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A life of ideals, charity, apostolate! Biography of Gilberte Côté-Mercier
by
Thérèse Tardif Mrs.
Gilberte Côté-Mercier would tell us: “If you became someone in life,
it is because of your parents.” And she had a great deal of veneration
for her father and her mother. Good parents
Gilberte
Côté-Mercier was born of very Catholic, just, and virtuous parents.
Her father, Rosario Côté, met his future wife four years before he
married her. She was a very pure young girl who learned about marital
obligations only at the time of the engagement. She kept this naivety
all her life. In the 50's, she told her daughter, upon seeing women so
badly dressed go by in the street: “These bad styles will lead us to great sufferings.” When
we see families destroyed, divorces, suicides, etc., we can but admit
that this prediction of Gilberte Côté's holy mother has unfortunately
been realized. If like Mrs. Côté, women had preserved their sense of
modesty and their purity by decent clothing, these great misfortunes
would have been avoided. It
was without a doubt to protect the virtue of both that Rosario Côté
abstained from keeping company with his future wife during the four
years preceding their marriage: “I
will come back only when I will be ready to marry you,” he
had told her. And he returned. Like a bird prepares its nest to receive
its young, in this manner Mr. Côté wanted to offer his spouse a
well-established home. He became a shoe manufacturer. Rosario Côté, 26 years of age, and Josephine Gariepy, aged 25, were married on June 26, 1907, in the church of the Immaculate Conception in Montreal. Sacrifice
of the first child The
Good Lord gave them a first born son who was baptized under the name of
Jean-Baptiste (John the Baptist). At birth, the child was in good
health, but after a time, he began to lose weight and become weak. The
doctor could not understand it. Mrs.
Côté, a great devotee of St. Joseph, went to the St. Joseph's Oratory
with her son to consult Brother Andre (beatified by John Paul II), a
miracle-worker, who miraculously cured the sick. But Brother Andre did
not cure Jean-Baptiste; instead he asked Mrs. Côté to offer to God her
son, her first-born. It was a big sacrifice for the young mother, but
she accepted it. The next week, the little angel flew to Heaven. Was
this a sacrifice asked by God of the mother to grant to her daughter a
special mission? Nothing is a coincidence in the Divine Plan. And the
name of John the Baptist is striking when we know that the funeral of
Mrs. Côté-Mercier took place on the feast of Saint John the Baptist. Mrs. Rosario Côté (Josephine Gariepy) was handicapped in her knee. One day, she had gone to confession at the Marian shrine of Cap de la Madeleine, to the good Father Frederic (beatified by John Paul II). She complained that her handicap prevented her from going to Mass in the morning. The Saint encouraged her to continue assisting at Mass, and he cured her knee. Birth,
baptism, childhood
Marie
Joséphine Gilberte was born on May 25, 1910, the birth date of Saint
Padre Pio, (canonized last June 16). And she went up to Heaven (this is
our hope) during the octave of the canonization of the holy padre. She
had the same harsh character as Padre Pio when it came to scourging
wrongs, of condemning injustices and immodesty. Born
in the month of Mary, she was baptized in the church of the Immaculate
Conception, in Montreal. Mary Immaculate was her patroness and
protectress since her birth. In 1970, when the first Pilgrims of Saint
Michael were consecrating themselves to Mary, according to the
spirituality of Saint Louis Marie de Montfort, Gilberte Cote was granted
the name of “Gilberte of the Immaculate”, since those consecrated to
Mary take the name of the patron of the church where they were baptized. In
1910, at the time of Gilberte Cote's baptism, Louis Even was a teacher
in this same parish of the Immaculate Conception. God was preparing the
future.
