Summer Getaway Day 4 - Basilica de Notre Dame, Montreal

Basilica de Notre Dame, Montreal

This was going to be our laid-back day in Montreal. We've been sightseeing non-stop the last couple of days that it was time to slow things down a bit. We were still Montreal tourists but we were looking and doing less things today.

I think my family was pleasantly surprised to find that aside from being a place of worship, churches were also sometimes part of a city's attractions. This was the case with the Notre Dame Basilica in  Montreal.

Inside the Basilica, main church

There was an entrance fee to get into the church, which my husband thought was quite strange. "You asking me to pay to pray?", he mumbled as he paid for the ticket at the entrance kiosk. It wasn't until we got inside that he fully understood why a fee was necessary. The church does not ask money to make profits, but rather to support its upkeep and care of the architecturally beautiful building.

Looking around the church, you can see that it is well-maintained, appreciated, cleaned, loved....

Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, inside the Basilica

I was touched by the many visitors and parishioners at church that day. It wasn't packed but when I look around, more than 20 people is already a good number for church on a Tuesday afternoon. Not to mention that there wasn't even a mass on.

I wondered how it would feel like to attend mass at the Basilica. Somehow I imagined it would really be quite special and wonderful.

Click here for its official website.