History

The settlement in Mabou began in 1797. In the early days, Mabou was considered part of Judique Parish until October 1825, and it was under the charge of Reverend Alexander MacDonell. In October 1822 he met Father William Fraser and they went to "Cape Mabou" as they called it, to perform a Mission among the settlers. Father Fraser had emigrated August 8, 1822, with 300 highlanders from Scotland in the ship called "The Commerce", and they first landed at MacMillan's Cove, at the Strait of Canso, now Port Hastings.

There were 110 or 112 Highland families in the parish of Mabou. In 1823 there were eight chapels in the district, one of which was Mabou. The chapel was built on the Donald Morrison lot in West Mabou where today a Memorial Cairn stands near the site.

From 1825 to July 1833, the Mabou area was part of a district known as Broad Cove Chapel and Reverend John Chisholm came in October 25, 1825 and served until 1826. Father Simon Lawlor was pastor from 1826 until 1832. The chapels, for most part, were merely open shells without seats or other conveniences. The windows were framed but had no glass in them. Father Lawlor said to the Bishop that he often has to celebrate Mass in private homes, it being impossible to keep candles lit.

It was not until 1831 that he bought property at North East Mabou to build a glebe. The framed glebe in which Father Lawlor lived in June 1832 before he left Cape Breton was sold to John "Iain an Taillear" Beaton. It is now the home of Donald R. Beaton and the original boards that were used can still be seen in parts of the home. After the departure of Father Lawlor, Father Alexander MacDonell served the area from Judique until 1835 when Father Alexander MacLeod arrived. The pastors of Broad Cove served the people of the parish until 1842. In that year Reverend Alexander "Mor" MacDonald became their pastor, serving the area from Judique. On January 16, 1844, he became the first resident priest of Mabou.

The Parish of Mabou, first known as the Immaculate Conception, was established on January 16, 1844 with Reverend Alexander "Mor" MacDonald appointed its first pastor. He had come from Scotland in the spring of 1842, residing in Judique. The parish boundaries at that time included with Mabou, the mission of Port Hood and the districts of Glencoe and Brookvillage. His first entry in the Mabou Church Records as parish priest is the wedding of Alexander Beaton, Mabou Coal Mines and Mary Campbell, South West Mabou, on that very day, January 16, 1844.

One of the first things he set about to do was to build a new glebe and a church, and several properties were bought as possible sites. According to a traditional story, Father Alexander "Mor" knew beforehand it would difficult for the parishioners to agree on a suitable location and he called the parishioners of Mabou together. On that certain day he informed them that he was thinking of building a grist mill and wanted their opinion as where would be the most central site. After much discussion, the crow of parishioners decided that the Oak Point Farm would be the best.

Then on hearing their decision, Father Alex "Mor" kindly informed them that it would not be a grist mill he would build there, but it would be the location for the proposed church. It is said no hard feelings were felt and or expressed.

So plans were made to begin building the new glebe and church on the eighty acres of land he had acquired at the eastern side of Mabou Harbour. This transfer of land was recorded at the Registry of Deeds at the Courthouse on November 14 1844.

On March 8, 1845, an agreement between William MacKeen, Esquire of Mabou, with Angus MacLean and John Walsh, carpenters, Mabou, to erect a new chapel on the site to be pointed out by the trustees on the farm known as Oak Point was signed.

On March 15, 1845, an agreement between William MacKeen, Esquire of Mabou and the Mabou chapel trustees was signed to erect a new chapel on the site pointed out at Oak Point. Trustees were, Allan Cameron, Donald Beaton, John MacDonald, Daniel Meagher and Allan MacDonald. The chapel was to be 60 feet long and 45 feet wide, 22 feet in the wall outside with a tower and steeple, forty feet above the upper part of the roof. A vestry of sixteen feet square was to be finished on the outside. The whole work to be finished on or before 15 December next (1846). William MacKeen was paid 740 pounds in four installments.

In the first year of the parish, there were 100 baptismal entries from January 1844, to April 1845, except two for Little Judique and one from Judique Banks. While the new glebe and church were being built, the Reverend Alex "Mor" resided in Judique from April 27, 1845 returning to Mabou in August  1846 to live in the new glebe on Oak Point farm.

The first Mass in the original St. Mary's Church was celebrated on Christmas Eve, 1846, by Reverend Alex "Mor". Though the church was used on a regular basis, it was not until many years later that the work on the interior was completed. In 1853 Father Alex "Mor" received permission from Bishop MacKinnon "to see the parochial church finished". The recently installed bell was rung for the first time on November 17, 1857.

The Church, affectionately known as "The Old St. Mary's" was used for fifty-one years until the new church was built, and for years after it was used for church bazaars. It remained standing until August 1925 when it burned to the ground.