Gilberte
had a second brother, Rosaire. He was a great collaborator in the
Movement, as long as he lived. Rosaire left this earth in 1963 at 51
years of age. He had one son, Michel, born in 1939, the year of the
founding of the “Vers Demain” Journal. Aunt Gilberte was Michel's
godmother; he had a great veneration for her. He also was and still is a
great supporter of the Work of “Michael”. Since
the age of four, Gilberte received piano lessons from a friend of the
family. The child had a great deal of musical talent. Already,
at six years of age, she would put little stones in her shoes in a
spirit of sacrifice in order to help Our Lord save souls. Etudes
The
education she received at home was enriched in grade school, from the
first to the seventh grade, under the teaching staff of the Sisters of
Jesus and Mary (founded by Blessed Marie-Rose Durcoher), in the parish
of St. Stanislas de Koska. And then by the daughters of St. Marguerite
Bourgeois, of the Congregation of Notre Dame at Mont Ste. Marie, from
the eighth to the tenth grade. Afterwards,
she attended Marguerite Bourgeois College, founded by Mother Saint
Anne-Marie for whom Gilberte Côté had a great deal of admiration. This
college, founded in 1908, opened the door to higher education for young
girls, who followed their university courses at Marguerite Bourgeois
College, and the University of Montreal awarded the diplomas. Being a
Bachelor of Arts and a graduate in philosophy and literature, for six years she took courses in
politics and social sciences at the University of Montreal. In those
days, it was a lot of studies for a young girl. Before 1908, young
ladies did not attend the university, in order not to be turned aside
from their principal role of wife and mother. Teachers and nurses
received their education in regular schools and in hospitals, under the
direction of the religious. Gilberte
was very intelligent; the top of the class, confirmed her classmates. We
ourselves, who lived with her, were able to note the superiority of her
intelligence, her talents, and her virtues. When
she finished her studies at Mont Ste. Marie, the teacher had asked her:
“Will
you have the courage to abandon your studies, Gilberte?”
The former repeated these words of the good religious to her father.
Without saying another word, Mr. Côté went to Marguerite Bourgeois
College to pay in advance for her studies. Few fathers of families could
do this at that time.
In
the yearbook of activities of Marguerite Bourgeois College, it says of
Gilberte Côté: “Gilberte
Côté, president of the Notre Dame study group: Harmony! Here is the
rule of all her actions; this discipline leads her to cultivate the
sciences, the arts and music. In the sciences, she knew success in the
university exams. Over there she represented the college brilliantly...
Often, after serious study, you would find Gilberte at the piano... She
`proved' — contrary to prejudice — that scientific accuracy and an
artistic temperament can be harmonious, and enrich each other...” In
rhetoric, Gilberte Côté was decorated with the medal offered by the
Minister of Foreign Affairs from France. She
also held a music license from Dr. Robert Schmitz's Music School in
Chicago. She would have made it her career, if she had not feared to
lose her soul in the center of the worldly limelight. Her
good father had offered her a baby grand piano of high quality, an
excellent piano signed by a great artist. For her, this was a treasure,
but she made a sacrifice of it and left it silent for many years, in
order to sacrifice all her time for the Movement. Only on Christmas and
on New Year's Day would she give us the pleasure of playing a few
numbers. Even at Christmas 2001, she still gave us this small pleasure. Oral
debate Gilberte
Côté and her study companion, Eliane Lefebvre, were invited to compete
against the boys in an oral debate at the University of Montreal. Gerard
Fillion, who would later on become director of the newspaper “Le
Devoir”, was one of the participants in the debate. The
young ladies had prepared themselves well; they had asked the advice of
a lawyer, and they carried away the palm of victory, to the great
displeasure of the boys, who, in those days considered it to be a great
humiliation to be beaten by girls. It had only been for a few years
since girls were accepted at the university.
Mr.
Rosario Côté attended the oral debate. He was proud of his daughter,
but he did not compliment her so as not to awaken pride in her. He
contented himself with telling her: “It took a lot of work to arrive at this
victory.” Gilberte highly appreciated the prudence of her
father who wanted to give her an excellent training. When
she was 20 years of age, her father offered her a trip to Europe. She
refused, and asked him instead to make her a gift of the ”Theological
Works of Saint Thomas Aquinas”, which allows us to see the height of
her vision. One
phrase of the Angelic Doctor guided her life: “The perfection of wisdom is not in the intellectual line but in
the line of love.” Her reflection was this: “I
am going to hell with my intellectual baggage, if I do not use it to
serve others.” On the occasion of a reunion at her alma mater, she had repeated this phrase by Saint Thomas to her companions who were asking themselves if the degrees from Heaven were higher for cultivated people than for others. The intervention of Gilberte Côté had stopped their verbiage cold, but the nuns employed in the kitchen applauded. The
Depression As
we have said, Mr. Rosario Côté was a shoe manufacturer. We were, in
1930, at the beginning of the Depression. He said to his wife: “I
barely make a penny per pair of shoes. I should lay off some employees,
but I cannot do it; they have to, like me, assure the daily bread of
their families.” Like all businessmen, Mr. Côté was approached by the bankers. He said to his wife: “I do not understand what the bankers want from us; there is something crooked in it.” Which made Gilberte Côté say later on: “If my father had lived, he would have understood Social Credit and he would have helped us. He could already see that there was something crooked in the banking system.” The
death of a beloved father Suddenly
there was a bereavement. Her good father, upon whom she could lean, died
suddenly, on November 25, 1932. She was 22 years old. Her mother, Mrs.
