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Building a shrine to St. Joseph

Broadcast Date: Sept. 12, 1972

From his porter's cell at the school where he lived and worked, Brother André had a view of the flank of Mount Royal. His contemplation of the mountain and his adoration of St. Joseph, patron saint of the Catholic Church, gave way to a dream: to build a shrine to St. Joseph. At first, all Brother André could do was pray the school would buy land on the mountain. Then, as this CBC Radio clip reports, he took his vision a step further.

In 1890 Brother André began visiting the mountainside and leaving behind religious medals bearing the image of St. Joseph. Six years later the school bought the land. By accepting offerings and saving the money he charged for haircuts, Brother André accumulated $200 — enough to build the shrine. The first oratory, erected in 1904, was a wood structure large enough only for the priests conducting mass. The congregation sat on wooden benches in the open air.

Over the years the little chapel was expanded, but it was never big enough. In 1915 work began on a new, much larger church, called a crypt, which could seat 1,000 people. But even it could not accommodate the steady stream of pilgrims, and in 1924 work began on a huge stone basilica. The building and its soaring copper dome — second only in size to the dome on St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican — would not be completed until 1967.

Building a shrine to St. Joseph

• By definition, an oratory is simply a place of prayer. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, "it means a structure other than a parish church, set aside by ecclesiastical authority for prayer and the celebration of mass."
• Of all the saints recognized by the Catholic Church, St. Joseph is among the most important. Husband to Mary, mother of Jesus, St. Joseph is the patron saint of the Catholic Church.

• It wasn't simply Brother André's prayer that put the mountainside property in the hands of the Congregation of Holy Cross. At the same time, the school's superior, Fr. Louis Geoffrion, was concerned about a sports club next door that attracted people who skied over the mountain and stopped in for a drink. Geoffrion was keen to keep his school free of distractions. Eventually the landowner relented and sold it to the school.
• "Fr." is an abbreviation of "Father."

• The first chapel was inaugurated on Oct. 19, 1904. In a ceremony at Notre Dame Cathedral in Montreal, a priest blessed a statue of St. Joseph holding the infant Christ. Four brothers of the Congregation of Holy Cross then carried it to the site of the oratory, followed by a procession of church officials, students and teachers. Observers sat in the rain as another ceremony was held to bless the chapel.

• Both the original chapel (appearing as it did in 1908) and the larger crypt remain on the site of St. Joseph's Oratory.
• In 1955 Pope Pius XII designated St. Joseph's Oratory — the building which began construction in 1924 — a minor basilica. It was the second basilica in Montreal and the eighth in Canada.
• The term "basilica" can refer to a building's architectural features or its status among church buildings.

• The basilica, known in French as L'Oratoire Saint-Joseph du Mont-Royal, was completed in 1967. It seats 2,200 people.
• From the ground to the top of the cross perched on its dome, the basilica measures 97 metres tall.
• The main part of the building is 105 metres long by 65 metres wide. Inside, the roof measures 60 metres tall under the dome.

Building a shrine to St. Joseph

Medium: Radio

Program: Quebec Now

Broadcast Date: Sept. 12, 1972

Guest(s): Bernard LaFrenière

Host: Monique Benoît

Duration: 4:16

Last updated:
Sept. 28, 2004