Catholic Shrines & Places of Interest in Montreal, Canada
About Montreal:
The French-speaking city of Montreal has a rich Catholic history. With so many churches, it lived up to its nickname of “La ville aux cent clochers” (The City of a Hundred Bell Towers). The city was founded on May 17,1642, and on January 6, 1943 Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve erected cross atop Mount Royal to thank God for sparing his colony from rising flood waters. It was replaced by a steel cross in 1924.
You may find more hostility to the Catholic Church nowadays, due to the fact that the Church was perceived as being too involved in secular matters. Nonetheless, there is an interesting history here and, of course, there are many strong Catholics as well.
Catholic sites of interest in Montreal:
Notre Dame des Bon Secours & Marguerite Bourgeoys Museum
Saint Irenaeus Church (FSSP, Latin Mass)
Sisters of Providence Museum & Emilie Gamelin Center
Marguerite d’Youville Sanctuary (near Montreal in Varennes)
Traveling to Montreal:
Montreal has a major airport as well as excellent rail connections both to other parts of Canada as well as to the U.S. via New York City. The rail journey from New York takes about 10 hours, and runs once a day, but covers some beautiful scenery along the way. Unfortunately, train travel in the U.S. is not what it could be, and the U.S. portion is sometimes held up, but it still makes a great journey. Be aware, if you are taking the train, you will need proper identification to enter Canada.
Montreal is also a popular port of call for many cruise lines sailing from such U.S. East Coast cities as New York and Boston
