This lighter covered with mother-of-pearl belonged to Msgr. François-Xavier Saint-Arnaud.

Born in Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade, Quebec on November 29, 1902, François-Xavier Saint-Arnaud was the son of Exaurée Baril and Colonel Eugène Saint-Arnaud. After attending the Séminaire Saint-Joseph de Trois-Rivières, he turned to the priesthood and was ordained in 1930. He began his ecclesiastical career as a vicar in the Très-Saint-Sacrement de Trois-Rivières parish (1930-1932). He later held the same position in the Immaculate Conception parish. Sent on a mission to the Philippines from 1933 to 1938, he organized the teaching of religion there in public schools. In addition, during his stay in the East, he became the secretary to Msgr. Guglielmo Piani, an apostolic delegate responsible for promoting missionary action around the world.

Upon returning to Trois-Rivières in 1938, he took up his vicariate again at the cathedral until August 1939, then turned to teaching at the Grand Séminaire de Trois-Rivières. He kept this job as a teacher until August 1952, when he entered the priesthood of the Trois-Rivières cathedral. The following October, he was named domestic prelate, and on January 29, 1953, titular canon of the cathedral chapter.

During his apostolic career, Msgr. Saint-Arnaud held the chaplaincies of a multitude of Catholic action movements. The people of Trois-Rivières owe to him, among other achievements, the establishment of Parc Pie XII and the foundations of the city’s recreation system, including the establishment of the Office des terrains de jeux.

Msgr. Saint-Arnaud died on March 12, 1988.

Donation from the estate of F.-X. Saint-Arnaud
Musée Pierre-Boucher Collection
1989 1746 C