L’Église / The Church

Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours parish was the first parish in the Outaouais region, canonically established in 1831 and successively attached to the dioceses of Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa, and Gatineau, and it was the mother parish of the Petite-Nation from which all other parishes were detached. The current church, the parish's third, was built under Abbot Télesphore Allard, priest of Montebello from 1892 to 1902, with Napoléon Bourassa, a resident of the parish, as architect; the contract was granted in November 1894 for $19,500 and work began the following spring. Its ground plan reproduces the Latin cross, with wood ceilings and plaster walls, and it contains a 1904 Casavant organ restored in the early 1990s. The stone of the front wall, quarried in the region, is notable and was also used for the rectory built in 1937-38 by Father Chamberland, priest of Montebello from 1902 to 1943. The church was enlarged in 1932 to increase capacity, but renovations in the early fifties more significantly altered its interior when Father Brosseau, against the will of the church wardens, undertook work that changed the original character and architectural mark given by Bourassa. It is the only church in the Outaouais region with a funeral chapel, located in the eastern transept, where Father Chamberland is buried. A photo exhibition presents Bourassa's vision, and the church and rectory are recognized as heritage buildings, with protection applying to their exterior structures.

Quebec · Canada