Oratorio St. Joseph, Montréal

The oratorio 'St. Joseph' in Montreal is the largest church in North America. The complex arose around the veneration of Holy Brother André, who was a great attraction to pilgrims in his chapel on Mont Royal in Montreal during his lifetime. During his lifetime, work began on building a large church in honor of Saint Joseph..

Construction started in 1915 in a neo-classical style, by the architects Viau and Venne. Due to Venne's death, the work came to a standstill. Dom Bellot was approached in 1937 to complete this church. The walls are there, up to the roof.

In collaboration with the architects Parent and Tourville, Dom Bellot designed the church, based on the already built part. Most striking is the gigantic dome that adorns the church: diameter 38.4 meters, height 155 meters above street level, and 97 meters from the floor of the church. It consists of two concrete domes placed on top of each other, the inner dome as a vault, the outer dome as a roof.

The interior also had to be adapted to Bellot's style. This is the only church where the concrete polygonal arches were placed later, and are not actually part of the construction of the building. The decoration in the church is extremely sober, with the exception of the sacrament chapel behind the high altar. This is richly decorated with gold leaf and marble has been used for the pillars. Many ornaments are made in Art Deco.

The statues in this church are by Henri Charlier, the twelve apostles are carved from wood. The wooden crucifix is also by him.

Under the stairs to the church is Brother André's final resting place. The tombeau is designed in the characteristic brick architecture of Dom Bellot.

The oratorio is still very popular, with a permanent closing day of enjoying the sunset from the steps in front of the church.

a.w.a. lukassen and a.a. lukassen, summer 2024