Josephine, was inconsolable. Gilberte was obliged to see to the funeral
arrangements. “It
was at this moment,” she said, “that I understood what it was to
have a father who took all responsibilities and on whom we could
lean.” Two
years later, Mr. Côté's brother, an associate in the shoe factory, had
borrowed money from the bank, and he found himself in the position of
having to file bankruptcy. Fortunately, Mrs. Rosario Côté's part had
been protected. She utilized her income by purchasing apartment houses.
Miss Gilberte would go collect the rent for the apartments each month.
This was during the heart of the Depression. She had to return three or
four times to obtain a small $5 from the tenant families. She would come
out of there, her heart crushed. She would say to herself: “I
have taken the bread from their mouths.” “The
five dollars burned my hands,” she avowed. But, if she had
not acted in this way, she would have lost these houses, and the poor
would no longer have had a roof over their heads. What a horrible
dilemma! She
met Father Alexandre Dugré, a Jesuit, who was trying to come to the
help of the numerous unemployed. He was sending them to Abitibi to work
in the colonization effort. Taking to heart the salvation of the poor,
Gilberte Côté offered to help Father Dugré. Her mission in this work
consisted of gathering funds to send the wives of the colonists to join
their husbands in Abitibi. But, afterwards, the ladies wrote to her, “Our
situation is worse in Abitibi than in Montreal. In Montreal, we were in
misery, but here, we are starving.” Miss Côté went to
show these letters to Father Dugré, and she stopped her activities for
this work. But, how to come to the assistance of the poor who were more and more numerous? There were no old age pensions, no family allowances, no welfare, no unemployment insurance benefits, etc. For those who did not have farms, it was abject poverty. Finally
the light The
light was explosive in her mind when, one evening, she attended a
meeting of landlords from Montreal, where each one was lamenting not
being able to be paid for their apartments. One participant, Mrs. Louart,
presented very interesting propositions in the midst of the others.
Gilberte Côté went to sit next to her. Mrs. Louart invited her to her
home that night, and she explained Social Credit to her. Gilberte Côté
returned home after the evening, running, such was her enthusiasm.
Finally, she had uncovered what she was looking for: the solution to the
problem of poverty. She understood that it was only an artificial
problem. The production system furnished food in abundance in Canada, as
in other countries; the stores and warehouses overflowed with products,
even in the hardest years of the Depression. But all these misfortunes
were caused by the outdated system of distribution: the bankers'
debt-money system! These
bankers took over the monetary system. They create the money of each
country, and they lend it to the governments and to individuals with
interest. They are putting everyone into debt. When they decide to have
their loans reimbursed, and not to give out more, they take money out of
circulation, provoking in this way the economic crises, bankruptcies,
and unemployment. The worse swindle of all times! The people are
starving before the abundance of products that they themselves produce.
What could be more illogical! What could be more barbaric! What could be
more inhuman! Miss
Côté found more information in J. J. Caldwell's book “Money, what is
it?” In December of 1936, she was invited to give a conference. Her
subject was, obviously, Social Credit. Her conference was greatly
appreciated and understood. The newspapers gave it a good review. Social
Crediters, disciples of Louis Even, having read this report in the
newspaper, could well see that it pertained to Social Credit. They
invited Gilberte Côté to a meeting held by Louis Even, in the east end
of Montreal in February, 1937. She went, accompanied by her mother, Mrs.
Rosario Côté, and her brother, Rosaire. They
were delighted to hear Louis Even, a true teacher, explain in such a
logical manner and so clearly the solution to the economic crises that
had been raging for eight long years across the world, and that was
causing so much misery among the people. All three, each in their own
way, became great collaborators of Louis Even. Gilberte
Côté told herself, that night, and she repeated it to us often in her
life: “I
went to the university to enlighten my mind with the light of great men
and to find the solutions to the problems of the time, and I found
nothing. When I heard Louis Even, I said to myself: `Here is a
teacher'!” A few days before leaving for the hospital, she
had confided to me that the years she liked the least in her life were
her university years. Even
in those years, the Marxist influences were beginning to infiltrate
among the professors and students at the university. This spirit of
revolution made its way among the great. Gilberte Côté did not let
herself be carried on the winds of Marxism. On the contrary, she fought
it with all the strength of her Catholic Faith. She had a clear
understanding of the situation. At 26 years of age, young, full of talents, cultivated and financially secure, Gilberte Côté left the world of music and science to henceforth follow the evangelical path of self-giving for the love of the poor. The
first activities Mrs.
