In Montreal, journalist Louis-Philippe Messier is mostly on the run, with his desk in his backpack, looking for fascinating topics and people. In this city chronicle he speaks to everyone and is interested in all areas of life.
Montreal's many churches are much more empty than full (except at Christmas!) and one designer has decided to use his talent for urban art to help people discover these great, little-known places. The illustrator has already visited and drawn around fifty of the city's 214 Catholic churches to tell their story… which is, after all, part of ours.
Christmas is just around the corner and on this occasion churches often fill up for mass for the only time in the year.
In everyday life, some of these buildings, despite being so monumental, remain invisible.
“Can we imagine Montreal without churches? It was not without reason that the writer Mark Twain coined the expression “City of a Hundred Towers” to describe our metropolis,” explains François Guillet.
A copy of his brand new book “Montreal from Bell Tower to Bell Tower” was sent to me.
“That’s a great Christmas theme!” I said to myself.
Of course, the artist had his drawing pad and pens with him for the interview.
A lost French tourist approaches us on Rue Saint-Paul:
“That’s Notre Dame Basilica, right?”
“No, this is the Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours chapel! But if you walk ten minutes west you will come across the basilica, which you cannot miss: it is huge,” Mr. Guillet informs him.
The Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours chapel, home to the “Star of the Sea,” an imposing statue of the Virgin blessing sailors. Courtesy of François Guillet
fascination
The urban sketch specialist arranged to meet me in front of the very first chapel in Montreal, where the remains of Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys, Montreal's first teacher, lie in a crypt.
A five-meter-tall statue of the Virgin, a work called the “Star of the Sea,” stands on the chapel’s bell tower and faces the river to greet and bless sailors.
Fascinated children stop to watch the work Mr. Guillet is doing on a bench.
In three minutes we went from a blank page to a recognizable sketch of the altar and its surrounding elements.
“See all those little boats with lighted lanterns hanging from them? They were given to the chapel by sailors who thanked the Virgin for saving them from a shipwreck,” Mr. Guillet tells me.
As I watch Mr. Guillet at work, I notice that several details of this magnificent chapel draw my attention to his drawing… details that I wouldn't necessarily have noticed with my own eyes because there is so much to see. See here.
“I hope my book will inspire people to make appointments to enter Montreal's most beautiful churches and take the time to visit and get to know them.”
“Whether you are a believer or not, the magic of churches is to provide a place of refuge. For example, if you take St. Patrick's Basilica in the city center, you have the busy René Lévesque Boulevard and as soon as you walk through the doors you have complete peace.
Disappear
If there are still 214 churches in Montreal, that is a number that will have to be revised downwards over the years if the trend continues.
“Some of the churches I visited I had to visit right during masses because otherwise their doors would be closed… Some are more or less abandoned, which is really sad.”
François Guillet gives introductory drawing courses every Saturday in his hometown of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.
“I like to draw where the line vibrates. Instead of drawing straight lines, I draw several small lines,” he explains to me.
For his book he had to select around thirty Catholic churches, including some Irish, Ukrainian, Syrian and Lebanese. He also added Protestant churches, a synagogue, a mosque, and Hindu and Sikh temples.
The Gurdwara Guru Nanak Darbar Sikh Temple in LaSalle. Courtesy of François Guillet
Will he end his tour of Montreal's 214 churches?
“Maybe! he replies with a laugh. But my next book project will be a drawing tour of the most beautiful cemeteries in Quebec, starting with that of Sainte-Luce-sur-Mer near Rimouski.”
The Saint Enfant Jésus Church in Mile End. Courtesy of François Guillet
The interior of the Gesu Church in the city center. Courtesy of François Guillet