Thursday, June 22, 2017

The Chapel

In yesterday's post about the Bruyere Hospital, I mentioned Mother House. The hospital was founded by Sister Elizabeth Bruyere, and the Sisters of Charity, an order founded in Montreal, still operates here. Mother House adjoins the hospital, no doubt with access points between the two. This is the main entrance to Mother House, which had its chapel open for Doors Open weekend.


The entrance lobby impressed me, and there were several nuns around the chapel entrance and in the chapel itself. I spoke with one about the founder of the Sisters Of Charity, St. Marguerite d'Youville, who has already been canonized, and about Sister Elizabeth, who by all rights deserves to be canonized. These things do take time, though it would please the sisters if Elizabeth ends up among those ranks.


I was astonished- what's called a chapel really is a church. It's beautiful inside, adorned with statues of saints, including St. Marguerite, and an angel. It feels very light inside. The current chapel dates back to 1936, while Mother House as a whole was built in stages from the earliest day of the mission.


Back at the entrance to the chapel, this is a portrait of Sister Elizabeth herself. While the order has a burial plot at Notre Dame Cemetery in Vanier, it turns out that Sister Elizabeth has been re-interred here at Mother House.

26 comments:

  1. The chapel really is gorgeous, very bright and beautiful, as I suppose it should be. I expect that the sisters spend more time in it than the average parishioner does in his or her church.

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  2. The chapel is beautiful and big. Have a lovely day!

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  3. The church is beautiful William. The combination of white and the dark wood fits very well.

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  4. gorgeous!! i love the last shot ... a shot, within a shot and then other shot ... cool reflection. ( :

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  5. @Kay: I expect so.

    @Francisco: thanks!

    @Nancy: it certainly is.

    @Tom: definitely!

    @Marleen: I agree.

    @Beth: thank you!

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  6. Hello, the chapel is beautiful. I love the sparkle of all the lights looking toward the alter. Lovely collection of images. Happy Thursday, enjoy your day and weekend ahead.

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  7. The white walls and dark ceiling make for a nice contrast.

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  8. It's a beautiful chapel with wonderful details.

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  9. That is a beautiful chapel, William!

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  10. Chapel? That looks like a full-blown cathedral. It's absolutely gorgeous. I'd like to sit in the nave and drink in all the beauty for hours.

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  11. Amazing that a large ornate sanctuary such as that is basically unknown to the public.

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  12. That chapel is very lovely and I agree, it should be called a church.

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  13. @Eileen: thank you!

    @Janey: they do indeed.

    @Jan: it certainly is.

    @RedPat: that it is.

    @Lowell: when I think of a chapel, I think of a space the size of a conventional room.

    @Red: it's not obvious at all from the front of the building, and that's the view most people would see.

    @Sharon: it should!

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  14. The chapel is really beautiful! I love seeing hospital chapels.

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  15. The chapel is a beautiful and big. Never seen a chapel that big. Nice photos William.

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  16. You gotta love the way that light dances around the room.

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  17. That is quite a church. The Sisters of Charity founded a huge amount of hospitals.

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  18. Thank you for sharing the best of humanity

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  19. That might be one of the largest "chapels" that I've ever seen.
    Love the reflections in the last photo.

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  20. What a wonderful surprise when you went in William, it's more like a cathedral, Sister Elizabeth is a striking looking woman, very strong face.

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  21. Beautiful captures. Amazing place.

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  22. Wow, the chapel really is gorgeous. Lovely photographs here William, thank you.

    All the best Jan

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  23. I missed this one because you'd already shown me the photos. My memory being as sketchy as it is, I couldn't remember if I'd seen them here or not. Duh!

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  24. @Linda: this one's a beauty.

    @Bill: even knowing it's big from the outside didn't prepare me for how big that was.

    @Revrunner: it seems to shimmer.

    @Mari: this particular one has done a lot of good.

    @Cloudia: you're welcome.

    @Pat: it was quite a surprise.

    @Grace: she must have been quite a determined lady.

    @Klara: it certainly is.

    @Jan: you're welcome!

    @Norma: I do share quite a few shots with you in advance.

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