St. Michel de Sillery Church (Quebec City)
St. Michel de Sillery Church (French: église Saint-Michel de Sillery) is a Roman Catholic parish church in Sillery, Quebec City. It is situated between Quebec Route 136 to the south and the College of Jesus and Mary of Sillery to the north, and is part of the Sillery Heritage Site in the borough of Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge. Although the current church was built in 1852, and originally dedicated to the Irish Saint Columba,[6] the parish was founded in 1644, with a chapel constructed on the same site by the Jesuits.
St. Michel de Sillery Church | |
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46°46′27″N 71°14′39″W / 46.774279°N 71.244043°W | |
Location |
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Country | Canada |
Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Website | dinabelanger |
History | |
Former name(s) | St Columb Church |
Status | Parish church |
Founded | 1644 |
Founder(s) | Society of Jesus |
Dedication | Saint Michael |
Dedicated | 1969 |
Architecture | |
Functional status | Active |
Heritage designation | Part of a Quebec heritage property (Sillery Heritage Site)[2] |
Designated | February 5, 1964 |
Architect(s) |
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Style | Gothic Revival[3][4] |
Years built | 1852–1854[2][5] |
Groundbreaking | Autumn 1852[3][4] |
Completed | November 1854[3] |
Construction cost | 3147 louis[4] |
Specifications | |
Length | 36.6 m (120 ft 1 in)[4] |
Width | 18.3 m (60 ft 0 in)[4] |
Height | 9.1 m (29 ft 10 in)[4] |
Materials | Sandstone, sheet metal, plaster[3][4][5] |
Administration | |
Archdiocese | Quebec[1] |
Parish | Bienheureuse-Dina-Bélanger[1] |
History
editFoundation
editIn 1637, the Jesuits arrived in New France, and founded a mission in the area. They built the mission Saint-Joseph de Sillery, to minister to the local First Nations population.[7] They named their mission after Saint Joseph. In 1644, they built a chapel, dedicated to Saint Michael, for the French and First Nations peoples on a promontory in Sillery known as pointe à Puiseaux. The Jesuits left in the late 1600s.[8]
Until 1847, the local Catholic population had to travel to Sainte-Foy or Quebec City to attend Mass. That year, a local timber merchant, Patrick McInenly, had his house converted into a place of worship, St. Richard's Chapel. Later, with the congregation increasing, it was decided to build a church on the site of the first chapel.[8]
Construction
editConstruction on the church began in 1852, utilizing the plans of the Irish-born architect Goodlatte Richardson Browne. [6] In 1853, Joseph-Ferdinand Peachy took over as architect.[6] The church opened for worship in 1854.[6] The French form of the name, Colomb, was adopted by canonical decree in 1855.[6] The following year, both the municipality and the parish took on the name St Columba of Sillery (St Colomb de Sillery, for the francophones).[6] In 1880, the bell tower was completed and a spire was added according to Peachy's designs.[9]
Developments
editWhen the church was opened, most of the work on the interior had not started. This work began in October 1866 and was based on Browne's designs. Peachy supervised the work and Jean Vézina crafted the wooden decor and Maurice Larose did the masonry. In 1945, the Gothic Revival interior was changed during a renovation. The gold and white wooden altar was moved to the sacristy and a brown granite one from Chicoutimi was installed in its place.[10] The choir stalls were removed and a wooden balustrade was replaced by a communion table made of iron. The pulpit was removed and new pews were installed. The stations of the cross were replaced with metal ones.[11]
In 1969, the church was renamed St. Michel de Sillery. It was done to honour Pierre de Puiseaux. He was a former owner of pointe à Puiseaux.[6]
Parish
editThe church is in the same parish as St. Charles Garnier Church (French: Église Saint-Charles-Garnier). It was founded on 7 August 1944 when Cardinal Villeneuve authorised the creation of a new parish, under the patronage of Saint Charles Garnier for the people in the northern part of the Sillery area. In the autumn of 1947, the church, designed by Charles A. Jean and built by François Jobin & Co., was opened.[12]
As the two churches are now in the same parish, their Mass times do not conflict. St. Michel de Sillery Church has a Sunday Mass at 11:00am. It also Masses at 4:30pm on Wednesday and Friday. St. Charles Garnier Church has Masses for Sunday at 4:30pm on Saturday and at 9:30am on Sunday morning. It also has Masses at 4:30pm on Monday, 5:30pm on Tuesday and 4:30pm on Thursday.[13]
Exterior
edit-
West side of the church
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Statue of Mary in the church grounds
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c "Église Saint-Michel-de-Sillery". Église catholique de Québec (in Canadian French). Archdiocese of Québec. March 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
- ^ a b Ministry of Culture and Communications (2013). "Église de Saint-Michel". Quebec Cultural Heritage Directory (in Canadian French). Government of Quebec. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
- ^ a b c d "L'église phare du quartier". www.ville.quebec.qc.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved July 24, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Orgues de la ville de Québec: Église Saint-Michel, Sillery, Qué". www.musiqueorguequebec.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved July 24, 2022.
- ^ a b "Inventaire des lieux de culte du Québec: Église Saint-Michel". www.lieuxdeculte.qc.ca (in Canadian French). Conseil du patrimoine religieux du Québec. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g Légaré, Denyse; Labrecque, Paul (2008). Division de la culture, du loisir et de la vie communautaire de l'Arrondissement de Sainte-Foy—Sillery (ed.). Histoire de raconter — L'arrondissement historique de Sillery — Arrondissement de Sainte-Foy—Sillery [Storytelling — The Historic District of Sillery — Borough of Sainte-Foy—Sillery] (PDF). Itinéraires histoire et patrimoine (in Canadian French). Québec: Division de la culture, du loisir et de la vie communautaire de l'Arrondissement de Sainte-Foy—Sillery. pp. 21–22. ISBN 978-2-89552-058-0. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
- ^ "Mission Saint-Joseph de Sillery — Archives de l'Archidiocèse de Québec". archivesacrq.org (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2018-10-11.
- ^ a b "On the Promontory of Pointe à Puiseaux" from Saint-Michel de Sillery Church: History and Works of Art
- ^ St-Michel de Sillery Church from Patrimoine-religieux.com, retrieved 31 May 2015
- ^ Église de Saint-Michel-de-Sillery Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine from Églises de Québec, retrieved 1 June 2015
- ^ "Interior of the Church" from Saint-Michel de Sillery Church: History and Works of Art
- ^ Les trésors de l'église Saint-Charles-Garnier from Le Soleil, 4 November 2012, retrieved 31 May 2015
- ^ Directory from Archdiocese of Québec, retrieved 31 May 2015
External links
edit- Official website (in French) (Parish Bienheureuse-Dina-Bélanger, created on January 1, 2019)
- Paroisse Saint-Michel de Sillery at the Wayback Machine (archived January 4, 2019) (in French) (parish replaced by Bienheureuse-Dina-Bélanger)
- Église Saint-Michel (in French) – City of Quebec point of interest in Sillery