Reverend MacDonald, fondly known as "Sagart Mor", remained in Mabou until his death on May 21, 1865.. He is buried in St. Mary's Cemetery among his Lochaber people.

Mabou was served from Port Hood by Father Kenneth J. MacDonald from June 1865, until June 1, 1868. In 1865, he was appointed to the charge of both places. The Mabou glebe house was not available for his use. In 1868, he was given a choice of residence and he chose Mabou. Father Colin Chisholm became pastor of Port Hood in 1868 and at that time 75 families from the parish of Mabou were annexed to Port Hood.

The mission of West Lake Ainslie was transferred from the care of the pastor of Broad Cove Chapel about 1870 or 1872 to that of the pastor of Mabou. At that time it was under Father Kenneth's pastorate that the church of the Immaculate Conception at West Lake Ainslie was built. It was served by Father Kenneth until October 3, 1893 when it became a separate parish of its own and later, in 1896, it was part of a mission of Brookvillage.

In February 1886, an accurate census of Mabou is 1,190 and West Lake Ainslie was 536. In 1889, the parish of Mabou numbered 250 families.

Father Kenneth was deeded property by Donald "Cross" MacDonald and his wife Flora on July 28, 1885 for $240. He later sold his property to the Roman Catholic Episcopal Association on January 11, 1887 for $700. It is on this lot that the glebe completed by October 21, 1887 and the convent opened November 1, 1887 were built. With his own money, he built a carriage house, barn, glebe house, convent and years later, he raised $9,000 to build a church.

In 1887, Father Kenneth, was responsible for bringing to the parish the Congregation of Notre Dame Sisters to educate the young, as well as giving spiritual instruction for both young and old. During his years, nine young men were ordained to the priesthood.

Father Kenneth administered his duties faithfully until Sunday, January 8, 1893 when he fell on the ice, fractured a wrist and suffered bruises to his head. He would not be able to work during the greater part of the winter. On October 31, 1894, Father Kenneth retired to his farm at Black River, Father MacMaster having been appointed pastor on that date. Father Kenneth died on August 17, 1910 and is buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery in Sydney, Nova Scotia.

On October 31, 1894, Father John F. MacMaster "Maighstir Iain" became the third resident priest for the parish of Mabou. The parish of Mabou in 1897 had a population of 1341 parishioners, with 286 families.

By 1893 Father Kenneth MacDonald had begun the preliminary work for the building of a new church and set out to decide on a site. An ideal location was the area on parish grounds between the glebe and convent which were erected ten years previously. Father Kenneth saved $9,000 and gathered all the stone for the foundation of the new church.

The design of the new church, a wooden structure, was furnished by Sylvester O'Donahue: the dimensions of which are length 112 feet, breadth 56 feet, height from the summit of the Cross to the ground is 156 feet. There will be a vestry of 41 feet in length.

On March 29, 1896 a tender was advertised in The Casket, signed by John F. MacMaster, parish priest, Mabou, Cape Breton, March 23, 1896. The contract was awarded to Sylvester O'Donahue of Antigonish, a native of Ireland, who emigrated to Halifax in 1866. The material was to be provided by the parish.

The foundation of the church was constructed by Donald "the Mason" Rankin of Rocky Ridge. The foundation work began on Monday, April 13, 1896 and was to be completed by June 5th.

The work on the church was completed in less than two years. Over the summer of 1897, efforts were made to raise much-needed funds. One such event was the first Mabou picnic held in July of that year. It was a "gala day" in Mabou.

The first recorded ceremony in the church records of the new St. Mary's was the baptism of Catherine Beaton, daughter of Finley Beaton and Mary Beaton of Black River. The date given was December 25, 1897.

The first marriage recorded was that of Alexander MacDonald, son of Murdock MacDonald and Sarah Cameron; and Anne MacEachen, daughter of Dougald MacEachen and Mary MacLennan on February 14, 1898.

On December 25, 1897, at 5:00 a.m. Christmas morning, the peals of bells from the lofty louver of the new church echoed in the surrounding hills and glens, and called the faithful to celebrate the birth of Our Lord for the first time within its walls. The Mass was celebrated by Rev. Dr. Alexander MacDonald, D. D. of St. Francis College, Antigonish. He was "a child of the parish". The new organ was played by Donald Campbell. Father John MacMaster went around with the collection basket.

Despite the inclemency of the night and the ill condition of the roads, some of the one thousand people assembled in the new church, and attentively and devoutly heard the three Masses.

Once the new St. Mary's was opened, a Christmas fair was held by the Catholic ladies of the village of Mabou in the new church on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, Dec. 29 and Dec. 30, 1897. In the main church were fancy and tea tables, which were liberally patronized, from the opening of the doors at 4:00 p.m. until the entertainment commenced at 7:30 p.m. with two plays under the management of William P. Fynn. The handsome sum of over three hundred dollars was realized.

