Oratoire Saint-Joseph
EVERY YEAR, two million pilgrims climb the 300 steps to the entrance of this enormous church on their knees. Their devotion would no doubt please Brother André (1845–1937), the truly remarkable man responsible for building this shrine to the husband of the Virgin Mary.
It began when he built a hillside chapel to St. Joseph in his spare time. Montreal’s sick and disabled joined him at his prayers, and soon there were reports of miraculous cures. Brother André began to draw pilgrims, and the present oratory was built to receive them. He is buried here and was beatified in 1982.
The church’s octagonal copper dome is one of the biggest in the world – 44.5 m (146 ft) high and 38 m (125 ft) wide. The interior is starkly modern; the elongated wooden statues of the apostles in the transepts are the work of Henri Charlier, who was also responsible for the main altar and the huge crucifix.
The striking stained-glass windows were made by Marius Plamondon. The main building houses a museum depicting André’s life. Beside the crypt church, a votive chapel is ablaze with hundreds of flickering candles that have been lit by hopeful pilgrims.