St. Michael’s Basilica
Miramichi, NB

By Michael O Nowlan

St. Michael’s Basilica, Miramichi

I was baptized at St. Michael’s Cathedral, married at St. Michael’s Church, and will be buried in the graveyard of St. Michael’s Basilica. This is only one church, one location, but history shows several designations for this magnificent edifice on the highest point of land in what was known as Chatham, New Brunswick before amalgamation created Miramichi in the 1990s.

St. Michael’s has a definite connection to Irish cultural and religious features in New Brunswick. The first St. Michael’s Church in Chatham opened its doors on St. Patrick’s day, March 17, 1839. Many of the priests that served the parish in the early years were directly from Ireland. Many others have been of Irish descent. The first bishop of the Diocese of Chatham, which was formed in 1860, was Bishop James Rogers who was born at Mount Charles, County Donegal, Ireland.

Reverend Doctor Michael McGowan’s Pax Vobis: A History of the Diocese of Saint John briefly relates how the diocese of Chatham came about and shows that St. Michael’s Parish was the third such institution in the Miramichi region. Sts. Peter and Paul (1801) at Bartibogue Bridge was the first while St. Patrick’s (1832) in Nelson was the second. Father Bernard Broderick’s The Catholic Church in the Maritimes explores in considerable depth the founding of St. Michael’s. As well, both present the structure of the Diocese of Chatham in 1860. Both sources indicate that it was the faith of a pioneering community that led to the erection of the first St. Michael’s, its re-building after a disastrous fire in 1878, and the years of construction on the present church which was commenced by Bishop Thomas Barry who succeeded Bishop Rogers in 1902. Bishop Barry immediately started work on the building of a cathedral, based on the plans of Bishop Rogers. The basement was opened for worship on June 9, 1910.

St. Michael’s Cathedral, however, was far from finished in 1910. In fact, when Bishop Barry died in 1920, the building was still not completed. Farther Broderick says “the erection of St. Michael’s Cathedral had many unforeseen and painful problems, developments, and even tragedies.” He cites two deaths of workers who fell from scaffolding, the taking down and rebuilding of the façade, which was found to have flaws, and the building of a chapel to support the west wall, which was sagging badly. Credit goes to Bishop Patrice Chiasson, the third Bishop of Chatham, for finishing St. Michael’s Cathedral much as it exists today. In 1938, the Episcopal See was moved to Bathurst, and St. Michael’s lost its ‘cathedral’ designation, and, in 1959, St. Michael’s and other English speaking parishes at Miramichi were transferred to the Diocese of Saint John.

Interior: St. Michael’s Basilica, Miramichi

In 1970, St. Michael’s once again saw considerable interior construction to conform to the liturgical renewal of the Second Vatican Council, and in 1983 much of the basement was thoroughly renovated to serve the parish in numerous ways. In 1989, on the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the first St. Michael’s parish, Pope John Paul II raised this historic building to the status of minor basilica.

As computers and other features of today’s technological world capture most peoples’ attentions, it is difficult to imagine how the origins of a parish like St. Michael’s was a work of pioneers whose equipment and methods were rather primitive. Nonetheless, it was the faith of the people and the leadership of bishops and priests – many of them of Irish background – that provided a foundation of character and strength to endure the hardships and rise above the setbacks. St. Michael’s Basilica stands out, not only as a building, but also as a place of worship.

Today, St. Michael’s hosts the Irish Festival breakfast at the annual Canada’s Irish Festival on the Miramichi in July as well as the Eucharistic Celebration during the festival.

As this is being written, St. Michael’s has launched a special fundraising drive to raise money to pay off a debt and to ensure the future needs of St. Michael’s are met. The church bulletin of December 2, 2007 told parishioners: “For nearly a century [since the present St. Michael’s was opened for worship], we have enriched our lives at St. Michael’s in Our Father’s House built by our ancestors. Today, as we walk in the footsteps of our forefathers, it is time for Christians of our era to ‘Lift the Stone’ once again. Ensuring the future of St. Michael’s is necessary and our responsibility.” The ‘lifting the stone’ phrase refers to those who built the church. This magnificent structure will certainly survive and serve many more generations.

Bibliography

Broderick, B.M. Rev., The Catholic Church in the Maritimes, Privately Printed, 1989.

 Fraser, James A, By Favourable Winds: A History of Chatham, Town of Chatham, 1975.

——, By Force of Circumstance: A History of St. Thomas University, Miramichi Press, Miramichi, 1970.

McGowan, Michael, Dr. Rev., Pax Vobis: A History of the Diocese of Saint John, Editions du Signe, Strasbourg, France, 2002.

Prince, Doug, “Lifting the Stone seeks to raise $1.2 million for debt and future needs of St Michael’s Basilica”, The New Freeman, January 11, 2008, p 2.