, who invited the Oblates to found a parish in Lowell for Franco-Americans. Within a month after Garin and a companion visited Lowell on April 19, 1868 to explore the question, the bishop bought a former Unitarian chapel, naming it St. Joseph's. Three other churches were built under Garin's direction during his 27 years in Lowell. Two years after his death, the parishioners honored him by erecting a statue of him.
Bibliography: Missions de la Congrégation des Missionaires Oblats de Marie-Immaculée (Paris 1862) 7.
[t. f. casey]