221229 Cathédrale Marie-Reine du Monde - Montréal -9993

La basilique-cathédrale Marie-Reine-du-Monde-et-Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur est le siège de l’archidiocèse de Montréal. C’est la quatrième plus grande église du Québec après l’oratoire Saint-Joseph, la basilique Notre-Dame et la basilique Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré. Elle est située au centre-ville de Montréal, dans l’arrondissement Ville-Marie, au 1085, rue de la Cathédrale, à l’angle du boulevard René-Lévesque.

Histoire

Mgr Ignace Bourget, le deuxième évêque de Montréal, ordonna la construction d'une nouvelle cathédrale pour remplacer l'ancienne cathédrale Saint-Jacques de Montréal, qui avait été détruite dans le grand incendie de Montréal de 1852.

En 1857, à la faveur d'un séjour à Rome, Mgr Bourget décida de faire de sa future cathédrale une réplique réduite de la basilique Saint-Pierre. L'idée vint de son secrétaire, le chanoine Joseph-Octave Paré. Ce choix scellerait l'attachement et la vénération que Mgr Bourget portait au pape.

À Montréal, ce projet fut accueilli avec enthousiasme, ce qui créa un climat favorable à une campagne de souscription.

Elle fut construite dans l'ouest de la ville d'alors, là où se trouvaient les quartiers cossus, alors que l'ancienne cathédrale était située dans l'est.

 

Victor Bourgeau, l'architecte initial, estima (avec son collaborateur Alcibiade Leprohon), que la basilique Saint-Pierre était trop difficile à reproduire, même sur une échelle réduite. L'évêque, toujours déterminé à voir son projet se réaliser, envoya alors Fr. Joseph Michaud à Rome. À ce moment, le Saint-Siège était menacé par les troupes de Victor-Emmanuel II, roi d'Italie, et l'expédition du prêtre vers Rome était une mission secrète. Le but de son voyage était d'étudier discrètement la basilique Saint-Pierre et d'en tracer des plans.

La construction débuta en 1875 et la nouvelle église fut consacrée à saint Jacques le majeur en 1894 sous le nom de cathédrale Saint-Jacques, lequel devint également le patron de la paroisse desservie par l'église. À l'époque, c'était la plus grande église du Québec. Benoît XV l'a proclamée basilique mineure en 1919. À la demande du cardinal Paul-Émile Léger, par la bulle du pape Pie XII, elle fut renommée basilique-cathédrale Marie-Reine-du-Monde-et-Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur le 12 novembre 1955. En 1954, année mariale, le pape avait officialisé ce titre dans son encyclique Ad caeli Reginam et institué la fête liturgique de Marie Reine.

Vue de nuit.

Au sommet de la façade de la basilique Saint-Pierre du Vatican se trouvent des statues des douze apôtres, mais ici, le devant de l'église est embelli par les statues des saints patrons de treize paroisses montréalaises qui ont mis en commun leurs biens religieux. L'intérieur, également copié de la basilique Saint-Pierre, inclut un baldaquin à l'échelle de celui du Bernin. Ces dernières années, l'esplanade et le narthex de la cathédrale ont subi d'importantes réparations.

Devant l'église a été dévoilé, le 24 juin 1903, le monument de l'évêque Ignace Bourget, œuvre de Louis-Philippe Hébert.

Elle est accessible par la station de métro Bonaventure, au centre-ville.

En 2000, un événement de vandalisme eut lieu lorsqu'un groupe du collectif autonome féministe brûla des croix devant le bâtiment, lança des objets et placarda des affiches à l'intérieur de l'édifice. Aucune accusation ne fut portée contre les membres du groupe.

Le 14 mai 2006, le gouvernement canadien, par l'entremise de sa ministre de l'Environnement, Rona Ambrose, dévoilait une plaque confirmant ainsi à la cathédrale sa désignation de lieu historique national du Canada.

