unfinished church

A strange building that the House of Spirituality of the Trinity is located in the Montpelissan area. Designed according to the plans of Montreal architect Guy Barnett, it was delivered in 1957 and received by the Trinity Society (order founded by Saint John de Matha in 1198). It includes a novice and an inn but also a chapel that was originally meant to be larger than the current version.

For the record, the blue stained-glass windows that distinguish them must be temporary, pending the installation of the most colorful stained-glass windows, which remained forever at the project stage. The place is part of the parish unit of Granby, which includes the parishes of Notre Dame, Saint Joseph and Tres Saint Trinity. The celebration of the offices there continues by the Trinity Fathers.

In the 1970s and 1980s, this spiritual healing center would become the fulcrum of charismatic renewal for Canada and all of the French-speaking countries of Europe. Until recently – before the pandemic – the citizens of the French Overseas Departments and Territories (DOM-TOM), belonging to this American Pentecostal-inspired movement – came to retreat in Granby.

This popularity was in particular the work of a man, Jean-Pierre Regembal, himself a Trinitarian. “He was a very talented preacher. He regularly went to preach in the Dom Tom lands,” Michel Benoit, deputy general manager of the Spirituality House of the Trinity, told us.

Forty years ago, the place has been welcoming people with various addiction problems. Activities that combine psychology and spirituality are also part of her tasks.