The Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel (''chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours'', "Our Lady of Good Help") is a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

in the district of

Old Montreal Old Montreal (French: ''Vieux-Montréal'') is a historic neighbourhood within the municipality of Montreal in the province of Quebec, Canada. Home to the Old Port of Montreal, the neighbourhood is bordered on the west by McGill Street, on th ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. One of the oldest churches in Montreal, it was built in 1771 over the ruins of an earlier chapel. The church is located at 400 Saint Paul Street East at Bonsecours Street, just north of the

Bonsecours Market Bonsecours Market (french: Marché Bonsecours), at 350 rue Saint-Paul in Old Montreal, is a two-story domed public market. For more than 100 years, it was the main public market in the Montreal area. It also briefly accommodated the Parliament of ...

in the borough of Ville-Marie (

Champ-de-Mars The Champ de Mars (; en, Field of Mars) is a large public greenspace in Paris, France, located in the seventh ''arrondissement'', between the Eiffel Tower to the northwest and the École Militaire to the southeast. The park is named after the ...

metro station).

History

St.

Marguerite Bourgeoys Marguerite Bourgeoys (17 April 162012 January 1700), was a French nun and founder of the Congregation of Notre Dame of Montreal in the colony of New France, now part of Québec, Canada. Born in Troyes, she became part of a sodality, ministering ...

, the first teacher in the colony of Ville-Marie and the founder of the

Congregation of Notre Dame The Congrégation de Notre Dame (CND) is a religious community for women founded in 1658 in Ville Marie (Montreal), in the colony of New France, now part of Canada. It was established by Marguerite Bourgeoys, who was recruited in France to creat ...

, rallied the colonists to build a chapel in 1655. In 1673, returning from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, Bourgeoys brought a wooden image of Our Lady of Good Help; the stone church was completed in 1678. It burned in 1754, the reliquary and statue being rescued and placed above the entrance of the rebuilt church of 1771. After Montreal was conquered by British forces during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

, the church was attended by Irish and Scottish troops and families, and saw fundraising to build Saint Patrick's Church, Montreal's first anglophone Catholic parish. In the 19th century, the chapel came to be a pilgrimage site for the sailors who arrived in the

Old Port of Montreal The Old Port of Montreal (french: Vieux-Port de Montréal, italic=no) is the historic port of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Located adjacent to Old Montreal, it stretches for over along the Saint Lawrence River. It was used as early as 1611, when Fre ...

; they would make offerings to the Virgin in gratitude for her "good help" for safe sea voyages. In 1849, Mgr.

Ignace Bourget Ignace Bourget (October 30, 1799 – June 8, 1885) was a Canadian Roman Catholic priest who held the title of Bishop of Montreal from 1840 to 1876. Born in Lévis, Quebec, in 1799, Bourget entered the clergy at an early age, undertook several cou ...

, Bishop of Montreal, gave the chapel a statue of the Virgin as Star of the Sea, which was placed atop the church overlooking the harbour. Emphasizing the connection of the chapel and the port, the chapel is often called the Sailors' Church. The chapel now also houses the Marguerite Bourgeoys Museum, dedicated to the life of St. Marguerite Bourgeoys and to the early history of Montreal and the chapel site. Below the chapel, the crypt is being excavated as an archeological site, which visitors can see.

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

and

French colonial French colonial architecture includes several styles of architecture used by the French during colonization. Many former French colonies, especially those in Southeast Asia, have previously been reluctant to promote their colonial architecture ...

artifacts have been discovered, along with the foundations of the first chapel and the fortifications of the colony. The church's prominent spire can also be climbed, offering views of the Old Port and

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...

. In 2005, Marguerite Bourgeoys's mortal remains were brought back to the church, where she now lies in the sanctuary.

Gallery

File:Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours 01.jpg, Exterior view of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours chapel, Montreal, Quebec File:Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours, Montréal, Southeast view 20170410 1.jpg, Exterior view of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel, Old Port side, Montreal, Quebec File:Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours from harbor.JPG, Exterior view of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours chapel from the Harbor side in Montreal, Québec File:Bonsecours Market and Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours.JPG, Exterior view of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours chapel and the Bon secours Market File:Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours.JPG, Exterior view of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel, Montreal, Quebec File:Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours 03.jpg, Exterior view of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours chapel by night, Montreal, Quebec File:Angel Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel 1.jpg, Angel, Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel, Montreal File:Angel Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel 2.jpg, Angel, Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel, Montreal File:Guide Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel 1.jpg, A guide as seen from the tower of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel, Montreal File:Guide Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel 2.jpg, A guide at the top of the tower of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel, Montreal File:WTMTL T26 DSC 5924.JPG, Interior view of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel, Montreal, Quebec File:Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel 1.jpg, Interior view of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel, Montreal, Quebec File:Roof Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel.jpg, Roof of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel, Montreal File:VTamburroDSC 0179.JPG, Interior view of the Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel, Montreal, Quebec File:WTMTL T33 P8289918.JPG, Interior view of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel, Montreal, Quebec

References

External links

Marguerite Bourgeoys Museum and Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel
{{Coord, 45, 30, 36, N, 73, 33, 04, W, source:frwiki_region:CA, display=title 1771 establishments in the British Empire Heritage buildings of Quebec Landmarks in Montreal Museums in Montreal Old Montreal Roman Catholic churches completed in 1771 Roman Catholic chapels in Canada N Terminating vistas in Canada 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Canada