Until recently there stood off Notre Dame Street at the northwest entrance to the garden of the “Congregation” the quaint and picturesque church of Notre Dame de Pitié. Its original predecessor was commenced in 1693 and finished in 1695, principally through the benefactions of the recluse, Jeanne LeBer, daughter of the famous merchant, Jacques LeBer, who dwelt for twenty years (from 1694 to her death in 1714) in a little cell behind the altar. After the cession it was burnt down on April 11, 1768, and was rebuilt many years afterwards, the first mass being said in 1786. In 1856 this church of the “Congregation” (60 feet ×30) was demolished to make room for the Notre Dame de Pitié (108 feet ×46). This was built to receive a wooden, miraculous statue of Notre Dame de Pitié, which originally was placed in the Church of St. Didier in Avignon, France, in the fourteenth century. In 1789 this church was demolished during the French revolution and the statue came into the possession of a Madame Paladére, who gave it to the clergy. In 1852 it came into the hands of the Rev. M. Fabris, who, at the request of the Abbé Faillon, the historian, gave it to the Congregation at Montreal. It reached Montreal on July 1, 1855, and, pending the completion of the Church of Notre Dame de Pitié, was kept in the convent hard by, its solemn transference to the church, by Bishop Bourget, taking place on August 15, 1860. In 1912 it was demolished to make room for the projected extension of St. Lawrence Main Street to the wharves, at which time the adjoining historic convent of the Congregation nuns also suffered the same fate.
NOTRE DAME DE PITIE (REAR VIEW)
NOTRE DAME DE PITIE CHURCH
(Demolished)
In 1718 there was built near the church of Notre Dame de Pitié, and on the grounds of the Congregation, the chapel of Notre Dame de la Victoire. This was erected by the ladies of a pious sodality entitled Les Demoiselles de la Congregation Externe, in accordance with a vow made by them in 1711 on the occasion of the safety of Canada by the destruction of the fleet of Sir Hovenden Walker. It was burnt down on April 11, 1768, at the same time as the Mother House but rebuilt the same year. It was finally demolished in 1900. Other chapels connecting the old with the new Montreal were the Convent Chapel of the Charron Brothers, which became that of the Grey Nuns Hospital, and the Convent Chapel of the Hotel Dieu, on St. Paul Street. Their history is coincident with that of the buildings described elsewhere.
Two other churches built in the French régime were still standing at the capitulation during the early British period, the Jesuits’ church, which was commenced in 1692 and finished in 1694, being rebuilt and enlarged in 1742. After the capitulation of Montreal and the subsequent suppression of the Society of Jesuits, it became through the favour of the government the church of the Anglicans till 1803, when it was burnt down in the great fire of that year. The other church bridging over the two periods was that of the Recollects, which was built and finished between 1693 and 1700. There was also the Recollect Chapel, for towards 1709 there took place the blessing of M. de Belmont and the placing of the first stone of the Recollect Chapel by M. le Baron de Longueuil, major governor of Montreal. In the early days of the British rule the Recollects lent their church or chapel to the Anglicans and Presbyterians for service;
Their original grounds extended on the north from Notre Dame west to Lemoine Street on the south, and from McGill Street on the west to St. Peter Street on the east.
The “Récollet” began to fall on evil times, for before 1818 the Recollect property had passed into the hands of the Hon. Charles William Grant; the church, the house and part of the convent was purchased by the Fabrique of Notre Dame on August 28, 1818, from him. Collections were then taken up for its repairs, which were undertaken next year, according to the plan of M. Delorme in order to fit it for divine service. In 1822 the Rev. John Richard (or Richards) Jackson was permitted to occupy the lower part of the house by putting a schoolmaster there for the children of the Irish immigrants then beginning to arrive. About 1830 it became the recognized chapel for the Irish immigrants and at this time it became considerably improved by the gift of the portail of the old Notre Dame. On March 9, 1867, the church on the corner of Récollet and Notre Dame streets with its land was sold to Messrs. Lewis, Kay & Company for the sum of $85,000, or $4.00 a foot, and was demolished. The successors of the Recollects, the Franciscans, O.F.M. (Order of Friars Minor) returned to the city and established themselves on Dorchester Street West about 1900.