Rosario Côté invited Louis Even to come to give a conference on Social
Credit in her large living room on St. Joseph's Boulevard. The first two
meetings took place in March of 1937 at two-week intervals. The best
friends of the family were invited: priests, Fathers from different
communities, who received charitable donations from Mrs. Cote, lawyers,
doctors, and people from other professions, 75 people each time, and not
the same ones. Louis
Even began his meetings with the recitation of the Rosary. He clearly
explained Social Credit, so that all understood him perfectly. From that
time on, Louis Even gained the full collaboration of the Côté family.
In
January of 1938, Louis Even, with family commitments, a wife and four
children, putting himself totally in the hands of Providence, and on the
charity of Mrs. Côté, left his employment as supervisor at the Garden
City Press printing company in Ste. Anne de Bellevue. He
traveled across the country, begging for his meals and places to sleep
in the families. Nevertheless, never did he nor his family lack
necessities. Being
fairly comfortable in these times, Mrs. Côté rented a house for the
summer in Labelle County. It is therefore in this place that began the
great apostolate of the Côté family with Louis Even in favor of Social
Credit, without any other goal but to free the poor from their misery. During
the day, Gilberte Côté, accompanied by Juliette Lavigne, looked for
places to hold meetings; they announced them on leaflets, and
distributed them door to door. She herself delivered lectures; the
people were won over and amazed. But
the politicians were at bay. They put all their efforts into destroying,
as they went along, that which they were building with so much
dedication. An ecclesiastic even went to see Mrs. Côté, the mother, to
tell her to pick up her daughter. What a scandal, a girl that gives
conferences! Mrs. Côté cried. But providentially after this visit, on
the same day, without knowing what had happened, a man came to Mrs. Côté's
home to tell her how much her daughter enlightened the crowds on the
cause of poverty by her brilliant conferences, and that she rekindled in
them hope for a better future. Mrs. Côté answered her visitor: “You
are sent by heaven.” And from that moment on, she did not
let herself be impressed by lies pronounced against her valiant
daughter. The
speakers were well received in Ferme Neuve, in Mont St. Michel, and in
many other places; the halls were full. They were understood, and
apostles raised up to follow them. But in Mont Laurier, a political
stronghold, it was another matter. Miss Côté organized a meeting for
the evening in this small town. She had retained a hall. She had made
leaflets to announce it, and they had distributed them door to door.
Some politicians went to bribe the landlord who withdrew the hall from
our heroine. Without losing courage, she went to retain the hall at the
hotel, and began her leaflets again. The politicians again won over the
owner of the hotel to refuse to hold the meeting in his hall. Five
times, Miss Côté had retained a place; five times she had to begin
distributing leaflets again, in one day! In the end, the meeting was held on the blacksmith's porch. (It resembled the stable in Bethlehem a little bit.) The street was full of people. Louis Even had climbed on a chair to give his conference. As soon as he began to say a word, the crowd howled like a bunch of savages. To finish, the loudmouths, always pushed by the politicians, picked up all of Louis Even's literature, threw it into the street, and burned it, while yelling and blaspheming. Here was the reward of the man who wanted to open the eyes of these people to the source of their misery. (The disciple is not greater than the Master.) This is but an example of the difficulties in the beginning. The founding of “Vers Demain”
In
1939, our founders were at L'Annonciation, in Labelle County, in the
house rented by Mrs. Côté, as usual. People came to tell them that war
had been declared in Europe. Louis Even began to cry. His answer was, “We
will found a journal.” It was not the time, because of
censorship of the newspapers because of the war. But Louis Even was not
a man to give in. The “Vers Demain” Journal saw the light of day in
September 1939. (The version in English, now called “Michael”, began
in 1953.) But
with the war, it was not easy to find a printer for a journal with ideas
that denounced the bankers. Miss Côté went to see one printer, and
then a second printer. The second, after having accepted the text, kept
it for three weeks without giving them any news. Finally, he refused to
do the work, being afraid of sanctions. Miss Cote went to see
L'Eclaireur, from Beauceville. They accepted, and printed the “Vers
Demain” Journal for 40 years, without any reprisals nor censures. Obviously,
the office was founded in the home of Mrs. Côté on St. Joseph's
Boulevard. Miss Côté held the office, and answered letters and the
telephone between her apostolic ventures. The first year, the number of
subscribers to “Vers Demain” went up to 6,000, and the second year,
