The interior of the church is most imposing with its beautiful Gothic arches and the wealth of its appointments and decorations. The walls are finished in imitation Venetian mosaic, after the style of St. Mary’s, Venice; the sanctuary pillars are imitations of Numidian marble, while those of the nave are delicately colored like Sienna marble; the coloring of the high altar resembles the tints of old ivory. The Celtic Cross predominates in the decorations of the arches and walls. There are some fine paintings in the sanctuary and on the side walls. “The Annunciation” and the “Death of St. Joseph” are very fine. Under St. Joseph’s altar is a life-sized figure of the Apostle of Ireland, attired in the pontifical vestments of the sixth century. The paintings of the Way of the Cross are works of art. The stained-glass windows are admirable. A series of painted panels ornaments the upper part of the wainscoting. The oak confessionals and pews are pretty in design. The harmonious combination is pleasing to the eye and gives the interior a picturesqueness of original conception.
ST. ANN’S
St. Ann’s Parish, the fifth in point of age and the second Irish parish of Montreal, was founded by the Sulpician Fathers. In early days, mass was celebrated in a brick house which is still standing and used as a tenement on the corner of Ottawa and Murray streets. The present church was commenced in 1851, the blessing and laying of the foundation stone being on August 3d and the opening on December 8, 1854. The Redemptorist Fathers took charge in 1884. The church which was found too small for the congregation was lengthened thirty-two feet and a tower added to the extension. In the tower is a fine chime of bells. Besides parochial work, the Fathers give missions throughout Canada and the United States. The origin of the name of St. Ann’s dates back to 1698, when Pierre Le Ber, brother of the recluse, built a chapel at Point St. Charles to St. Anne. The first mass was said on November 12, 1698.
The ruins of the chapel were still to be seen in 1823.
The subsequent English-speaking Catholic churches that followed St. Patrick’s were founded in the following order:
1854, St. Ann’s, 32 Basin Street, served by the Redemptorist Fathers since 1884; 1875, St. Gabriel’s; 1884, St. Anthony’s; 1889, St. Mary (Our Lady of Good Counsel); 1902, St. Michael’s; 1903, St. Agnes’; 1908, St. Aloysius’; 1908, St. Thomas Aquinas’; 1912, St. Dominic’s; 1913, St. Willibrod’s.
NOTE
RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES
Besides the Diocesan clergy composed of “Secular” priests, an essential feature of Catholicism in Montreal is the number of “Religious” orders or “Congregations” of men and women, Montreal being in many cases, especially of women organizations, the scene of the foundation and mother-house of numerous branch establishments in various parts of the American continent.
The following lists will, therefore, be of value. The names are those only of houses in Montreal or immediately close at hand: