The virtual tour shows you the Sanctuary of Saint Anne just as it was until June 2010 and describes its history. By moving your cursor, you can get a 360° view of the chapel and enlargements of the following:
The altar
The skylight
Painting “Jesus and the Teachers”
Painting “Saint Anne Visiting the Virgin in the Temple”
Painting “Purgatory Visited by Mary”
Painting “Joachim, Anne and the Virgin”
Painting “Jesus Blessing the Children”
To access the virtual tour, click here
*Special thanks to Denis-Carl Robidoux for creating the virtual tour.
In October 1864, the arrival of the sisters from the former motherhouse in Saint-Jacques and the constantly growing number of students at the boarding school meant building a chapel big enough to hold everyone. In 1866, a chapel was built behind the Manor. It had no foundation, was made of brick and was two stories high with a back gallery. Completed in 1870, it was used for worship until 1888, at which time it was torn down, along with the Manor, to make room for the wing with the Sanctuary of Saint Anne.
In 1878 came an initiative known as the Billets d’affiliation à l’oeuvre de la Construction du Sanctuaire de Sainte-Anne (or the tickets of affiliation with the building of the Sanctuary of Saint Anne). The tickets, authorized by Bishop Édouard-Charles Fabre, the third bishop of Montreal, led to the recruiting of close to 16,000 people both in Lachine and in other areas where the Sisters of Saint Anne were present. Donations arrived from across Canada and the Eastern United States. At the beginning of the following year, the parishioners again pitched in by grouping themselves into teams to transport the stone, and organized fundraising activities such as concerts, bazaars and lectures. Every effort was made to raise the money necessary for the project, and the proceeds from these activities were added to the donations.
On July 26, 1888, the cornerstone was finally blessed. The architects Maurice Perrault and Albert Mesnard signed the plans and directed the work. The firm Georges Beaucage & Co. did the masonry work, and Dominion Bridge of Lachine was responsible for the casting and steelwork.
The architects were well inspired to build the chapel on the third floor in order to provide additional living space below it for the sisters. The first floor consisted of the kitchens and a refectory. The second floor had an apartment for the chaplains, offices, a dormitory and a music room. In 1942, some of this area was remodelled to hold the Musée Sainte-Anne (St. Anne’s Museum), a museum of natural science that operated for 30 years. Today, the entire second floor is occupied by the Sisters of Saint Anne Historic Centre.
In September 1889, the major council of the order decided not to finish the interior of the sanctuary due to lack of funds.
In 1895, Joseph and Georges-Félix Héroux from Yamachiche, ornamental sculptors and contractors, completed the interior decoration according to the architects’ plans. That same year, the feast day of Saint Anne, celebrated on July 26, was chosen as the official day to inaugurate the sanctuary dedicated to her.
In 1900, a gilt-copper balustrade, surmounted by a polished oak communion table, was added to the interior decoration. For ease of access, it was decided in 1922 to reduce the number of steps around the communion table from four to two. In 1941, the architect Paul Marie Lemieux made the most of a small space to create a new vestibule so that future pilgrims could enter the sanctuary more easily.
Today, the chapel is no longer a place of worship. It had be turned into a large library for the Collège Sainte-Anne.