St. Ninian Cathedral in Antigonish, Nova Scotia (Canada)

That day, we had a long journey from Halifax ahead of us, and the first stop was in the small town of Antigonish. We had some time, and it was still much too early for lunch, so I went to the university called Francis Xavier. I visited two churches there; the second was the Catholic St. Ninian's Basilica. I'll mainly talk about that one.

Antigonish -: that reminds me of Sophocles' play "Antigone," which premiered either in 442 or 440 BC [1]. A thrilling play, a crime thriller, often used as a model, and if you don't know it, there's also a comic strip about it, and I mean that without prejudice [2]. Of course, Antigonish has nothing to do with Antigone; that was just one of my digressions. Antigonish can be traced etymologically back to a Mi'kmaq toponym [3]. Mi'kmaq belongs to the Algonquian language family. Since none of us are likely fluent in Mi'kmaq, let's translate N'alegihooneech as "place where branches are torn off," with the explanation that bears came there to eat beechnuts or hazelnuts.

Antigonish is a town with 4,500 to 5,000 inhabitants [4]. Besides St. Francis Xavier University, there are other things that make Antigonish interesting, but it's better to check out the Wikipedia article. Francis Xavier came from the Basque Country and I was told on this trip that Xavier is the Basque word for castle – which is not true, because that is gaztelua – and his original name was Etchebarri Xavier – which is also not true, but not completely wrong either, because there is a toponym Etxebarri [5] – but I realized that in the novel "Shibumi" [6] Nicolas Hel restored a castle called Etchbar until it was almost completely destroyed in an attack by the American secret service, but that may (definitely!) be getting too far off the topic.

Francis Xavier, born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta, lived from 1506-1552 [7], died of malaria on Shangchuan Island (上川岛) and found his final resting place in Goa in 1554. That's not entirely correct, because his right forearm is a relic in Rome, which, by the way, I already mentioned in an excavation report [8]. His final resting place is in Goa, which I visited over 20 years ago. This is where my interest in Francis Xavier comes from, and why I've once again strayed from the path of straightforward writing.

"Saint Ninian Cathedral is the Episcopal Seat for the Diocese of Antigonish, Nova Scotia." [9] The church is currently being renovated, including the pipe organ. I wonder where the money came from, but miracles and church belong together. The diocese had agreed to a C$15 million settlement with 125 victims of sexual abuse by Hugh Vincent MacDonald and other diocese priests dating from 1950 to 2009 [10]. Bishop Raymond Lahey, who negotiated the settlement on behalf of the church, pleaded guilty to child pornography charges just a few weeks later. [11] The cathedral now stands, and the current leadership writes: "We humbly welcome all who wish to nurture their faith through sharing the Word, breaking the Bread, and celebrating God's love for us. Guided by the Holy Spirit, our mission is to worship and serve God through prayer and service to God's people, and by striving to live our lives in the likeness and image of God." And I believe them. I wish them success and prudence in protecting those under their care; but that applies to all churches, sports clubs, youth camps, etc.

St. Ninian's was built in the 19th century. There was a wooden church in Antigonish from 1824; that would be much more typical for churches (not just Catholic ones) even today, at least as far as smaller towns are concerned. The foundation stone for the current church was laid in 1867. The construction was made possible through donations and voluntary work, even during the harvest season [12]. The magnificent Romanesque-style basilica was built according to plans by the Montreal architect A. Levesque. In addition to a double colonnade of columns with Corinthian capitals the interior features arches and roundel windows. Some of the windows reach a height of 9 m. From 1899 to 1903, the cathedral received beautiful frescoes by the Quebec-born artist Ozias Leduc and his team. “Over the central nave of the church, four of the most popular images of the Catholic faith are depicted: the Nativity, Christ as Good Shepherd, the Crucifixion, and the Ascension. Apostles and saints are depicted between the arches supporting the columns of the central nave.” [13] Work has been and is being done to preserve the frescoes. I recently raised this issue with a small chapel in Belgium [14]. The pipe organ is being restored, but one can still see the façade on the balcony. Detailed information about the cathedral's characteristics can be found on "Historic Places" [15].

I think stopping in Antigonish and visit St. Ninian's has been a good idea. Don't drive past Antigonish.

 

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antigone_(Sophocles_play)
[2] https://thatdavidhopkins.com/fiction/antigone
[3] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Antigonish
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antigonish,_Nova_Scotia
[5] Etxebarri (Euskara) is Spanish Echévarri and could be translated as Newcastle.
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ech%C3%A9varri
[6] Trevanian: Shibumi. Ballentine, New York 1980. ISBN: ‎0345285859.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibumi_(novel)
Trevanian was one of the pseudonyms under which the American author Rodney William Whitaker (1931-2005) wrote.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevanian
[7] His life story is interesting, but after his death, the story of his remains becomes even more interesting.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Xavier
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Javier
https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frantzisko_Xabierkoa Yes, I looked at that one too, and of course the article in Chinese.
[8] News from the Diefenbach excavation site (text in German)
https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2021/09/neues-von-der-ausgrabungs-statte.html
[9] https://www.saintninian.ca
[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocese_of_Antigonish
[11] He pleaded guilty to "possession of child pornography for the purpose of importation." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Lahey You can also read this.
[12] https://people.stfx.ca/lstanley/history/01265271.htm
[13] https://paintedrooms.ca/st_ninian
[14] Chapel and Parish Church of St. Eligius in Krewinkel (Eifel / East Belgium)
https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2025/09/kapelle-und-pfarrkirche-st-eligius-in.html (Text in German)
[15] https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=4600

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