St Patrick's Basilica is a

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. Located at 281 Nepean Street (at the corner of Nepean and Kent) in

Downtown Ottawa Downtown Ottawa is the central area of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is sometimes referred to as the Central Business District and contains Ottawa's financial district. It is bordered by the Ottawa River to the north, the Rideau Canal to the ea ...

, it is the oldest church in the city that serves the English-speaking community.Parish website http://www.basilica.org The Basilica is one of the regular buildings featured in the Doors Open Ottawa architectural heritage day.

History

The parish was founded in 1855. Originally, it was intended to serve not only the English-speaking Catholics of Ottawa, but also those of the City of Hull (now absorbed into

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region and is part of Canada's N ...

) across the

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (french: Rivière des Outaouais, Algonquin: ''Kichi-Sìbì/Kitchissippi'') is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word 'to trade', as it was the major trade route of Eastern ...

in Quebec as well. These were mostly of Irish descent; thus the parish was dedicated to

St. Patrick ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

, the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of Ireland. Design for the present church building started in 1869 under the direction of architect Augustus Laver. Laver's firm, Fuller and Laver, also designed the East and West blocks of Ottawa's Parliament Buildings. In 1872, the cornerstone was blessed by Bishop Guigues (the first Bishop of Ottawa), and was laid by

John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...

(the first Prime Minister of Canada). King McCord Arnoldi (architect) was responsible from 1874 to 1875 for the completion of the original design prepared in 1869 by Augustus Laver. In 1875, the building, not quite complete, was blessed by Bishop Guigues' successor, Bishop Duhamel. In 1898, Louis Zephirin Gauthier designed major alterations and a new altar for St. Patrick's, Kent Street at Nepean Street. A memorial plaque was unveiled on June 11, 1916 and is dedicated to St. Patrick's Basilica in appreciation for the privilege of worshipping in this church by the commanding officer (from 19 Jun 1916 to 13 Sep 1916) Lieutenant Colonel D.R. Street, officers N.C.O.s. and Men of the (Ottawa) 77th Overseas Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force (C.E.F.). A World War I memorial painting, which depicts angels meeting a dying soldier on the battlefield and Jesus Christ on the cross, was erected by the parishioners and is dedicated to the soldiers of the St. Patrick's Basilica parish who fell during The Great War. At the bottom of the painting's wooden frame is the list of those soldiers. The Holy Name Society and Tabernacle Society erected a pair of stained glass windows depicting

Military saint The Military Saints, Warrior Saints and Soldier Saints are patron saints, martyrs and other saints associated with the military. They were originally composed of the Early Christians who were soldiers in the Roman army during the persecution ...

s, which are dedicated to the Parish members who returned from World War II and those who made the supreme sacrifice. Memorial scrolls are dedicated to the members of the St. Patrick's Basilica Parish and Our lady of Perpetual Help Parish who volunteered for active service with Canada's fighting forces during World War II. The Church was elevated to

Basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

status on St. Patrick's Day, 1995.

Architecture

The building is made of local stoneOttawaPlus http://www.ottawaplus.ca/ottawa/venues/saint-patricks-basilica-centretown?set_language=en in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style and features a carved and stencilled ceiling, marble

altars An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganism, ...

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

windows, and oak

pew A pew () is a long bench (furniture), bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating Member (local church), members of a Church (congregation), congregation or choir in a Church (building), church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom. Overview ...

s dating to 1954. The base of the current Altar of Sacrifice was originally the site of the raised marble

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

. This latter was originally installed in 1930 and relocated slightly in an interior renovation of 2003. The Altar of Reservation was built in 1902. To the right of the altar is a beautiful replica of Murillo's Assumption of the Virgin Mary, hand painted by

Québec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, 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 ...

nuns in 1929. The ceiling, most of the murals, and some of the stained glass windows are the work of

Guido Nincheri Guido Nincheri (1885 – 1 March 1973) was a Canadian painter and designer working mainly in stained glass and fresco. Biography Guido Nincheri was born in Prato, Italy in 1885. He studied art in Florence and immigrated to Montreal in November 19 ...

from the 1920s and 1930s. The

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The station ...

are bas-reliefs from 1876. The church seats about 1,000. At the main entrance to the church are the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

memorials listing the names of parishioners who died in those wars. St Patrick Basilica, Ottawa, ON - Lourdes Grotto

In 1998 the basement of the church was excavated to form a basement (called the Scavi) containing a kitchen, meeting rooms, the Book Shop, and a

Lourdes Grotto The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes () is a Catholic Marian shrine and pilgrimage site dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes in the town of Lourdes, Hautes-Pyrénées, France. The sanctuary includes several religious buildings and monuments around ...

. The large area around the Lourdes Grotto is about two-thirds the size of the main church, and is used for

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

on occasions when the main church is unavailable.

