St. Boniface Cathedral: Winnipeg’s Shrine to Christian Tenacity
On a recent trip to Winnipeg I went with my husband to one of the iconic tourist destinations of the city. Located across from “The Forks” along the banks of the Red River the St. Boniface Cathedral is a stone ruin with an intriguing past and a surprise located within. Gutted by a fire back in 1968 which completely destroyed the interior of the great cathedral, the place is beautiful and serene with shady walks and impressive stonework. Walking up to it from the river you see high walls and a large circular hole where there was once a stain glass window. As with all ruins, from a distance the place intrigues you — your curiosity makes you want to get closer and see the details for yourself. As we walked around this place that I had come to many occasions before my attitude and insight began to change. It was my husband’s first time there and it was a different experience for me being able to see it through his eyes.
At first we did what tourists normally do — we looked for fossils in the stone walls, read the inscriptions on the tombstones (my French did not fail me and I was able to figure out what most of them said! Yay! The Roman numerals on the building — not so much), tried to imagine the grandeur of the great stain glass window, and admired the remaining structures left behind after the fire. I told him what I knew about the history of this cathedral and we looked at plaques and monuments to fill in the blanks of not only this building but the community in which it served (see below for a basic history of the site). Then it hit me that this place is a great example of Christianity because of what is located within the stone walls.
After the fire in 1968 the community had the tough decision of what to do with what was left of the building. Instead of tearing it down and starting from scratch they decided to use parts of the existing structure when they built their new church. Rubble was cleared away and the remains were prepared to start again. The result is a beautiful chapel that can only be truly appreciated by going into the heart of what once was. As we walked around a group of faithful people came through the door after finishing mass for the day and the sight made me slightly nostalgic. This was never my cathedral — I am not French nor have I ever attended a service here — but my grandparents, father, and aunts are/were Catholic and seeing the members of that congregation leave that day I felt a connection to my past. Then another thought hit me — we are all very much like this great building in so many ways.
What do I mean?
1. Our History Creates the Greatness Within Us: As we age our stories become more varied and interesting. We gain life experiences that leave marks of courage, despair, love, humour, and hope on our souls. Sometimes people don’t get close enough to see the details that make us unique or truly appreciate the things that have helped us to become who we are. While they may admire us from a distance they may never discover our secrets and thus miss out on enriching their own lives with new insights and love. The current church on the site is a combination of two separate visions which together become greater than the sum of its parts. If the cathedral had not burned down the place would still be beautiful — the pictures give us some inkling of that — but would it have the same power to touch us the way it does? I doubt it because the story would be different.
2. Destruction is Sometimes Necessary to Reach Our Potential: One of the truths of our lives is that we are not completely helpless or incapable of achieving great success. Now I know that sounds faithless but the reality is that as children of God all of us are born with talents and abilities He has given us that can allow us to build a beautiful life on our own if we choose to do so. We can do many things without God’s help except for one — we cannot save ourselves from eternal destruction. For that we need the Master Architect to come in and build us into the person that He needs us to become. Sometimes that means that our old life must be partially destroyed or sacrificed in the process but He rarely starts from scratch. Instead he clears out the rubble of our past sins and mistakes and uses the existing foundation and some of the walls we have built to create in us a masterpiece that can only be seen up close.
From a distance you can see the destructive power of the fire that burned down this cathedral — a lack of roof and a large hole where a window should be give it away — but it isn’t until you go inside that you see the new church and can appreciate its value. If you never do that you may mourn for what was lost instead of receiving inspiration from the community that showed its strength by not giving up after a major tragedy. You may also never have the experience that I did of seeing the faithful as they left the site for the day.
3. Starting Over is Necessary to Grow: The current church is the sixth one to be located on this site since the St. Boniface Mission was founded. Until the last cathedral burnt down each successive generation was built bigger, better and longer lasting than the previous one. We like this mission and its congregation grow over time. Our bodies, knowledge, ability to solve problems, and all other aspects of what makes us who we are should increase as we get older. We only fail at life if we stagnate and stay the same as we were when we were children.
History of the Site
The site has been occupied by a church ever since a Catholic mission was founded here in 18181. Like many Catholic missions the missionaries came to the site to provide spiritual support to the existing Christian settlers and to teach the native population (aka the “Indians”) about Jesus Christ. “They were to also to educate the young, and assist in colonization.”
Over the last two centuries six churches have occupied the site:
1. 1818–1819 — Community facility housing a chapel, residence and school measured only 50 feet by 30 feet.
2. 1819–1832 (Completed in 1825) — made of oak and measuring 80 feet by 35 feet.
3. 1832–1860 — Eventually destroyed by fire the loss of this chapel also resulted in the loss of the mission’s records.
4. 1862–1909 — Eventually torn down due to a lack of space this chapel was twice the size of the first one at 150 feet by 60 feet.
5. 1905–1968 — Destroyed by fire on July 22, 1968 this cathedral was “… the largest and most elaborate Roman Catholic cathedral in Western Canada, as well as the best example of French Romanesque architecture in Manitoba” and could reportedly hold up to 2000 people.
6. 1971-present — Built inside the walls of the last cathedral this chapel is able to house half of its predecessor at 1000 patrons.
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