Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes de Montréal

Howdy!

I’m a big fan of the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes. Used by (what I presume) are locals it kind of gives me a sense of what life in Montreal must’ve been like back in the 1940s and 50s. Back when everybody, and I do mean everybody, went to church. I have never seen the place empty, and they hold at least six different services every day.

Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes de Montréal viewed from the east.
Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes de Montréal viewed from the east.
Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes de Montréal viewed from the west.
Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes de Montréal viewed from the west.
Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes de Montréal viewed head on.
Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes de Montréal viewed head on.
Plaque on the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes de Montréal
Plaque on the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes de Montréal
Plaque on the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes de Montréal
Plaque on the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes de Montréal

For the squareheads, blokes and Protestants in the house, the inscription reads:

Those of you who pass by / high society or street people / people who contemplate God / or those who have forgotten / enter into this House of the Father / prostrate yourself in front of him / adore the incarnation of his son / and remember supreme being / is the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost / And before you leave / gaze upon Mother Mary.

La Vierge dorée by Joseph Lefèvre on Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.
La Vierge dorée by Joseph Lefèvre on Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.
Something in Latin on the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.
Something in Latin on the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.

Built by Napoléon Bourassa in between 1873 and 1882. Louis-Philippe Hébert did a bunch of the sculptures, while Toussaint-Xénophon Renaud and François-Édouard Meloche did some of the painting. It has the first organ built by Casavant Frères and La Vierge dorée was added in commemoration of its 50th anniversary.

Interior of the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.
Interior of the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.
Interior of the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.
Interior of the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.
Interior of the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.
Interior of the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.
Interior of the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.
Interior of the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.
Interior of the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.
Interior of the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.
Interior of the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.
Interior of the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.
Interior of the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.
Interior of the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.
Interior of the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.
Interior of the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.
Interior of the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.
Interior of the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.
Interior of the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.
Interior of the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.
Interior of the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.
Interior of the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.