History of
St. Anthony of Padua Church
Memorable Dates:
April 19th, 1908: First religious ceremonies for the Italians in St. Francis Church.
May 24th, 1908: A chapel situated on Murray St. was rented for use by the Italian Community.
October 11th, 1908: Msgr. Duhamel makes his canonical visit to the chapel on Murray St.
February 12th, 1911: Msgr. Gauthier, Archbishop of Ottawa, visits the Italians in their chapel.
May 21st, 1911: Msgr. P. Stagni, Apostolic Delegate, visits the Italians in their chapel.
September 15th, 1912: Msgr. P. Stagni blesses the Banner of the Italian Society: "Fratellanza St. Antonio" now known as Figli d'Italia.
It was during the Paschal season of 1908, when several Italians came to Confession that Fr. Fortunato noticed that they had not sufficient knowledge of their Catechism and he made up his mind to instruct them. There was a certain young man (17 yrs. old) named Domenico Nasso said to Father: "If I bring 15 men here Easter Sunday, will you preach to us?" Father had to refer first to the Bishop and the result was the founding of the Mission.
Shortly afterwards, Father visited all the families and on Easter 150 Italians assisted in the ceremonies. That happy day of April 19th, 1908 was indeed a day of Resurrection for the Italian population of Ottawa.
With this modest beginning came the idea to build a small chapel for the Italians who had been attending services from 1908 to 1913 in a little chapel on Murray St.
Memorable Dates:
May 18th, 1913: The corner stone of St. Anthony's Church is layed by Msgr. Gauthier.
November 3th, 1913: Benediction of St. Anthony's Church by Msgr. Stagni.
March 22nd, 1914: Fr. A. M. Prosperi, o.s.m. becomes Pastor of St. Anthony's Church.
This lower-town site was abandoned in favour of a more westerly one where the nucleus of the Italian community lived, so Booth St. (then known as Division St.) at the corner of Pine St. (now Gladstone Avenue - Via Marconi) was selected and a rather primitive building erected.
The church was put in the hands of the Servite Order and Fr. A. Prosperi,o.s.m. arrived to be the Pastor.
Memorable Dates:
March 26th, 1917: Part of St. Anthony's Church is destroyed by fire.
November 1925: Inauguration of the enlarged Church.
April 21st, 1929: A second fire destroys part of the Church which was reconstructed and inaugurated on September 22nd, 1929.
In 1917, during Passion Week, a disastrous fire broke out causing damage totaling $3000.00. After this fire, it was decided to enlarge the church and Professor Guido Nincheri, a painter and architect from Montreal was called to supervise the renovations. His first suggestion was the excavation of the basement which was done by the Italian parishioners, who, after a full day's work, would go to the site to put in hours of toil by gaslight.
In November 1925, the remodeled church was inaugurated.
In 1929, after a second fire ravaged the church, the whole interior was rebuilt with reinforced steel and cement.
Part of the spiritual and economic strength of the Church was the network of parish associations:
The Sons of Italy
The Third Order
The Ushers
The Catholic Action
The Children of Mary
The Addolorata
The St. Vincent de Paul Society
The Choir
The Altar Society
The Legion of Mary
The Altar Servers
The Boy Scouts
Sports clubs
Giovani '84
The St. Anthony's Ladies Aid Society
The Parish Council.
In 1960 a new steeple containing the present bells was erected and in 1966 the exterior was refaced and a new hall built on the corner of Booth and Balsam.
A Convent was also built for the Sisters of the Addolorata Servants of Mary, who had called from Italy to serve Ottawa's Italian Community.
The focal point, if not the heart, of the Italian community of Ottawa has been and remains St. Anthony of Padua Church.
