Restoration work has been mostly completed on our beautiful Notre Dame de l’Assomption Church in Arichat.
We are mindful of the sacrifices that have been made by the poor people who support and work tirelessly to support this large building. If you gave one dollar, thank you. There are too many to thank and we appreciate every dollar that was given towards the completion of this project. There are outstanding businessmen and individuals and organizations who have given sizeable donations.
We would be remiss if we did not mention one organization which supports many worthwhile projects on Isle Madame. St. Joseph’s Credit Union in Petit de Grat was very supportive and we are indebted to them. They are a first class banking institution. Thank you!
We will only mention publicly a few of the people who have made this project possible. Please do not be offended if we do not mention you individually. We appreciate your donations and only wish to protect you from the collectors who might pounce upon you. Many businesses and businessmen prefer to remain anonymous for fear that others will exasperate them by trying to collect money from them.
Fred Madden a descendant of Dr. Andrew Madden, warden of this church when it was built, was the one who gave us the impetus to go ahead with the repairs. He leaned on an old tombstone and complained about the state of the building. He was visibly disappointed and wanted to know what could be done to get much needed repairs done on the church. We told him that we needed manna from heaven or some other miracle. He said if I give you $25,000 would you begin the project. When he signed over the money, we earnestly began the project.
This man, a devout Catholic, now living in Australia invested in the project because he wants the artwork to be preserved for the people of Isle Madame. He is appreciative of the work that was done by his ancestors. He knows that they invested money and time in the community that they loved. To seal the deal is when we had almost paid off most of the project. For Christmas he sent us a card with a cheque of $10,000 to pay off the rest of the money owed to AML Paints. With his help, the help of the community and the help of the Holy Spirit we had our miracle.
We had envisioned a project which would cost us about $85,000. We did spend more than $110,000 before the project was completed. Thanks to Adolph Boudreau we were able to replace many of the windows on the church. We replaced some of the shingles. We did repairs on the furnace. Some of the work was done by generous parishioners. We had the inside of the two steeples done and we had shingles installed on top of the steeples. We had to hire a contractor to do some of this work. Presently we are looking at repairing the steps in front of the church and repairing a few more windows.
We have repaired this church to honour the memory and sacrifices of all of the people from Isle Madame and Louisdale who worshiped at this church. Many of them are buried in the cemetery across the road. The ones who founded the parish were the survivors of the Acadian deportation who began to arrive here about 1763-1764. They along with others who had hidden in the woods settled on Isle Madame. These Acadians built the first Chapel down by the cannons in 1786. In the early 1800s, when Bishop Denaut and Bishop Plessis from Quebec visited the community, they deemed the edifice which has had many additions over the years a church.
At this time there was the arrival of Irish and Scottish settlers who added to the growing population. There was a need for a bigger church and so the Acadians, Irish and Scots built Notre Dame de l’Assomption which first opened its doors and celebrated mass in 1837. All of these first settlers who were from all of Isle Madame are buried in our old cemetery. We are indebted to these pioneers and it is to honour them that we have done the repairs to the church.
Visitors from various parts of the world regularly visit our church during the tourist season. They attest to the beauty, uniqueness and historical value of one of the oldest wooden churches in the Maritimes. This was the seat of the diocese and the church served as the Cathedral in the present Diocese of Antigonish for 42 years when it was first the Diocese of Arichat (Isle Madame).
The present generation has done a favour to the community of Isle Madame by helping to preserve a building which is important for the survival of the heritage and culture of Isle Madame. If the young people are not up to the task, and the church should disappear from the landscape in the future, it will not be on our conscience. We have been dutiful and vigilant in our efforts to preserve the beauty and artwork of this building which was built by ship carpenters. This church has been passed down to us to remind us how prosperous and successful Isle Madame was when it was a shipbuilding and coastal trading community. We are mindful and proud of this legacy which they handed down to us.
Again, we thank you for your moral and financial support. May God bless you and your family and keep you safe during the holidays and for the rest of the year.
Odilon Boudreau
Friends of Notre Dame