The parish of Notre-Dame was united with the Seminary of Montreal on October 30th, 1678, one year after the issuing of the letters patent which recognized the civil existence of St. Sulpice de Montreal.  Mgr. de Laval at the same time united with the parish of Notre-Dame the chapel of Bonsecours.  On the banks of the St. Lawrence, not far from the church of Notre-Dame, rises a chapel of modest appearance.  It is Notre-Dame de Bonsecours.  It has seen many generations kneeling on its square, and has not ceased to protect with its shadow the Catholic quarter of Montreal.  The buildings about it rose successively, only to give way themselves to other monuments.  Notre-Dame de Bonsecours is still respected; the piety of Catholics defends it against all attacks of time or progress, and the little church raises proudly in the air that slight wooden steeple that more than once has turned aside the avenging bolt of the Most High.  Sister Bourgeoys had begun it in 1657; to obtain the funds necessary for its completion she betook herself to Paris.  She obtained one hundred francs from M. Mace, a priest of St. Sulpice.  One of the associates of the Company of Montreal, M. de Fancamp, received for her from two of his fellow-partners, MM.  Denis and Lepretre, a statuette of the Virgin made of the miraculous wood of Montagu, and he himself, to participate in this gift, gave her a shrine of the most wonderful richness to contain the precious statue.  On her return to Canada, Marguerite Bourgeoys caused to be erected near the house of the Sisters a wooden lean-to in the form of a chapel, which became the provisional sanctuary of the statuette.  Two years later, on June 29th, the laying of the foundation stone of the chapel took place.  The work was urged with enthusiasm, and encouraged by the pious impatience of Sister Bourgeoys.  The generosity of the faithful vied in enthusiasm, and gifts flowed in.  M. de Maisonneuve offered a cannon, of which M. Souart had a bell made at his expense.  Two thousand francs, furnished by the piety of the inhabitants, and one hundred louis from Sister Bourgeoys and her nuns, aided the foundress to complete the realization of a wish long cherished in her heart; the new chapel became an inseparable annex of the parish of Ville-Marie.

These most precious advantages were recognized on November 6th, 1678, by Mgr. de Laval, who preserved throughout his life the most tender devotion to the Mother of God.  On the other hand, the prelate imposed upon the parish priest the obligation of having the Holy Mass celebrated there on the Day of the Visitation, and of going there in procession on the Day of the Assumption.  Is it necessary to mention with what zeal, with what devotion the Canadians brought to Mary in this new temple their homage and their prayers?  Let us listen to the enthusiastic narrative of Sister Morin, a nun of St. Joseph:  “The Holy Mass is said there every day, and even several times a day, to satisfy the devotion and the trust of the