09/17/2024
A tour and visit to Saint-Bernard Church in Belliveau Cove, Clare, Digby County.
The Saint-Bernard church was built with 8000-plus blocks of Shelburne (Nova Scotia) granite which was brought in by rail car from Shelburne to Little Brook Station (a distance of 120 miles) and then taken by ox cart, over a gravel road, to the construction site one and three quarter miles away. The parish was determined to not incur debt so the church took thirty-two years to build.
Two men with their ox-teams, working alternatively, carted these huge granite stones over a period of twenty years, weather only allowing this work to be conducted seven months of the year. All stones were cut by hand with hand tools which were kept sharpened by local blacksmiths.
Father Élie LeBlanc, who became pastor in 1937, was tasked with overseeing the completion of the new church and witnessing its blessing in 1942. The new church was blessed by His Excellency Archbishop McNally on September 1942 and the first mass was celebrated in French.
www.letsgoplacestoursnovascotia.com
