Marie-Reine du Monde and Saint-Patrick’s Church

Can you appreciate the stained-glass window on the facade of this church? Its magnificent arrangement of bright, vivid colours shows the Virgin crowned by angels. She carries a sceptre and a globe, illustrating her title as patroness of Marie-Reine-du-Monde church.  

The work is called The Coronation of the Virgin and was created by master ironworker Olivier Ferland, who was teaching at the École des Beaux-Arts de Québec at the time. Several artists were involved in making this place of worship a source of pride for the region.

Two other stained glass windows depicting Saint Patrick and Saint Michael the Archangel can be seen in the church, along with mahogany wood sculptures by artists Sylvia Daoust and Armand Filion, who were teaching at the École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal at the time. 

The immense fresco in the sanctuary was created by Father Wilfrid Corbeil, who was also responsible for the church’s magnificent decoration. Internationally-renowned artist Karl May, who had a studio in his home on Overdale Street in Rawdon, bequeathed to the parish one of his major works, Le Mystère pascal en raccourci (1972-1973), which depicts the suffering of the earth after sins.

On August 9, 1987, the Polish Christian community of Rawdon presented the church with a magnificent reproduction of the Black Madonna of Czestochowa. As part of the parish's 150th anniversary celebrations, a mass was held to welcome the image, which was blessed by Pope John Paul II during his visit to Poland that same year. The picture, decorated with ribbons and flowers, was carried down the central aisle by children.

Today, the picture can be seen in the front of the church on the right hand side, near the wooden statue representing Saint Patrick. 

The third Catholic presbytery of Rawdon, built in 1887, is still standing. This picture was taken around 1820. 

Source: Société d'histoire de Rawdon

Champagneur College is a private, coeducational French-language school. The school is associated with the Clerics of Saint Viator, a Roman Catholic teaching order, and is named after Étienne Champagneur, a member of this order.

The modern building you’re standing in front of is over a hundred years old! Father Joseph-Médard Landry was appointed Rawdon parish priest in 1899. As early as 1906, he had the bold idea of building an English-language Catholic school. To meet the educational needs of the parish and the Diocese of Joliette, he opened the Académie Saint-Anselme in 1911, with generous donations from the government, the Municipality of Rawdon, parishioners and even from himself. The Clerics of Saint Viator ran the college from September of that year, with Brother Edmond Arseneault as its first headmaster. In the spring of 1912, the Académie Saint-Anselme became St. Anselm’s College and offered a commercial course in English for boys.

In 1948, the College changed its focus and began offering courses in French to students at the end of primary school and the beginning of secondary school. It was Brother Laurent Lauzière, headmaster since 1953, who initiated the first phase of expansion in 1957-58 by building a study hall, gymnasium and dormitory. The institution became Collège Champagneur and the first four years of the classical curriculum were taught there. In 1969, the Québec Ministry of Education officially recognized the College as a private educational institution and declared it to be in the public interest.

In 1992, an increase in the number of students required additional premises. A new building was constructed, housing a double gymnasium, cafeteria, kitchen and rooms for Secondary 4 and 5 boarders. Then, in 1998, Champagneur opened to co-education and took in its first girls. In 2005, the construction of a magnificent football field and music and drama rooms brought to light another page in the College’s rich history. In 2024, the building was extended to include a dance studio. This addition blends in with the architecture of the original building.

Archives of the Champagneur College, where Music, Dance, Visual Arts and Drama are taught today.

You are standing in front of the Marie-Reine du Monde and Saint-Patrick’s church. Still active today, it welcomes many faithful and charitable parishioners who attend mass in French and English every Sunday.

Until the late 1820s, the first Irish Catholic families were served by the churches of Saint-Jacques and Saint-Paul, as well as by missionary priests from Montréal. Then, in 1837, Saint-Grégoire Chapel was built on the site of the current cemetery. In March 1837, the first baptism took place there: It was Thomas Boilen.

In 1845, the parish changed its name to add Saint Patrick, much to the delight of the Irish Catholics who had left their mark on its history. In 1882, the religious parish of Saint Patrick’s in Rawdon obtained canonical and civil recognition in the county of Montcalm, judicial district of Joliette. Work also began on building a brand-new church on the main street. The new church, along with a brand-new presbytery, welcomed parishioners in 1888. To accommodate a growing population, people were already dreaming of a larger, more modern church. The demolition of the old church made way for a new building, which was inaugurated at Midnight mass on Christmas Day in 1956.

For many years, the basement of the church has been occupied by the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, an international Catholic organization made up of lay volunteers, both men and women, with hope that the new generation can uphold their important mission. One of the fundamental principles of their charitable service is person-to-person contact in a spirit of love, hope, humility, respect and discretion.