one more post about beautiful churches in English Canada

A warm welcome to all those who have dropped by through Vox's blog. 

Last post, I said I would name the church I believe the most beautiful in English Canada, but before I do, I thought I would first name a few others Vox and I did not mention in our post, some honourable mentions, if you will.  This list is, of course, extremely partial, in all senses of the word, and is limited to churches which I myself have seen, and my travels are not wide and far, and mostly close to Toronto. 

That said, my list of beautiful churches would also include St Michael's Cathedral,  St Mary's in Toronto and St Patrick's in Hamilton (all three of which were designed either whole or in part by Connelly), Notre Dame in Ottawa ( a little loose interpretation of "English Canada, as the church is bilingual.  Don't worry about that, though: I am about to get looser.) , St Patrick's in Toronto (unfortunately the website has no photos).  There was a stunning one in London, Ontario I walked into years ago, but I don't remember which one.  There are more churches I wish to look into, but haven't done so yet.   

So, without further ado,  the most beautiful church I have seen in English Canada is... St Patrick's, in Montreal. 

I realize that Montreal is not generally considered part of English Canada, and if more people read this blog, I could expect some hate mail, but I believe it can be claimed on a technicality:  The church is the main English speaking Catholic church in Montreal.  It was built in 1848 for the Irish (who else?) who settled in the area following the Irish famine. 

The altars are still intact, as is the communion rail, and the ornate pulpit.  Unfortunately, I am a rotten photographer, so I could only get a photo of the side altar, with the high altar in the background.  This can give you an idea of the altar.

Other decorations involve paintings, six foot tall angels on the sanctuary lamp, and hundreds of saints painted on the walls of the church.  Visitors to the church often wander along the walls, looking for their patron, and gaze in wonder at the beauty that was created through the pennies given by the worshippers of the past.    

There you have it.  You now know what Vox and I were discussing a few posts down, plus a personal favourite.  If anyone wants to point out a beauty in their area, or their own favourite, feel free to do so in the combox.