Restoration

In 2009, the Basilica won the North American Copper in Architecture Awards (NACIA) in the Historical Restoration division. Engineering consultant John G. Cooke of John G. Cooke & Associates collaborated with building contracting firm Lari Construction to repair, replace and repoint stones, install anchors, and install a new copper roof. Heather & Little furnished the structure with a new copper steeple, copper cornice and dentil bands, belfry louvers, ornaments, and the stunning 20-oz copper ceiling of the spire. Work was done following the Canadian Federal Government publication ''Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada''.

Parish life

St. Patrick's Basilica has a number of social and devotional groups for parishioners: *

Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney on March 29, 1882. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. It is led by Patrick E. Kelly, the order's 14th Supreme Knight. ...

Legion of Mary The Legion of Mary ( la, Legio Mariae, postnominal abbreviation L.O.M.) is an international association of members of the Catholic Church who serve it on a voluntary basis. It was founded in Dublin, as a Marian movement by the layman and civi ...

* Christian Meditation Group * Traditional Franciscan Third Order * Women of Grace *

Anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...

Group Regular devotional events include: * Parish Missions * Monthly all-night Vigils of Eucharistic Adoration The Basilica offers masses, confessions, daily holy hours and Novena throughout the week. The Basilica offers masses, confessions, daily holy hours and Novena throughout the week. Daily Masses before work (7:00 a.m., 8:00 a.m.), during lunch (12:15 p.m.), and after the workday (4:30 p.m.), with confessions before each service; Catholics citywide make use of the confessionals at Saint Patrick's. Masses for Sunday obligation are: * Saturdays: 4:30pm (Low Mass) * Sundays: 8:00am (Low Mass), 9:30am, 11:00am, 12:15pm, 9:00pm Educational activities include a formal R.C.I.A. program and a Continuing Adult Faith Formation program which has featured a variety of guest speakers. There is also a Book and Gift Shop in the Scavi. Social events include pancake breakfasts by the Knights of Columbus and a St. Patrick's day dinner, Coffee and Tea Sunday, Spaghetti dinners and St. Andrew's day dinner.

Music

Choirs

The basilica has five choirs under the direction of organist and choir director Francesca Bailey, A.R.C.T. The Adoremus Choir is an

SATB SATB is an initialism that describes the scoring of compositions for choirs, and also choirs (or consorts) of instruments. The initials are for the voice types: S for soprano, A for alto, T for tenor and B for bass. Choral music Four-part harm ...

choir focusing on the sacred classics in English and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

at the 12:15 p.m.

on Sundays. The Saint Patrick's Singers are a group of volunteer soloist singers who provide their professional services on alternating weeks with the Basilica Choir, the oldest one at the St. Patrick's, who sing predominantly English

unison In music, unison is two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time. ''Rhythmic unison'' is another term for homorhythm. Definition Unison or per ...

music at the 11:00 a.m. Sunday Mass. A Youth Choir and a Children's Choir sing at the 9:30 a.m. Sunday Mass.

Organ

The first

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...

of 1887 was built by S.R. Warren & Son. It was a two manual (Great and Swell) with pedal. About 30% of the present organ is from the original Warren. Casavant rebuilt and enlarged the Warren in 1898 to a three manual and pedal. Finally, Casavant rebuilt most of the mechanical parts of the organ again in 1930, adding chimes and a

tremulant __NOTOC__ A tremulant (from Latin: ''tremulus'', "trembling"; french: tremblant, it, tremolo, es, temblor) is a device on a pipe organ which varies the wind supply to the pipes of one or more divisions (or, in some cases, the whole organ). Th ...

. The electric wiring was installed at that time as well, replacing an earlier water-powered motor.

Pastors and rectors

St. Patrick's has had thirteen pastors and, since its elevation to Basilica status, five Rectors. * Father Aeneas McDonnell Dawson (Pastor 1855–61) * Father James McGrath, OMI (Pastor 1861–66) * Father John Joseph Collins (Pastor 1866–77) * Father John Lalor O'Connor (Pastor 1877–81) * Father Matthew J. Whelan (Pastor 1881–1922) * Monsignor George Edward Fitzgerald (Pastor 1922–39) * Monsignor George David Prudhomme (Pastor 1939–51) * Monsignor J. Leo LeSage (Pastor 1951–61) * Bishop Joseph Raymond Windle (Pastor 1961–69) * Bishop John M. Beahen (Pastor 1969–77) * Monsignor Francis French (Pastor 1977–93) * Monsignor David J. P. Corkery (Pastor 1993–95, First Rector 1995–98 ) * Monsignor Robert Martineau (Rector 1999–2009) * Father Richard Siok (Rector 2009–2013, 2015–2016) * Father Bosco Wong (Rector 2013–2015) * Monsignor Kevin Beach (Rector 2016–present)

References

Bibliography

* * *

Genealogy links

Marriages, Baptisms, and Burials from St. Patrick's Basilica 1867–1881

External links

Parish website
{{Basilicas in Canada Roman Catholic churches in Ottawa Roman Catholic churches in Ontario Basilica churches in Canada Patrick's Irish-Canadian culture in Ontario Gothic Revival church buildings in Canada