Eugène de Mazenod, OMI, far left, founded the Oblates in Aix-en-Provence, France in 1826. Oblates were priests dedicated to missionary work and helping the poor by being part of their everyday lives. Bishop Vital Grandin, OMI, served all of northern Alberta. Father Albert Lacombe, OMI, assisted the Transcontinental Railway to cross Western Canada in 1883. Blessed Brother Antoine Kowalczyk, OMI, served many years at the francophone boys’ residential school at Edmonton’s St. Jean College (red building) in the 40s and 50s. In the center, we see St. Albert, Alberta, at its very beginning.