It was just a short stroll from our hotel to the Basilica of Notre Dame in the heart of Vieux Montréal (Old Montreal) — but a walk of several miles wouldn’t be too tough a trek to see and pray in this historic and resplendent house of worship.

Notre Dame takes first place among the buildings surrounding Place d’Armes, the city’s old square. They pale in the shadow of the mother parish of Montreal. It dates back to the original colony, first known as Ville-Marie.

And speaking of mothers, what a magnificent place this will be to visit on Mother’s Day, May 13. Like Our Lady herself, like Holy Mother Church — and like all mothers everywhere — Notre Dame Basilica seems to welcome all her “children” with a love that is unconditional yet expectant of great goodness.

This grand neo-gothic basilica, built in 1823 as the third church of the parish, is the cause of much tourist gawking in the spring and summer. You can practically hear the cameras clicking for just the right angle on the Place d’Armes. It’s too bad most don’t realize the glorious exterior is only an appetizer to the great visual (and spiritual) banquet within.

On our way inside for Sunday Mass recently, my wife Mary and I remarked that it was like stepping into heaven’s own reception area. To say this church is one of the most astonishing and remarkable works of liturgical beauty on the whole of the North American continent is to speak the plain and obvious truth.

The epic splendor of the sanctuary, with its immense reredos and altar, shows that the holy sacrifice of the Mass is closely connected to the Last Supper and Jesus’ crucifixion, and to the Old Testament events prefiguring his sacrifice.

Every architectural detail, scene and figure — many life-sized or larger — is intricately carved in wood. This includes the original altar, which stands as the sanctuary’s anchor and foundation. Below the tabernacle, a monumental wood relief of the Last Supper is like a Renaissance masterpiece in 3-D.

A Crucifixion scene, large as life, commands our attention more insistently than any other single cue. On either side, four scenes projecting from their own canopied alcoves tell us about Jesus’ passion and the holy Eucharist as prefigured in the Old Testament. We see Melchizedek offering bread and wine, Abraham preparing to sacrifice Isaac, a priest offering an unblemished lamb, Moses with the Ark of the Covenant.

High above, Mary — patroness of the basilica and the archdiocese — kneels to receive her queenly crown from her son, the King. Nearby, a carved choir of angels sings and plays musical instruments. Their faces radiate praise and thanksgiving, modeling what our comportment should be at every Mass.

Blue Light Special

This immense catechism-reredos, with its ornate, lace-like carvings and spires, also curves outward with Gothic alcoves presenting statues of St. Peter and St. Paul and the Evangelists.

To add to the celestial splendor, all the commanding scenes and the backgrounds for the reredos itself are bright azure, indirectly lighted. It makes us feel we’re peering into heavenly realms.

So do colorful angels in rapt adoration, some swinging censers. They’re carved in relief along the towering Gothic arches that rise like hands in prayer to frame the entire sanctuary. I couldn’t help but think that the angels are flying out of these arches, which can’t contain them because their joy is unbounded as they marvel at the mysteries unfolding before them.

The importance of the Eucharist is everywhere, even in smaller carvings. One relief near the main altar’s Last Supper shows Our Lady receiving Communion from St. John. The hundreds of carvings continue in the nave with its two upper galleries. Here, 3,500 worshippers can ponder these mysteries. Above them, a soaring blue ceiling complete with showers of gold stars makes it appear that the vault of heaven is opened to the worshippers below.

The astonishing pulpit is a masterwork of wood carved with designs, figures of angels and Church fathers, and lace-like spiraling stairs. It rises more than 45 feet in the middle of the nave.

There’s so much to take in, like the 19th-century frescos along the second gallery depicting the life the Blessed Mother. And then there are the side chapels dedicated to St. Joseph, St. Anne and St. Therese. The Rosary Chapel is an elaborate Gothic church in miniature.

The stained-glass windows on the first level are singular. Made in France, and installed for the church’s 1929 centennial, they show the Catholic heritage of Montreal. With a little help you can pick out the first Mass at Ville-Marie, Our Lady of Montreal wearing a green tunic and the French explorer Jacques Cartier reading the Gospel to Indians.

Convert in Crypt

When Notre Dame was completed in 1829 (except for its twin towers, which were not finished until 1843), it was the biggest church in North America. The Sulpician Fathers, who founded this mother parish in 1672 and never dreamed John Paul II would one day name this church a basilica, wanted it to be the most beautiful, too. So they hired James O’Donnell, a Protestant New York architect and leader in Gothic Revival design.

O’Donnell moved to Montreal and saw his dream design take shape. He didn’t live long enough, though, to see the towers, Victor Bourgeau’s 1880 interior or the 7,000-pipe Casavant organ that the world’s top organists come to play.

But even without seeing these final touches, O’Donnell was so moved by how beautifully God had worked through his humble hands that, before he died in 1830, he converted to the Catholic faith. He’s the only person buried in the church’s crypt.

Mary and I decided his witness contains a lesson for us all. All this artistic grandeur and majesty never distracts us from the real presence of Christ, there for us in nearly every Catholic church in the world. On the contrary, the splendor amplifies this truth: This is how the King of all creation should be housed when resources permit.

And there’s a second lesson: Despite the endless clamor of commerce around the Place d’Armes, the Basilica of Notre Dame ensures that Our Lady remains the heart of Old Montreal. Happy Mother’s Day, Mary.

Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.

Notre-Dame Basilica

424 St-Sulpice

Montreal, Qc. H2Y 2V5

(866) 842-2925

[email protected]
basiliquenddm.org

Planning Your Visit

There are two daily Masses and five Sunday Masses (including the 5 p.m. Saturday vigil). Next to the basilica, look at Old Saint Sulpice Seminary. Built in 1685, it’s the oldest building in the city — and priests still occupy it. Also, Blessed Andre Bessette’s beloved Oratory of St. Joseph is just a few kilometers away.