Deacon and Dad Jean-Nil Chabot - Heart of a Servant: Celebrating 50 Years of Catholic Diaconate Ministry

 FIFTY YEARS OF DIACONATE - JEAN-NIL CHABOT by Jeanne (Chabot) Baril

Jean-Nil was born in Sainte-Justine-de-Dorchester (Bellechasse-Lac-Étchemin region of Quebec) in 1940, the second of thirteen children born to Jules Chabot and Rose Beaudoin. When he was nine years old, the family moved west and settled north of Edmonton, in Marie-Reine, Alberta (near Peace River).

As a young man, only eighteen or nineteen years old, already away from home, he would write letters to his younger siblings to encourage them to do well and, especially, to remain close to Jesus and Mary. Some of these letters have been conserved by his siblings.

He practiced many professions, including that of teacher in Great Whale River (known today as Whapmagoostui) in Northern Quebec, where he met his wife Anne, also a public-school teacher. They were married in July 1971.

In 1973-74, Jean-Nil did his theological studies at St Paul University in Ottawa. At the end of his studies, he was hired by the diocese of Moosonee to take care of a tiny parish (Our Lady of Perpetual Help) in Moose Factory, in Ontario.

Moving up north had its share of experiences. Shortly after arriving in Moose Factory, Jean-Nil was walking in the church yard with his eldest daughter, Jeanne, in his arms, and a BB gun bullet whizzed past his ear. A resident of the place once recounted how, in those first years, he decided to pull a prank on a friend at the local Hudson Bay Company store (now Northern Stores). He snuck up behind him and toppled him upside down into a bin, only to discover he had mistaken the new Catholic deacon for his friend.

Figure 1 Bishop Jules Leguerrier ordains Jean-Nil as a deacon

On June 6, 1976, Jean-Nil was ordained a deacon at Christ the King Cathedral in Moosonee by Bishop Jules Leguerrier.

Jean-Nil served the parish for more than twenty years. He maintained the buildings, served mass, visited the sick, baptized children, celebrated marriages, conducted funerals and taught catechism. His wife Anne supported him in his work, teaching catechism to the younger children as well as leading a women’s Bible study. The last three of their children were all born in Moose Factory.

 

Figure 2 Jean-Nil bringing Holy Communion to the sick in Moose Factory

Unfortunately, despite his thoughtful and carefully crafted sermons, his (young) children did not always make for the most attentive and enthralled audience, with some thinking to inspire a more interesting turn of phrase by calling out “Say trucks and cars now, Daddy, say trucks and cars!”

On the other hand, at the age of three, another child, inspired by his father’s flowing homilies, decided that he could do just as well, and was often to be found, standing on a chair, expounding elaborate themes to anyone who would listen.

When one of the teachers at the public school decided to start up a group of army cadets in the late eighties, Jean-Nil was asked to be the chaplain, to which he agreed. Other than leading cadets in prayer, one of his duties was to temporarily lodge a number of BB guns for target practice. He also learned, during a cadet soccer game, that toes tend to break when two people simultaneously kick the ball from different directions at the same time.

In 1996, Jean-Nil took two sabbatical years to complete a master’s in philosophy at Laval University in the city of Québec, after which he returned to the diocese of Moosonee, this time to Pickle Lake, Ontario.

Figure 3 Jean-Nil baptizing one of his grandchildren.

After a year or two in Pickle Lake (where Anne had previously taught, many years before), the couple packed up their things once again and returned to Québec, so Jean-Nil could complete a doctoral degree in philosophy. In 2002, they made Barry’s Bay their home, where Jean-Nil taught at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy and Anne helped out in the kitchen.

He retired the following year, but the couple remained in Barry’s Bay, where Jean-Nil continues to faithfully serve Saint Hedwig’s Parish as deacon.

 

Figure 4 Jean-Nil, serving as a deacon in St. Hedwig's Parish, Barry's Bay, Ontario.