Where in the world is Mary?: Saint Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal, (Oratoire Saint-Joseph du Mont-Royal) Montreal, Canada

Went to mass (a little late like all good Catholics) at the Oratory which is a Roman Catholic minor basilica and a national shrine on the west slope of Mount Royal in Montreal, Quebec. I was darting up the stairs while others were climbing the stairs on their knees,(many visitors/pilgrims climb 99 of the 283 stairs on their knees in prayer to share the pain of Jesus Christ’s suffering on the cross.) They must have attended an earlier mass….

The Oratory is the largest church in Canada.

The basilica is dedicated to Saint Joseph, to whom Brother André credited all his reported miracles. Pope John Paul ll deemed the miracles to be authentic and beatified Brother André in 1982. In October 2010 Pope Benedict XVl canonized the saint.

A reliquary in the church museum contains Brother André's heart, which he requested as a protection for the basilica. More than 2 million visitors and pilgrims visit the Oratory every year.

In 2004, the Oratory was designated a National Historic Site of Canada on the occasion of its 100th anniversary.

Random fact: The 1989 movie Jesus de Montreal uses the Oratory as its principal backdrop. A photograph of the Oratory is used for the picture representing Montreal in the Monopoly: Here and Now: The World Edition game.