Just found this youtube video, a National Film Board documentary from 1947 "Montreal by Night".  Lots of great visual reference.
I can't wait to find more.

The Tuesdays



"The Tuesdays" collage on board, 2011

 In the early 1940s, Robert Murphy walked with his sons Bobby and John to St. Ann's Church, Griffintown, from their home in Verdun.  They made this "pilgrimage" each week to experience the Marian devotional commonly known as "The Tuesdays".  My Uncle Bobby reminisced about this when I met with him in June 2010.

Can you imagine walking 5 km for a Tuesday service?  Apparently this devotional to Our Lady of Perpetual Help was very popular for Roman Catholics all over Montreal. 



St. Ann's Church circa 1911
 (note the missing "hat")



This collage was pivotal for me and the exhibition.  It became so important to get the main character-St. Ann's Church-just right.  I wanted to portray it accurately but not have it look stiff.  It needed to be welcoming yet powerful.  I wanted anyone who had ever laid eyes on it to instantly say "Oh look-St. Ann's!" I also focused on the atmosphere of the parishioners, crowding into the vestibule-hoping not to be late.  

My grandfather was very devout and had a strong connection with this church: in 1920 he took his first vows there towards becoming a Redemptorist priest.  I always wondered why he chose to live in Griffintown.  No doubt the rent was inexpensive-but I felt it had to be more than that.  I contacted the archivist at Redemptorist.ca and was given the information pertaining to Robert Murphy's time as a novitiate.  I knew from my research into his childhood in St. John, New Brunswick that his faith was important to him.  He and his family moved to St. Peter's parish in Portland(suburb of St. John) when he was ten years old.  This was a thriving Redemptorist parish closely involved with the neighbourhood that surrounded it.  In many ways, St. Peter's parish of 1910 mirrored St. Ann's parish of the 1950s.  They were both tight knit, Irish, Roman Catholic neighbourhoods in a large port city.  The Redemptorist Fathers provided schools, day cares, extra curricular activities and both had very devoted nuns working with them.

Is it any wonder Robert Murphy was drawn to Griffintown and St. Ann's?  He knew what growing up would be like for his children if they "belonged to" St. Ann's-a parish that had so much to offer.

I was shocked when I heard that St. Ann's had been torn down in 1970.  I sensed a feeling of loss when I walked over its foundation last summer.  I wanted so badly to walk in!  To find out what made it so special....I guess in the end it wasn't the building.  It was the people.