Extrait de Wikipedia

 

La construction de la Cathédrale connut deux grandes étapes: de 1870 à 1878 et de 1885 à 1894.

À l’origine, l’église devait faire face à la rue de La Gauchetière et à la cité existante, mais la Ville refusa le zonage du terrain d’en face à titre de « parc public». Refus qui eut d’heureuses répercussions, puisqu’il est avantageux que la Cathédrale ouvre sur le boulevard René-Lévesque, grande artère du centre-ville.

La première pierre fut posée le 28 août 1870. Les travaux, qui se trouvaient interrompus chaque fois que l’on manquait de fonds, progressèrent très lentement. En 1878, l’édifice n’était pas encore couvert, et les quatre piliers attendaient le dôme. Deux événements marquèrent cette première période: la crise financière de 1875-1876 (qui entraîna l’arrêt des travaux deux ans plus tard); et la démission, le 11 mai 1876, de Mgr Ignace Bourget, qui fut immédiatement remplacé par son coadjuteur, Mgr Édouard-Charles Fabre.

L’arrêt des travaux dura sept ans au cours desquels Mgr Bourget se fit « quêteur» pour aider son successeur à résoudre les difficultés financières du diocèse. En dépit d’un grand âge et d’une santé précaire, Mgr Bourget visita quelque 150 paroisses. Cinq jours après sa mort, le 8 juin 1885, sa dépouille mortelle fut déposée dans un caveau de la Cathédrale inachevée. On y transporta les restes de Mgr Lartigue, exhumés de l’église Notre-Dame-de-la-Pitié.

La Cathédrale abritant le tombeau des évêques, il fallait en hâter l’achèvement, car la neige et le gel s’accumulaient, l’hiver, entre les murailles. Les travaux se poursuivirent pendant six ans, en grande partie grâce au dévouement du procureur de l’oeuvre de la Cathédrale, M. le chanoine Racicot, ainsi que des recettes du grand bazar de 1886: 27,000$.

Le dôme fut achevé en 1886. Au mois d’août de la même année, la haute croix de dix-huit pieds de hauteur, en fer forgé, pesant 1,600 livres, fut fixée à son sommet. (Elle fut remplacée, en 1958, par une croix en aluminium de vingt pieds de hauteur.)

Mgr Fabre inaugura la Cathédrale le jour de Pâques, soit le 25 mars 1894, 42 ans après l’incendie de l’ancienne Cathédrale. À Montréal, c’était le premier édifice à avoir coûté plus d’un million de dollars. Il dominait alors toutes les autres constructions. Les Montréalais étaient fiers de posséder, en Amérique, la seule réplique de la Basilique Saint-Pierre-de-Rome.

Les travaux n’étaient pas achevés pour autant. En effet, l’exécution des statues de la façade se poursuivit jusqu’en 1900, année où l’on procéda à l’installation du baldaquin.

Le 30 avril 1904, Mgr Paul Bruchési décréta l’établissement d’une paroisse-cathédrale qui inclurait des portions de territoire des paroisses Notre-Dame et Saint-Joseph.

En 1919, le pape Benoît XV, à la demande de Mgr Bruchési, conféra le titre de Basilique mineure à la Cathédrale Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur. En 1933, la splendide chapelle mortuaire des évêques fut inaugurée par Mgr Georges Gauthier, cinquième évêque et troisième archevêque de Montréal.

Enfin, la Cathédrale subit une importante transformation entre 1955 et 1960. Le cardinal Paul-Émile Léger avait organisé, à cette fin, une opération de levée de fonds. C’est également à la demande du cardinal Léger que le pape Pie XII conféra à la Basilique le nouveau vocable de Marie-Reine-du-Monde.

Le 20 août 1951, Mgr Giovanni-Battista Montini, futur pape Paul VI, visita la Cathédrale. Le 31 août 1969, y entra le cardinal Karol Wojtyla, futur pape Jean-Paul II. On ne savait pas, alors, que le 10 septembre 1984, il reviendrait en cette même Cathédrale et serait le premier pape à visiter le Canada.

