By Barbara Leblanc

Everyone remembers the éclairs.

For 20 years, the cream-filled pastries emerged daily from a bakery run by the Sisters of Saint Joan of Arc in the basement of Alumni Hall.

"You couldn't beat Sister Margaret's éclairs," said Abbot Matthew Leavy, O.S.B. "In fact, I don't eat them anymore, anywhere."

Those pastries seem to symbolize decades of cooking, cleaning, laundry, sewing, and caring by the sisters, whose dedication was celebrated this summer along with the order's 75th anniversary at Saint Anselm College.

On June 23, 10 sisters and 17 monks boarded a bus bound for the order's motherhouse outside Quebec City. There, they participated in Vespers and solemn Mass, and shared songs, stories, and memories. At least 40 sisters who now live in the motherhouse once worked at Saint Anselm. They include Sr. Corinne Quirion, a 93-year-old founding member of the college's convent.

"It was just beautiful. Unforgettable," said Sr. Therese Poirier, S.J.A., superior of the convent at Saint Anselm. "The sisters there talked about it for a long time."

The French-speaking Sisters of Saint Joan of Arc arrived at Saint Anselm on June 24, 1928. The order had been established 14 years before to handle domestic work in the rectories, freeing priests for ministry and prayer.

Eight sisters took up residence in what is now Bradley House. Not only were they to care for the 23 priests and 12 brothers who then lived in the monastery , they had to feed the college's 250 students, as well.

In the early years, the college had a farm with gardens and livestock. Sr. Theresa Levesque, S.J.A., remembers sisters making cottage cheese and churning butter. Meals reflected the order's French Canadian roots, including pork pies, pea soup, and chilled pork pie filling on toast, said Sr. Theresa.

When they were no longer needed to make student meals, the sisters turned their attention to pastries, under the direction of Sr. Margaret Rousseau. That sweet tradition lasted until the late 1980s and the construction of the Davison Hall dining hall.

"They'd make 75 pies for one meal," said Sr. Theresa.

Four sisters still work in the monastery kitchen. And Sr. Theresa—who has been at the college longer than anyone in the community—makes, repairs, and launders the monks' habits, as she  has for 57 years.

Her little black book contains the secret measurements of all the monks. She reveals that waist sizes once ranged from about 36 to 52 inches—until one monk lost weight. "She has our number," said Abbot Matthew.

"I can keep up with them," she says with a laugh.

The number of sisters has dwindled from a high of more than 22 to the house's founding number, eight. For them, the trip to Quebec was a chance to relive the vibrant times.

To the sisters, Abbot Matthew, who conceived the two-day event in Quebec, says, "Let us all be grateful to God for all He has accomplished through your many decades of care and service at Saint Anselm. Merci!"