Meeting the beautiful saints of Montreal
The Oratory of St Joseph, St Kateri Tekakwitha, Marguerite Bourgeoys and Marguerite d’Youville — a day of guided synchronicity in Montreal. (5 min read)
Have you ever investigated visiting Montreal, Canada? If so, you may have noticed that the guidebooks are full of photographs of the city in the summer time and all the references are to things to do in the warmer months. There is a dearth of information on visiting in the colder months. The ever so polite implication is “do not come”.
It is early March and I am visiting Montreal for a couple of days prior to a spiritual healing event in Toronto. I did not put any thought into why I was visiting Montreal or what I would do here. It just seemed sensible to visit the home of Cirque de Soleil, eat some pain au chocolat, visit museums and practice my French. Of course, spirit had other plans.
As the (little) plane prepared to land in Montreal my heart started to beat with excitement. It was not just the anticipation of real expresso and pastry, I had caught sight of a big green domed building on the Mont Royal (the hill that gives the city its name). After quickly checking the map, it was obvious spirit was calling me to visit the Oratorie of St Joseph. I did not understand why but headed straight there after dropping off my bags.
The Oratorie, which is the largest church in the world dedicated to St Joseph, was the vision of St Andre Bessett (1845-1937). Andre, one of four Canadian saints, was a brother of the Congregation of the Holy Cross. He was also doorkeeper at the school opposite the site of the Oratorie for 40 years. Andre suffered greatly in his life but demonstrated the saintly qualities of faith, humility and compassion above all else. He was devoted to St Joseph and was the instrument for a huge number of miracles – which he always attributed to Saint Joseph. Andre’s story is very moving and there is a lovely little book about his life (“The Wonder Man of Mount Royal”) by Bergeron if you want to know more about him.
It was Brother Andre’s faith and diligence that brought about the construction of the Oratorie on Mont Royal. He worked there in the latter years of his life and the site includes a little museum that tells his life story. The Oratorie is a very impressive and beautiful structure, however, the most precious thing in the building is Brother Andre’s incorrupt heart. It is kept in a special reliquary, behind glass, at natural height. The energy from this heart is awesome and it was impossible to hold back tears of gratitude for being in the presence of the remains of such a loving human being.
As is my practice, I picked up some holy medals at the church and had them blessed by a priest. Again, I was a little overcome by intense loving energies from this saint. Given the similarities with Medium Joao’s mission, I was left with no doubt that Brother Andre would be supporting the work in Toronto later in the week.
After a lovely visit to the Basilica de Notre Dame de Montreal, I visited the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Bon Secours (also known as “The Sailor’s Church”) and museum. This church is the resting place of St Marguerite Bourgeoys (1620-1670). Marguerite left France at the age of 20 for Montreal where she founded one of the earliest uncloistered communities for women. She was at the forefront of efforts to educate the poor and especially to educate girls and women. Though less energised than Brother Andre’s reliquary, there was nevertheless a strong loving presence around her tomb.
Throughout my visit to Le Bon Secours, I kept getting the intuition that I also needed to connect with “St Catherine”. This did not make sense to me at the time (there are no Canadian saints by that name), so I put it aside. However, I was also getting recurring images of St Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680) – the Native American saint that I met while visiting the former Spanish mission at Xavier del Bac in Arizona last month. I had assumed that Kateri was from the Nohono people but that was not correct. The chap at the Le Bon Secours told me that Kateri is a Canadian saint buried in a small town outside Montreal. So, I decided on the spot that I must visit her tomb and put a prayer out there for help. I asked the owner of the place I am staying for advice on getting there and he offered to drive me as his mother is buried very close and he wanted to see her the next day. Then I started my research on St Kateri and discovered she was baptised “Catherine”.
Today I had the privilege of visiting St Kateri’s shrine. It is simple and beautiful and reminds me a little of St Mary Mackillop’s shrine in Sydney. We had it to ourselves and this enabled me to have a deep meditation and connection with a saint who has been helping me since our visit to Xavier del Bac. St Kateri’s shrine is in the former Mission of St Francis Xavier and there are several statues and pictures of him at this site. I have no doubt that St Kateri is part of his phalange and that she will also be helping in Toronto. With deep gratitude, I left a Casa crystal in the foundations of St Kateri’s shrine and was gifted with two photographs full of spirit activity immediately afterwards.
For completeness, I felt that I should also visit the tomb of Canada’s fourth saint (and the first native born saint), St Marguerite d’Youville (1701-1771). Marguerite also established an order of nuns, “the grey nuns”, devoted to social causes. Unfortunately, the chapel where she is buried is no longer accessible to the public. While it remains intact, the rest of the building (“the mother house”) is currently being renovated by Concordia University for the Department of Fine Arts.
I finished my day back in the Basilica of Notre Dame de Montreal where there are relics of all 4 saints, as well as some Jesuit martyrs and some other blessed Canadians. My meditation here was very moving and filled with gratitude for this most unusual preparation for Toronto.
So, don’t be dissuaded by the guide books. Whether you visit Montreal in the winter or in the summer, these loving saints will be here to welcome you.
Namaste.
You might also like:
© Paul McCarthy & Iluminar.au
iluminar.blog 