25,000. This was more than enough to awaken the pack of financiers who
used their influence and their money to have honorable persons denounce
these liberating ideas that were spreading like wildfire across the
country. Therefore,
it took a lot of courage for the founders to continue the battle, and to
regain the confidence of the population. Bad tongues do not know the
good and beautiful they destroy when they spread their venom, without
thought. Appel
à de l’aide
In
1941, the founders launched an appeal to young people to devote
themselves full-time in the Movement. Gérard Mercier, from St. Anne de
Beaupre, employed at St. Anne's Annals, and head of the Youth Christian
Workers, was the first to answer the call. He was already doing work
locally, and he distinguished himself by his vigor and audacity. He
became closely attached to the founders, and he supported them with all
his strength. He married Gilberte Côté on February 14, 1946,
especially with the aim of protecting the reputation of our heroic
co-founder. He always treated her with great respect and veneration,
recognizing the worth of the person God had confided to him. And they
both made the necessary sacrifices to be able to totally consecrate
their time for the Movement. The
house on St. Joseph's Boulevard was no longer big enough to hold the
office of the journal that was a large-scale enterprise. Mrs. Côté
sold her house, and had another one built at 4885 Chabot Street. The
whole basement and half of the second floor were reserved for the office
of the “Vers Demain” Journal. In the beginning, they employed paid
secretaries. They had to be dressed modestly at work. And all had to
stop to say the Rosary before dinner. One summer day, the employees
arrived badly dressed. Gilberte Côté simply fired them all, and she
replaced them with her cousin Juliette. She always congratulated herself
for this. In the 50's, she made an appeal to some ideal girls who, like
she, offered their services to the Cause benevolently. Florentine Seguin
and myself responded, and we are still here with several others who
joined the team. Gilberte
Côté gave of herself wholeheartedly. She never took a vacation. She
made the road program for the Full-timers; she herself went on
conference tours on weekends. She gave weekly conferences on the radio
and television, on top of helping with the compilation of the journal.
She took care of all of the problems of the members of the Movement. The
telephone was next to her bed to answer calls during the night when the
apostles had problems. Often,
the police, out of pure persecution, arrested them. She had to take care
of all of this. The civil authorities knew very well that we had every
right to spread our propaganda, because in Canada, the Canadian Charter
of Rights protects freedom of the press, freedom of expression, and
freedom of religion. Even knowing this, a few malevolent souls stopped
our apostles only with the aim of causing us worry and to oblige us to
pay lawyers. Mrs.
Côté-Mercier was uncompromising when it came to defending justice and
the rights of the poor. She traveled across all the areas of Quebec,
Ontario, and New Brunswick. She went as far as Western Canada, even to
France, Switzerland, and Brazil. And her writings and those of Louis
Even go all over the world by the hundreds of thousands. In
1962, the offices of the Movement are moved from Montreal to Rougemont,
with the construction of the House of Saint Michael. A call was made for
voluntary workers. One day up to 106 workers from different occupations
came to help. It was the eve of Pentecost. Mrs. Côté had seen a
multitude of arrows, coming from the mountain in Rougemont, fly towards
heaven, and descend and disappear over the grounds of the House of Saint
Michael. It made her say: “People
will come from every country in the world to be enlightened in this
house with the light of Social Credit.” In
1975, the House of the Immaculate was built with a large hall to hold
our annual Congress and to house the men full-time Pilgrims.
Today's
youth need an example of the lives of true heroes, in order to put
themselves back on the road of duty and of virtue, qualities necessary
to rebuild civilization in our countries. Gilberte
Côté did not waste her life in frivolity. She consecrated all the time
of her youth to serious things, to serving the truth, and defending
justice. She found true happiness there. She built around herself a
better terrestrial city for her brothers and sisters. Also, how many
souls she brought back to the Church and onto the road to Heaven! For
us, those close to her, we owe her thanks: Thank you for having taught
us to dress as Christians, without self-respect. Thank you for having
protected our minds from the corruption of television. Thank you for
having given us the example of devotion, of the gift of oneself, of love
of God and of the poor. Thank you for having made of us apostles,
soldiers of Christ and defenders of our neighbor. Thérèse
Tardif See
also: Homélie de l'abbé Jacques Chaput aux funérailles de Mme Mercier Bons mots du Père Gérard Montpetit aux funérailles de Mme Mercier Back to About us Back to the Michael's homepage |
