National Post (National Edition)
MOTHER & CHILD
This window in the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul in Montreal was designed by mid-20th century British artist Lawrence Lee. It includes nods to Canadian life, such as the deer sitting at Mary's feet.
PLEASE SPARE A THOUGHT FOR A NEIGHBOUR OR A STRANGER WHO MIGHT BE IN DIFFICULTY OR NEED AT THIS TIME, ESPECIALLY IF THEY ARE OLDER ... MOST OF ALL, PLEASE KEEP HOPE ALIVE — REVEREND DR. GLENN CHESTNUTT
Normally at this time of year, the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul in Montreal would be packed to the brim with more than 1,000 people, seated alongside each other, listening to the reverend Dr. Glenn Chestnutt deliver the Christmas sermon.
But this Christmas, the halls of St. Andrew and St. Paul will stand empty as people remain at home and refrain from large gatherings during the 10th month of a global COVID-19 pandemic that has infected 461,000 Canadians and killed at least 13,000 others.
It will be a strange situation. No excited voices will echo under the high ceilings and no snowdrenched boots will plod through the doors.
And no eyes will come to rest upon the church's famed stained glass windows — one of which has been chosen to grace the front page of the National Post, a Christmas tradition at the publication since its inception in 1998.
Every year, the Post chooses a stained glass window featuring an often Canadian twist on the nativity scene and this year's choice is no different. A serene Mary sits in a garden with baby Jesus on her lap as three onlookers — two of whom are Aboriginal, according to church historian Don Kelly — bow with spears in their hands. At her feet, sits a deer, instead of the Biblical lamb, an ode to Canadian wildlife.
At the bottom of the large window, which measures 6 feet wide and 14 feet long, an inscription of Verse 14 from Chapter Two of the Gospel of Luke reads: “Glory to God in the highest and on Earth peace, goodwill towards men.”
The window is located on the left wall of the church, just ahead of the church hall's upper gallery, where it would — in pre-pandemic days — have a full view of the faithful sitting in the ground pews of the hall during services.
The window is one of 10 designed by the mid-20th century British artist Lawrence Lee for the Montreal church, after being commissioned by members of the congregation in the 1960s.
Taking inspiration from one of the church's oldest and most prized windows — the 1919 Black Watch Memorial Window — Lee painted the windows to breathe light into the church's interiors, while keeping to the “central cord, which tells the (Biblical story),” Kelly explains.
Several of the 10 windows also serve as memorials to members of the congregation, and include the member's name, birth and death date, a testament to the church's pride in its 200-year history.
The church's origins, Kelly said, date to 1803, the year its predecessor, St. Gabriel Street Church, Montreal's first Presbyterian church, was built. However, clashes over the choice of ministers cleaved the congregation, and by the early- to mid1800s, several factions had broken away to form their own churches, Kelly said.
Two of those factions went on to create St. Andrew's Church in 1824, and St. Paul's Church in 1833.
For the next 100 years, the two churches rivalled each other, in both wealth and influence, each backed by Montreal's Scottish elite. Several attempts were made during the 19th century to unite them, all unsuccessful, until the aftermath of the First World War, which left St. Andrew's Church without a building and St. Paul's without a minister. “It was difficult (to find a minister) during the war, a lot of the ministers initially came from Scotland,” Kelly said.
And so, out of need, the churches transformed from rivals to friends, and by 1918, had reunited to form the Church of St. Andrew's and St. Paul's.
The reunion did not mark an end to the church's tumultuous history — far from it. The year 1918 marked the beginning of the Spanish flu, one of the world's deadliest pandemics, which killed more than 50 million people worldwide, including 50,000 Canadians.
Montreal, according to a November 2018 issue of the Canadian Medical Journal, was the worst hit of all Canadian cities. Of its then-population of 640,000 residents, 3,128 people were killed by the virus. The infection rate had so alarmingly risen in October 1918, that by the end of the month, all Roman Catholic churches had been closed in accordance with an order from the city's board of health, supported by the then-archbishop Bruchesi.
It was unclear whether the same order applied to Protestant churches, including the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul. “Can't recall church being cancelled,” Rev. Dr. J.S.S. Armour, the church's minister emeritus wrote in an email, adding there may have instead been a `special Sunday of prayer' hosted by the church ministers.
Armour noted how historically few references there are to the “many epidemics that swept through the city” in the church records.
“In former days, poverty, disease, child death, were accepted as facts of life — not that churches weren't involved,” he wrote. But the minutes, he added, dealt with church business rather than current affairs. “No mention, for instance, of Confederation, the burning of the Parliament buildings or the many fires that destroyed large sections of the city.”
It is unclear just how much adversity the church has survived in the 100 years since it was reunited — the aftermath of two world wars and, now, two global pandemics. Since March, the building has been closed to the public in accordance with Quebec's COVID-19 regulations.
Yet through it all, the community thrives and even grows, Kelly asserted. The church, which has more than 600 congregants, continues to draw new members despite the pandemic.
“This is not a dying church,” Kelly said.
The church keeps solidarity alive through online services and events. Its annual fall fair for example, Kelly said, drew $150,000 from community sales, despite being held online for the first time. All the proceeds go to charity.
“Without question this is a difficult time for all of us, but especially for those of us who are ill or who feel isolated,” Rev. Chestnutt wrote in a letter posted to the church's website in March.
“Please spare a thought for a neighbour or a stranger who might be in difficulty or need at this time, especially if they are older. Please consider helping them in ways that are in accordance with government guidelines.
“Most of all, please keep hope alive.”