François
de Laval was born in Montigny-sur-Avre, France. He became the apostolic
vicar of New France by order of King Louis XIV, nourishing a great
devotion to the Holy Family and promoting that devotion throughout North
America.
When he
founded the Society of Priests of the Seminary of Quebec on March 26,
1663, under the name of "Seminary for the Foreign Missions," he
established it in Quebec City under the patronage of the Holy Family.
On
September 15, 1664, Bishop Laval erected the first parish of Quebec and
of North America, under the title of the Immaculate Conception of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, to which he associated the seminary.
On the
occasion of one of his trips to France in 1684, Bishop Laval made a
request to Pope Innocent XI for the authorization to institute a feast
day in honor of the Holy Family, to be celebrated each year in his
diocese. When it was granted, he had a special Mass composed for the
feast. In 1921, Pope Benedict XV extended the feast to the universal
Church.
The Feast of the Holy Family is still a major holy day in Quebec City.
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