Chronicles
Fourth episodeChapels
The early Christians first built altars in the Roman catacombs to celebrate the Eucharist during funeral and commemorative ceremonies. Following this, the Catholic mass was celebrated in basilicas and later churches built for that purpose. At that time, the sacrament of baptism was celebrated in a small building separate from the church, called a baptistery. Then, following the example of the building erected by Charlemagne to house the cloak of St. Martin of Tours, a relic, in the ninth century, the term “chapel” was used to designate buildings which, without being the main seat of a parish, were nevertheless equipped with altars for Christian worship. As a result, throughout the Roman Catholic diaspora, chapels are found in private homes, cemeteries, colleges, convents, hospitals, prisons and even along roads…
St. Martin served in the military under Constantine and Julian. He wanted to go into the religious life but had to respect a decree by the emperor requiring the sons of veterans to join the military. One winter day, while going through the gate at Amiens, he met a naked man who had not received any alms at all. Martin understood that this poor man was reserved for him. He took his sword, and cut the cloak he was wearing in two, giving half to the poor man and putting the other half back on. The following night, he saw Jesus Christ wearing the cloak which he had given the poor man and heard him tell the angels that surrounded him, “Martin, who is still just a catechumen, covered me with this piece of clothing.” The holy man did not bask in his glory. Knowing how great God is, he was baptized, at the age of 18, and served in the military for two more years before becoming an acolyte of the Bishop of Poitiers, then bishop of Tours. [Jacques de Voragine].
Following this, he founded several rural churches in Gaulle and a monastery. Two major miracles are attributed to him; he apparently brought two men back from death. As of that time, he became renowned and the sick and unfortunate flocked to him.
St. Martin’s cloak is kept in Charlemagne’s private chapel, the Chapelle palatine d'Aix (which became Aix-la-Chapelle), in Germany. It was incorporated in the current cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle. Charlemagne’s remains are also found there.Close this window
In New France, even before churches were built, as a result of the embryonic Episcopal structure and the needs of worship, numerous chapels were established. From Hudson’s Bay to Louisiana, the mission of New France was served by Récollet and Jesuit missionaires who reached out to the newly settled colonists and the Native populations to be converted. The first chapels were established in the forts that were built to defend the settlements and in Amerindian missions. In the newly emerging seigniories, chapels were often built in the seigneur’s home, to be followed by structures built on land ceded to the community.
Starting as of 1658, secular priests were gradually appointed in the territory as it was designated an apostolic vicariate (Pope Alexander VII appointed François de Laval to serve as the vicar). The diocesis of Québec, which was established by canon law in 1674, permitted the establishment of parishes and, consequently, the construction of parish churches. Communities with smaller populations were served by the closest parish priest, who would travel to the “service chapel” or the “service church” depending on the dimensions of the place of worship.
Chapelle de procession Saint-Anne, Municipalité de Neuville. Crédit: © Ministère de la Culture, des Communications et de la Condition féminine, Jean-François Rodrigue, 2005. Source: Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec
In Montreal, people first went to the Hôtel-Dieu chapel for services and then, as of 1675, pilgrims were allowed outside the palisade to go to the small Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours chapel. In the countryside, on the property of the farming sisters of the Congrégation de Notre-Dame, an oratory, was established in the house. Finally, on weekdays, in the winter, in the parishes, ordinary masses or more modest marriages were usually celebrated in the sacristy chapel. Small processional chapels could also be found in the parishes. They were erected in honor of particular saints and served as a relay point for carrying the Holy Sacrament during processions during the Feast of Corpus Christi. At Saint-Étienne de Beaumont and Varennes, it is still possible to see such chapels at each end of the village, although several parishes had only one procession chapel and the villagers took pride in erecting wayside shrines for the pyx, decorated with flowers and ornaments, at the front of their properties.
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Finally, large chapels were also built to satisfy the needs of the large numbers of pilgrims that visited them. The best known is certainly St. Joseph's oratory. Brother André, who was behind the original construction, was canonized there on October 17, 2010…
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The chronicles will be published again at a later date.
Sources
SIMARD, Jean, L'art religieux des routes du Québec, [Sainte-Foy], Publications du Québec, 1995, 56 p.
DE VORAGINE, Jacques, La légende dorée, translation by J.-B.M. Roze; chronology and introduction by Hervé Savon, [Paris], Flammarion, 2002, c1967, 2nd volume, 508 p.
http://www.saint-joseph.org/fr_1033_index.php
http://www.saintmartindetours.eu/personnage/histoire-interactive.html