Our Lady of Assumption West Arichat NS

Notre Dame de l’Assomption is located in Arichat, Richmond County, on the highway that runs from Arichat to Petit de Grat on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Opened in 1837, Notre Dame is a combination of Neo-Classical and Gothic Revival style church, and is the oldest surviving Roman Catholic Church in Nova Scotia. As a fully operating church, it hosts numerous weddings, baptisms and other life event celebrations as well as weekly masses.

 

Download Our Lady of Assumption vCard with Mass Times

Click here to contact the church  

Download Pastor Fr. John DeCoste vCard

Click here to contact Fr. John DeCoste  

 

https://www.antigonishdiocese.com/findamass/  

 

 

Know how to get there? Share the knowledge with others!  

Please share parking information and/or parking experience!  

 

 

 

Since opening in 1837, Notre Dame de L'Assomption (Our Lady of Assumption) Roman Catholic church in Arichat, Nova Scotia has been in active use. Recognized as a provincial heritage property in 1995, the church continues to host weekly masses along with numerous wedding, baptisms and other life events for parishioners.

Church History

First religious orders arrived from France in 1611.

From 1657 Eastern Nova Scotia belonged to the archdiocese of Rouen, France.

From 1659, it belonged to the Vicariate Apostolic of New France, which became the Diocese of Quebec in 1674.

Cape Breton was under the diocese of Quebec from 1674 to 1829 (excepting the years 1817-1820 when Roman officials recorded it as the Vicariate Apostolic of Newfoundland).

After the Diocese of Quebec, in 1829 it was transferred to the Vicariate Apostolic of Nova Scotia, which became the Diocese of Halifax in 1842.

Diocese of Arichat from 1844 to 1886, when it became Diocese of Antigonish.

Before European settlements, there were native people in Eastern Nova Scotia. The Mi’kmaq people were the easternmost of the Algonquin tribes, and used to populate the areas now known as Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and parts of New Brunswick, Québec and Southwestern Newfoundland

The early French settlers called these people Souriquois, but it was not until 1693 that these aboriginals became known under their true name, the Mi’kmaq.

The first Jesuit missionaries described them as mild and peaceful.

Their original religion is obscure. They believed in one or many great spirits that they called Mento or Minto (pronounced mendoo), but had no other personal divinities.

They feared, revered and adored their great spirit, and sometimes made sacrifices to it to try and prevent him from harming or hindering them in the various things that they did.

They did not look upon it as all-powerful or benevolent, nor did they speak of him as their creator. There is still no evidence that they believed in any type of creation.

Europeans found the native people submissive, willing and able to learn the rudimentary principles of the Christian religion.

The first two missionaries sent to tend to the native peoples were two Jesuit priests named Father Biard and Father Massé who came from France

A place of gathering for the natives was Potloteg, which missionaries gave the name “Holy Family Island”, now known as “Chapel Island” just outside of St. Peters (page 19 book 1)

The Mi’kmaq people were always friendly towards the French, because the French treated them as allies and not as conquered people.

The English sought out to exterminate the Mi’kmaq on the other hand (by poisoning cloths and blankets that the Mi’kmaq bought from them), and because of this, the missionaries that brought the Christian faith to the natives were the French priests.

Father Pierre Maillard arrived in Nova Scotia in 1735 from France, and is known as “The Apostle of the Mi’kmaq People”.

Father Maillard was about 25 years old when he arrived in cape Breton, and spent the remainder of his life, a 27 year long period, living with the Mi’kmaq

In this time, Father Maillard succeeded in converting the entire tribe.

So good was his work that later efforts by protestant ministers never succeeded in deterring them from the Catholic faith.

In 1750, Father Maillard abandoned his original post at Malagawatch completely, and established a new mission for the natives at the Island of the Holy Family, which is now known as Chapel Island.

After his death, the Mi’kmaq demanded that the English government supply them with another priest, and it is sure that without these demands, the Catholic religion would not have been kept alive in Nova Scotia.

A large boulder on Chapel Island marks where Father Maillard first preached a sermon at Chapel Island in 1742.

Beginning in 1738 father Maillard began to compose a book of prayers that was completely in hieroglyphic characters, so that the Mi’kmaq could continue their religious endeavors even after he had gone. When he died, this book took the place of a missionary for about 170 years. This was helpful after his death, because there was no priest in all of Nova Scotia for six years afterward.

The first place in the present day diocese of Antigonish that the Jesuit missionaries set foot on, and also the first place a mass (5 may 1611) was held was in Canso.

In the 17th century, there were hundreds of shipwrecks on Cape Breton Island, and it is believed that the site of these tragedies is isle madame. Since there were Jesuit priests aboard many of these ships, this means that it contains the first Christian cemetery within what is now known as the diocese of Antigonish.

In the past, Arichat was thought to be one of the finest ports in all of Canada.