Extrait du Webb

 

Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral or in full Mary, Queen of the World and St. James the Great Cathedral (French: Cathédrale Marie-Reine-du-Monde et St-Jacques-le-Majeur)[1] is a minor basilica in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and the seat of the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Montreal. It is the third largest church in Quebec after Saint Joseph's Oratory (also in Montreal) and the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré east of Quebec City. The building is 101 m (333 ft) in length, 46 m (150 ft) in width, and a maximum height of 77 m (252 ft) at the cupola, the diameter of which is 23 m (75 ft).

The church is located at 1085 Cathedral Street at the corner of René Lévesque Boulevard and Metcalfe Street, near the Bonaventure metro station and Central Station in downtown Montreal. It and the connected Archdiocese main buildings form the eastern side of Place du Canada, and occupies of dominant presences on Dorchester Square.

History

The construction of the cathedral was ordered by Mgr. Ignace Bourget, second bishop of Montreal, to replace the former Saint-Jacques Cathedral which had burned in 1852. His choice to create a scale model of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome was in response to a rivalry with the Sulpician order who had been the feudal seigneurs of Montreal, and with the Anglican Church, both of which favoured the Neo-Gothic style instead. The site also sparked controversy due to its location in the western part of downtown, in a then predominantly English neighbourhood far from the homes of the French-Canadian church-goers.

The first architect, Victor Bourgeau, refused the project after studying St. Peter's, saying that it could not be reproduced on a smaller scale. At the time, the Holy See and the Papal States were threatened by the nationalist troops of Victor Emmanuel II, king of Piedmont, who was attempting to assert control over all Italy. The undeterred bishop Bourget reacted to these events by sending a total of 507 Canadian Zouaves to defend the Papal territories in Italy, whose names are engraved in gold letters on the marble slabs in the cathedral. Their motto is: "Love God and go your way." A painting depicting Colonel Athanase de Charette, commander of the Papal Zouaves, was made in 1885 by Lionel Royer. Fr. Joseph Michaud, the chaplain of the Papal Zouave volunteers of Montreal, was sent to Rome to secretly produce a scale model to work from.

Work began in 1875 and the new church was consecrated in 1894 as Saint James Cathedral after Saint James the Great, the patron of the parish the church served. At the time it was the largest church in Quebec. It was made a minor basilica in 1919 by Pope Benedict XV. It was rededicated in 1955 to Mary, Queen of the World, by Pope Pius XII at the request of cardinal Paul-Émile Léger. (The pope had proclaimed this title for Mary in his 1954 encyclical Ad caeli reginam.)

Between 1955 and 1960, several restoration works were executed. On March 28, 2000, the cathedral was designated a National Historic Site of Canada.[3][4]

As of 2003, the cathedral's esplanade and narthex have undergone significant reconstruction. The exterior statue of Bishop Ignace Bourget was cleaned and restored in 2005.

Design

Chapels ]

Baptistery

A small chapel is dedicated to baptism ceremonies. The marble baptismal font is mounted on a stucco crucifix sculpted by Louis-Philippe Hébert.

Bishops' mortuary chapel

The burial chapel, completed in 1933, is located on the east wall of the building, east of the nave, halfway between the main entrance and the altar in the centre. The tomb of Mgr. Bourget, an art work which was created in Rome, is located in the centre. The remains of the bishop that lay in a crypt under one of the pillars in the cathedral were transferred to his tomb on April 27, 1933. The titular bishops are buried on the west side and the auxiliary bishops on the east-hand side.

The walls and floors are made of marble imported from Italy and feature several mosaics. The bronze plaque above the altar depicts St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Since the cathedral was running out of space for burying auxiliary bishops, a second chapel was built next to the original one in 2005. Here an additional 15 vaults have been prepared.

