St. Michel de Sillery Church, Quebec

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,[1] the parish was founded in 1644, with a chapel constructed on the same site by the Jesuits.

St. Michel de Sillery Church
Église Saint-Michel de Sillery
Front with statues of the Canadian Martyrs
St. Michel de Sillery Church
Location in Quebec City
Location1600, rue du Cardinal-Persico
Quebec City, Quebec
G1T 1H3
CountryCanada
DenominationRoman Catholic
WebsiteParoisse-Saint-Michel.org
History
Former name(s)St Columb Church
StatusActive Parish church
Founded1644 (1644)
Founder(s)Society of Jesus
DedicationSaint Michael
Dedicated1969
Architecture
Architect(s)Goodlatte Richardson Browne and
Joseph-Ferdinand Peachy
Groundbreaking1852
Completed1854
Administration
ArchdioceseQuebec

History
Maison des Jésuites-de-Sillery, the house of the Jesuits, near the church
Joseph-Ferdinand Peachy, architect of the church

Foundation

In 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.[2] 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.[3]

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.[3]

Construction

Construction on the church began in 1852, utilizing the plans of the Irish-born architect Goodlatte Richardson Browne. [1] In 1853, Joseph-Ferdinand Peachy took over as architect.[1] The church opened for worship in 1854.[1] The French form of the name, Colomb, was adopted by canonical decree in 1855.[1] The following year, both the municipality and the parish took on the name St Columba of Sillery (St Colomb de Sillery, for the francophones).[1] In 1880, the bell tower was completed and a spire was added according to Peachy's designs.[4]

Developments

When 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.[5] 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.[6]

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.[1]

Parish
St Charles Garnier Church is in the same parish as St Michel de Sillery Church

The 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.[7]

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.[8]

Exterior
  • West side of the church
  • Statue of Mary in the church grounds
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See also
  • Archdiocese of Quebec

References
  1. 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 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.
  2. "Mission Saint-Joseph de Sillery — Archives de l'Archidiocèse de Québec". archivesacrq.org (in French). Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  3. "On the Promontory of Pointe à Puiseaux" from Saint-Michel de Sillery Church: History and Works of Art
  4. St-Michel de Sillery Church from Patrimoine-religieux.com, retrieved 31 May 2015
  5. Église de Saint-Michel-de-Sillery Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine from Églises de Québec, retrieved 1 June 2015
  6. "Interior of the Church" from Saint-Michel de Sillery Church: History and Works of Art
  7. Les trésors de l'église Saint-Charles-Garnier from Le Soleil, 4 November 2012, retrieved 31 May 2015
  8. Directory from Archdiocese of Quebec, retrieved 31 May 2015
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