Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel

Pray for us

"And the sun pours down like honey on Our Lady of the Harbor,"

from Suzanne by Leonard Cohen

As I made my mental itinerary of a train trip across Canada, this location was one of the first to light up. It was an important station of my pilgrimage. My Mother's family were devout Catholics who emigrated from French Canada in the late 19th Century, after existing there for several hundred years. Her Father's family name was Audette and her mother's was LaCroix which means "The Cross". Without a doubt my ancestors had attended Mass at this sacred and beautiful old church. I felt grace as I approached and entered. A restorative conviction of living as part of the True Vine of which Christ spoke settled on me like a mantle of peace.

A group was making a video on the front steps as I approached. We saluted each other as we attempted to capture images that could evoke this chilly afternoon of precious sunlight in the ancient streets of Vieux Montreal.









If a viewer looks carefully one of the two harpsichords is discernible in front of the altar.

I was a discerning aficionado of early music and the harpsichord in particular when I hit town. So upon entering the chapel I was delighted to discover that it was not only a concert venue for early music in Montreal, but that the two artists who were performing there that night were about to rehearse the program.
It takes a certain level of familiarity for most people to fully relate to any musical performance. Harpsichord fugues are no exception. For this soaring double harpsichord concerto by Bach, I was most finely attuned. I recall what Dexter Gordon once said, "You've never smoked marijuana? And you think you've heard music?" At that time I was doing my best to maintain my own Brandenburg concerto of the mind.
The musicians were masters and the music was resplendent in this sacred place. It was a highpoint of my trip, one reached more or less by objective chance, by the grace of God.











Wooden ships bearing candles, symbols of the soul in prayer, glide serenely over us.










In vieux Notre-Dame
a double harpsichord fugue
wooden ships in mid-air









Jesus teaches in the Temple.
Truth upon beauty upon beauty in this holy place.









With a final veneration for Marguerite-Bourgeoys it was time to sortie.










View of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours facing the harbor of the St Lawrence.
Come back from the wilds of Quebec for here is charity, here is peace.










Darkness descends on the old city, deepening an ambiance of peace and grace around this venerable and beloved church. It was the Advent of Christmas on earth.

25 November 2005