Chapel of the Assumption[edit]

This chapel, also known as the Marriage Chapel, is located on the west side of the nave (across from the Bishop's Chapel). This work of art features a wood-carved altarpiece, decorated with gold leaf and framing a painting depicting the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It was made around 1635 at the Benedictine Abbey in Bellelay, Switzerland by a Spanish monk. When the monks were forced to leave during the religious retaliation, the occupying French troops sold all the precious furniture in the Abbey. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Austrian architect-conservator Rodolphe Messmer discovered the altarpiece in the church of Suarce, France and acquired it. In 1994, Bruno Messmer donated it to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Montreal.

In 1957, Cardinal Paul-Émile Léger put the chapel at the disposal of the Order of Malta. The stained-glass windows are dedicated to this Order.

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Ciborium

A neo-baroque ciborium is located under the dome of the building

Covering the altar, which is located under the dome, is a neo-baroque ciborium or baldaquin, with twisting columns. It was created in Rome in 1900 by Joseph-Arthur Vincent and is a reproduction of the famous 'baldacchino' in St. Peter's Basilica, created by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

It is fully hand-made and made with red copper and gold leaf. The angels, garlands and papal insignia were sculpted between 1910 and 1911 by Olindo Gratton. This work of art was a donation to the cathedral by the Sulpicians..

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Great Organ

Built by Casavant Frères, the organ was inaugurated on September 22, 1893. At that time, it consisted of 56 stops on three manuals and a pedal board. In 1951 the organ required maintenance, after which it was decided to rebuild the entire organ. Again, Casavant Frères was chosen for the job, and they added 20 stops and a manual.

In 1995–1996, the instrument was restored by Guilbault-Thérien from Saint-Hyacinthe. A few more additions were made, so that now the organ counts a total of 93 stops, four manuals and one pedal board.

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Paintings

 

The aisles of the nave and the arches in the transept contain painting depicting historical events in the early days of Montreal (called Ville-Marie at the time). It contains nine paintings and still three empty spaces. The paintings are:

1.The aforementioned painting of colonel Athanase de Charette, commander of the Papal Zouaves of Montreal. Work by Lionel Ryder.

2.Marguerite d'Youville singing "Te Deum" to children during the fire that destroyed her hospital on May 18, 1765. Work by Georges Delfosse.

3.Marguerite Bourgeoys teaching her Amerindian pupils in 1694 at the foot of one of the historic towers on ground belonging to the Sulpicians. Work by Georges Delfosse.

4.The martyrdom of Jean de Brébeuf and Gabriel Lalemant in the land of the Hurons. The Iroquois tortured the Jesuit missionaries, of whom de Brébeuf can be seen in the centre with his hands tied to a stake. Work by Georges Delfosse.

5.Father Barthélemy Vimont saying the first Mass in Montreal on May 18, 1642. Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve and Jeanne Mance, the co-founders of Montreal, can be seen attending the Mass. This work by Ernest Laurent was a gift from the French government to Paul Bruchési.

6.The consecration of the Associates of Montreal's project. On February 3, 1641, noble man and women, and priests, who dreamed of founding the city of Ville-Marie in New France, attend a Mass celebrated by Jean-Jacques Olier in the Notre-Dame of Paris to pray for the protection of Our Lady for what many considered to be a "foolish undertaking." Work by Georges Delfosse.

7.The first Mass celebrated at Rivière-des-Prairies by Father Denis Jamet on June 24, 1615. Joseph Le Caron holds the edge of Jamay's chasuble. Samuel de Champlain, founder of Quebec City, is in the centre. Work by Georges Delfosse.

8.The martyrdom of Nicolas Viel (seen in the boat) and his disciple Ahuntsic (seen already fallen in the water) by three Amerindians on the rapids at the Sault-au-Récollet. Work by Georges Delfosse.

9.Jeanne Mance, co-founder of Montreal, and the nursing sisters of Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph tend to a sick child Montreal's first hospital, Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal. Work by Georges Delfosse.

