Basilicas in Quebec and Eastern Canada

I blogged about the following basilicas on January 4, 2019.

• Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Quebec, Quebec City, Quebec
• Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady Queen of the World and St. James, Montreal, Quebec
• St. Mary’s Cathedral Basilica, Halifax, Nova Scotia
• St. John’s Cathedral Basilica, St. John’s Newfoundland and Labrador
• Cathedral Basilica of St. Michael, Sherbrooke, Quebec

I blogged about the following basilica on January 18, 2019.

• Basilica of Our Lady of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec

Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre, Saint-Anne-de-Beaupre, Quebec

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Leo XIII in 1887.

The Basilica is a major North American pilgrimage site and is dedicated to St. Anne, the grandmother of Jesus.  A church was built in this location in 1658 and many who visited the church were cured of illnesses.  A grand new church opened in 1876 but was destroyed by a fire in 1922.  The current basilica was built between 1926 and 1946.  The building is 344 feet long and 157 feet wide and has twin 300-foot steeples.  The basilica has numerous paintings, mosaics and sculptures.

The first two pictures are from Wikipedia and the third is from Flickr.

Cathedral Basilica of St. Dunstan, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Pius XI in 1929.

The current church is the fourth cathedral for the Diocese of Charlottetown.  The first two were wooden structures and the third, a stone building, burned to the ground in 1913.  The current church was built of stone between 1916 and 1919 with a French Gothic exterior and an English Gothic interior patterned on St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York.  There are 23 statues of angels and saints and almost 300 stained-glass images of angels.

The top picture is from Wikipedia and the bottom is from Flickr.

Oratory Basilica of St. Joseph of Mount Royal, Montreal

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Pius XII in 1954.

St. Joseph’s Oratory sits atop Mount Royal and is the largest church in Canada.  It has a Renaissance Revival façade and an Art Deco interior.  The church was founded in 1904 by St. Andre Bessette (1845 to 1937), a monk and member of the Congregation of the Holy Cross.  Brother Andre, as he was known, was renowned as one who could, through the grace of God, bring healing to the sick and disabled.  The current granite church was built between 1914 and 1941.  More than two million visitors and pilgrims visit each year, many climbing 99 steps to the Oratory on their knees.  The Votive chapel has nearly 1,000 canes and crutches left behind by pilgrims cured during the lifetime of Brother Andre. 

The first three pictures are from Wikipedia and the last is from Flickr.

Basilica of Notre-Dame-du-Cap, Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Paul VI in 1964.

The Basilica is Canada’s national shrine to Our Blessed Mother.  There has been a church at this location since 1659, but the current church was completed in 1964.  The basilica can seat almost 1,700 and has a Casavant pipe organ with 5,425 pipes.  The stained glass windows were designed by a Dutch priest.  The basilica is operated by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

Both pictures are from Wikipedia.

St. Patrick’s Basilica, Montreal, Quebec

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John Paul II in 1988.

The Basilica was built between 1843 and 1847 to serve Montreal’s growing Irish community.  The Gothic Revival building has a 226-foot steeple.  The interior has four rosette stained-glass windows and 150 oil paintings of saints.  The basilica has a lamp in the sanctuary that weighs 1800 pounds and has 6-foot carvings of six angels.

The first two pictures are from Wikipedia and the last is from Pinterest.

Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel, Miramichi, New Brunswick

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John Paul II in 1989.

The Neo-Gothic sandstone basilica was built between 1903 and 1921 and was designed by famed American church architect, Patrick Charles Keely.  It was built by an Irish-American congregation and seats 1,200.  The church once served as the Cathedral of the Diocese of Chatham, which was suppressed in 1938.

The top picture is from Wikipedia and the other two are from Pinterest.

Basilica Cathedral of St. Cecilia, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John Paul II in 1991.

The Cathedral Basilica was built between 1934 and 1935 to replace a previous cathedral that had burned down.  The design of the neo-Gothic church was inspired by the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre.  This church was heavily damaged by a 2002 fire but has been restored.

Pictures are from Wikipedia, Pinterest, and from a tourist website.

Basilica of St. Anne of Varennes, Varennes, Quebec

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John Paul II in 1993.

The neo-Romanesque basilica was built between 1884 and 1887 and has two bell towers.  It contains the tomb of St. Marguerite D’Youville.

Pictures are from Wikipedia and TripAdvisor.

Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Labrador City, Newfoundland and Labrador

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007.

The Basilica was completed in 1962 and once served as the cathedral for the former Diocese of Labrador City-Schefferville.  The modern building has a rock façade and a steeple with three bells.

Pictures are from a local website and Waymarkering.

Basilica of St. Frederick, Drummondville, Quebec

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Francis in 2015.

The first Catholic church in Drummondville was built in 1822 and was replaced in 1880.  This second church burned in 1899 as did the third in 1921.  The current church was built between 1922 and 1925.  This Neo-Gothic building used the still standing Neo-Romanesque outer walls of the third church.  The Basilica has a 134-foot bell tower as well as a smaller tower.  The French glass master Guillaume-Ernest Pellus created the large choir windows and the windows at the back of the facade. 

Pictures are from a local website and Pinterest.