Three churches

We have done three churches so far, here in Lower Town, Ottawa.

First we have St. Brigid's, a large grey place with twin towers on St. Patrick's Street. We couldn't get in as the arts centre for Irish Canadians (http://saintbrigidscentre.com/) into which it has been converted does not seem to be open much. Perhaps the arts centre people spend most of their quality time in some of the many plastic paddy pubs in the area. Mother McGinty gets everywhere - although fags do not, as it seems to be the rule here that you are not allowed to smoke within 9 metres of the decking out front of the bars. Or bus stops for that matter. There is a cannabis emporium down Bank Street, in another part of town, but it was not clear what was sold there apart from a large range of paraphernalia.

Onto the Basilica at the other end of St. Patrick's Street, another large grey place with twin towers, taller and a lot more ornate than those of St. Brigid's; very striking in the cold, grey light. Slightly confused in that this large church is both a Minor Basilica and Notre Dame Cathedral, but at least it was open. Quiet, but with more visitors than customers. The highly carved, decorated and painted interior was a complete contrast to the grey exterior. Also a contrast to an English cathedral in that it was built more or less in one go, according to one design. Must have cost a fortune when it was built in the second half of the nineteenth century,

Three elaborate altars, with the carved wood of the central altar rising more than fifty feet. Lots of stained glass, not much to my taste, but the west window was very striking with the afternoon sun coming through. Lots of what looked like polychrome marble but which turned out on closer inspection to be a paint job. Impressive but a bit cold, despite the heat of the decoration, and not very sacred, not for me anyway. I associated both to Gala Bingo in Mitcham Road Tooting (a former picture palace from the 1920's, also highly decorated) and to a large church we have visited a couple of times in Kentish Town (see http://pumpkinstrokemarrow.blogspot.ca/search?q=Priory+Kentish).

And lastly we have the Rideau Chapel (illustrated), once the chapel of a girls' school and now lovingly reconstructed inside the National Gallery of Canada. A reconstruction which appears to have taken care to leave out things like the crucifix which would have been on the altar: it is OK to make the chapel into a tourist attraction, but it must be desanctified first, if that is the proper word. Which seems entirely reasonable; one should respect the faiths of others.

On the day of our visit at least, an audio experience was added. Forty loudspeakers on stands had been arranged around the chapel and they were being used to play a version of a Tallis motet. In the words of the gallery web site: 'winner of the Millennium Prize 2001, the publicly and critically acclaimed Forty-Part Motet is now back on display at the National Gallery of Canada. This brilliant sound sculpture by Canadian artist Janet Cardiff is a reworking of Spem in Alium by Thomas Tallis, a 16th-century English composer. Forty separately-recorded choir voices are played back through 40 speakers positioned around the NGC’s Rideau Chapel'. Unlike at the Basilica, I really did feel that I was having  sacred experience, I was impressed - but it is curious that this pastiche of the sacred reached me in a way that the real thing did not. BH, unfortunately, thought it was rather too loud.

With thanks to the National Gallery for use of their image.