Statues

In the apse is a statue of Mary, Queen of the World, patron of the cathedral, by Sylvia Daoust. In imitation of the statues of the 12 apostles on the façade of St. Peter's, the cathedral is topped by statues of the patron saints of 13 parishes of Montreal that donated toward the cathedral, including St. John the Baptist and St. Patrick. The statues were sculpted by Olindo Gratton between 1892 and 1898 and include:

•Saint Anthony of Padua, patron of the Saint-Anthony-of-Padua parish (at 1950 Saint-Antoine Street West);

•Saint Vincent de Paul, patron of the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul parish in Laval;

•Saint Hyacinth;

•Saint Thomas Aquinas;

•Saint Paul;

•Saint John;

•Saint James the Greater, patron of this cathedral and its predecessor that was destroyed by fire, the Saint-Jacques Cathedral;

•Saint Joseph, patron of the Saint-Joseph parish in Rivière-des-Prairies;

•Saint John the Baptist, patron of the parish of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church;

•Saint Patrick, patron of the parish of the St. Patrick's Church;

•Saint Ignatius of Antioch;

•Saint Charles Borromeo, patron of the parish of the Saint-Charles Church in Pointe Saint-Charles;

•Saint Francis of Assisi.

Next to the church, there's also a monument for Ignace Bourget.

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Texts

Several texts in golden letters decorate the inside of the cathedral. Since the building was originally dedicated to Saint James the Greater (and it still is), it explains why most of the Latin texts refer to his life.

•On the side of the cathedra (east side): "He [James] is one of the three Apostles whom the Savior loves the most. In Judea and Samaria he converts many to the Christian faith." (Latin: "Is unus fuit ex tribus Apostolis, quos Salvator maxime dilexit. In Judæa et Samaria, plurimos ad Christianam fidem perduxit.")

•On the side of the tabernacle (west side): "He also converts some people in Spain, in Jerusalem he is condemned to death. He is the first of the Apostles that bears witness to Jesus with his blood." (Latin: "In Hispania aliquos convertit, Jerosolymae capite damnatus est. Primus apostolorum profuso sanguine testimonium Jesu dedit.")

The texts featured in the transepts are based on Matthew 20:22–23 and the brothers James and John asking Jesus to sit beside him, one on his left and one on his right, in his Kingdom.

•On the side of the cathedra (east side): "And Jesus, answering, said: You know not what you ask. Can you drink the chalice that I shall drink? They said to Him: We can. And he told them:" (Latin: "Respondens autem Iesus dixit nescitis quid petatis potestis bibere calicem quem ego bibiturus? Sum dicunt: Ei possumus. Ait illis:")

•On the side of the tabernacle (west side): "My chalice indeed you shall drink, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant, [these places] belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father." (Latin: "Calicem quidem meum bibetis sedere autem ad dexteram meam et sinistram non est meum dare vobis sed quibus paratum est a Patre meo.")

Two other texts, both from Matthew 16:17–19, speak of the vocation of Saint Peter, head of the Apostles. These texts can also be found in the nave inside St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City.

•Inside the cupola: "You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. (Latin: "Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam, et portae inferi non praevalebunt adversus eam. Et tibi dabo claves Regni coelorum")

•In the chancel and apse: "And whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in Heaven: And whatsoever you shall loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in Heaven. Feed my sheep." (Latin: "Quodcumque ligaveris super terram, erit ligatum etin coelis: et quodcumque solveris super terram, erit solutum et in coelis.")

•At the base of the cupola: This text is fragmented into four physical sections. It is based on Revelation 4:8 from the Apocalypse and dedicated to the glory of God: "Holy, Holy, Holy, the Lord, who is, who was, and who is to come." (Latin: "Sanctus sanctus sanctus Dominus qui erat qui est qui venturus est.")

Excerpt from Wikipedia

 

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