A City of Mary and the Saints| National Catholic Register
While the modern name of Canada’s second-largest city is Montreal — derived from Mount Royal, the triple-peaked hill at the heart of the island — when originally founded by French settlers in 1642, it was known as Ville-Marie, the City of Mary....
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While the modern name of Canada’s second-largest city is Montreal — derived from Mount Royal, the triple-peaked hill at the heart of the island — when originally founded by French settlers in 1642, it was known as Ville-Marie, the City of Mary.
Desiring to take a Catholic pilgrimage to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary, my wife Mary and I chose Montreal, as it was easily accessible by air from our home in Minnesota. We discovered a beautiful city with a deep Catholic history and filled with reminders, including a majority of the street names, of that great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us in faith. Neighborhoods are dotted with copper-topped Catholic parishes in various stages of disrepair; their condition lies in stark contrast to the city with a remarkable faith-filled legacy.
A visit to the Pointe-à-Callière museum in Old Montreal provides a historical overview. It features archeological digs beneath the city, providing context and understanding for the region’s popularity both for First Nation peoples and later for Catholic French settlers from the Loire Valley. The museum provides a fascinating look at the foundations — physical, metaphorical and spiritual — of Montreal, including a diorama of the founding Mass celebrated on the island and a large-screen video depicting founder Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve and settlers planting a cross on Mount Royal after their prayers to be saved from flooding were answered. Not only does a large cross remain on Mount Royal, visible from the city, but the 764-foot hill is also home to a sizable park and the world’s largest shrine to St. Joseph.
St. Joseph’s Oratory
Founded by the unassuming porter for the Congregation of Holy Cross’ Notre Dame College in Montreal, St. André Bessette, St. Joseph’s Oratory rises high above any other structure and attracting thousands of pilgrims and sightseers daily.
Seven Masses and the sacrament of confession are offered daily in the oratory’s crypt, completed in 1917.
Designed with traditional sculpture and stained-glass windows, highlights include a Carrara white marble statue of St. Joseph, and behind the statue, the pew where Brother André could quietly pray and attend Mass, away from the demands of the many who came to seek him. The pew and many other highlights are included in the daily afternoon oratory tour.
There is much to see at the oratory. Taking it all in required half a day. You’ll see the small original oratory chapel and its upstairs bedroom where Brother André stayed for a time. You’ll also visit the large, modern Oratory Church, begun in 1922, halted during the Depression, and completed in 1967. Stark by comparison to the crypt, it’s used for large public Masses on Sundays and holy days. Life-size Stations of the Cross decorate the pillars supporting the tremendous dome. The Blessed Sacrament Chapel is located behind the altar, and examples of modern art depict the apostles and other scriptural scenes. Most impressive is the large mosaic, behind the main altar, featuring scenes depicting the life of St. Joseph from Scripture.
Elsewhere in the oratory is a museum about Brother André and a 10,000-light votive hallway featuring separate stations devoted to each of St. Joseph’s titles, where visitors can invoke the intercession of St. Joseph and light a candle. You can also pray at Brother André’s tomb, visit the gift shop, and have your religious items blessed.
My wife and I found the outdoor Stations of the Cross and garden to be an especially beautiful place to pray and reflect. As we walked our way up Mount Royal, contemplating Christ’s sacrifice with modern, yet well-executed and placed stations, the path led eventually to a lovely Resurrection marble statue, reflecting pool and fountain filled with Catholic symbolism.
The oratory is currently undergoing a multimillion-dollar campaign and renovations to provide an updated and expanded visitor center and museum, to make the oratory more accessible to disabled visitors and allow pilgrims to climb the massive dome for a 360-degree view high above all of Montreal.
Overall, we come away impressed not only by what was achieved by Brother André’s prayers and ministry to the sick and needy, but also by his perseverance in faith. It’s an incredible testament to “the miracle man of Montreal,” who was canonized in 2010.
St. Kateri Tomb and National Shrine
Across the St. Lawrence River, in the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory, sits the comparatively humble Canadian National Shrine of St. Kateri Tekakwitha. Located inside the Mission Church of St. Francis Xavier, the shrine includes a modest museum and the tomb of the first Native American saint.
The highlights included praying at St. Kateri’s tomb and attending an English-language Mass in a sacristy behind the main church. With just a handful of people at Mass, we were reminded of St. Kateri’s fight to bring her love of Christ to her people amid great resistance.
Notre-Dame Basilica
In the heart of Old Montreal is the stunning Gothic Revival Notre-Dame Basilica of Montréal and the Chapel of the Sacred Heart. Both inspire in their own way. The basilica is overflowing with artwork reminiscent of churches found in France. Beautiful stained-glass windows share the Catholic history of Montreal and pay homage to its many holy men and women who sacrificed to found the city and serve its people. Ornate woodwork, carved pews, altars and statuary are everywhere. Side altars feature incredible artwork and painted Stations of the Cross. The basilica is treated more like a museum than a worship space; entry is $15. We prayed before the Blessed Sacrament, which is in a glassed adoration chapel on the rear right-hand side as you enter.
Behind the basilica sits the more modern Chapel of the Sacred Heart. It features an immense bronze relief behind the altar depicting the journey of human life as it passes through three curved doorways signifying birth, adulthood and old age, marked by carrying one’s cross to Christ. Daily Mass is offered in French in this space. Despite the language barrier, we were able to grasp the friendly priest’s homily about Christ’s desire to heal the whole person.
Sailors’ Chapel and St. Marguerite Bourgeoys
Perhaps our greatest surprise was discovering the Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel in Old Montreal.
Built along the original waterfront, this was the site of Montreal’s first church in 1655. The chapel that now stands on the original site is the third. It features fine artwork and decorated ceilings. Chandeliers, shaped as boats and ships, given as ex voto offerings in thanksgiving for safe passage, are suspended from the chapel’s ceiling. The tomb of St. Marguerite Bourgeoys, the foundress of the Congregation of Notre Dame and the “Mother of the Colony” of Montreal, is also in the chapel.
A museum dedicated to the saint features a distinctive underground tour of the archeological dig and findings of the original first two chapels. The tour also allows you to access the church’s belvedere, from which you can obtain a bird’s-eye view of Montreal and get close to the statue of Mary overlooking the port, which greeted settlers as they first came to Montreal by boat.
Our pilgrimage to Montreal and our encounters with its saints and their struggles, prompted a profound appreciation in us for the perseverance of fighting for the faith, even amid great adversity.