The pews of the beautiful new church in Mabou were sold at auction on Sunday, January 20, 1898. The pews, 150 in all, would realize about $1800.

On Sunday, August 28, 1898, the Dedication of St. Mary's Church, Mabou took place. A larger gathering from every point in the county assembled than was ever witnessed in Mabou-some estimating it about 3000.

The 1906 Census for the parish of Mabou shows 47 families less than in the year the church was built: a population of 1,271 with 239 families. St. Mary's Church was valued as $23,000; the Glebe House as $2,000 and the land $650. The livery barns and sheds were valued at $900.

Four men of the parish were killed and three wounded in World War 1. In the year 1912 there was serious lightning damage to the church steeple. According to the annual statistical report for the parish of Mabou, the Royal Insurance Company paid the sum of $200.00 for damage to the spire. Over the years water damage to the steeple around the upper area was becoming serious and fear was expressed that the Cross may fall.

             Work was begun to repair the church steeple. From the year 1919 to the first of March 1920, there was $7,591.62 spent on repair work to the church steeple. Then from 1920-1921 another $3396.32 was paid to complete the work. The number of families listed from 1920-1921 was 195, a  decline of 49 families from the parish since 1906 and 96 families less than 1897. There were 21 baptisms and 15 deaths.

The parishioners who remember when the steeple was shortened have differing recollections of the steeple before and after. The original 1896 tender states that it was 156 feet from the top of the Cross to the ground. In 1992, the steeple measured 143 feet to the ground, not including the height of the six foot Cross. It was said that Sandy John "The Plumber" Beaton was the man who placed the Cross in the base frame in 1921 when the work on the steeple was completed.

Father John MacMaster retired in 1937 and the parish built him a home at South West Mabou, today the home of John Cameron. On his retirement, he said to Alex Dougald Miller, "I have been here 43 years and never lost a soul". In his day Father MacMaster built nine churches, two of which were in Mabou.

There came to Mabou a young Father John Bryden who is remembered for his kindly, gentle manner and he was much loved during his term from 1937 to 1948. He was the fourth resident priest for the parish.

The oil painting of St. Michael the Archangel which hung on the right side of the altar from the days of Father MacMaster, now had a similar artwork, an oil painting of St Margaret of Scotland on the left side, placed there by Father Bryden. Sister St. Leonidas, of the Sisters of Notre Dame in Montreal, was commissioned to paint St. Margaret in August, 1937. This large painting was later placed to the side of the sanctuary and in 1971 it found a home in St. Joseph's Convent, where it remains.

Father Bryden also replaced the old-fashioned hanging kerosene lamps in 1938 and electric lighting was installed for the first time. A ceiling bracket with a single light was placed by Tony Gillis of Inverness and his crew, Alex John MacLellan and James Deagle. He changed the hot air heating system with the first of two hot water systems.

It was during this time that the interior, including the altars and fancy work, were painted for the first time in 1943. The estimated cost was over $500.00. In a ballot taken, the parishioners voted 100% in favor of the project and were levied $1.00 a month. On September 12, Father Bryden requested the materials for staging to paint the church.

Mr. Gottschall, a German painter from Antigonish and his sons, was commissioned to carry out the work. Local boys hired were: Angus Rankin of Mabou Ridge, Danny Beaton and Stanley MacNeil. Danny Donald "Cross" MacDonald worked in the evenings. They worked six days a week for three weeks. Their job was to wash the plaster walls and apply a coat of primer to the walls and ceiling. Once the surfaces were clean and prepared, Mr. Gottschall applied the finishing details. He drew designs, then cut stencils to decorate the outside trim of windows, the intersecting walls and the walls above the wainscoting. Over these stencils, he painted an ivy design in blue and white. At this time, he also painted the pillars, creating a "marbleized" effect and created beautifully rendered versions pf the Stations of the Cross on the side walls. The pulpit was moved from the center to the first pillar on the left side.

The exterior was staged from top to the bottom with volunteer help. To reach the highest part of the steeple for painting, boards were criss-crossed through the top little windows.

The late Father MacMaster raised funds by sponsoring a parish picnic in 1897 and Father Bryden continued this idea in a second parish picnic held at the field at the Crossroads. Dances were not favored by Father MacMaster and they were only introduced as a parish activity after he died in 1942. The first dance was at the schoolhouse on Mabou Ridge and a now-classic tune was composed for this occasion called, "A Trip to Mabou Ridge", written by Dan Hugh MacEachern.

Following the death of Father Bryden, Father Dougald MacEachern came to Mabou, serving from 1949 until 1956. Among the modern improvements made by Father MacEachern was the installation of a water line from a spring above Angus Donald "Cross" MacDonald's property. Sandy John "the Plumber" of Mabou Mines was in charge of the job.

Father MacEachern modified the exterior and interior of St. Mary's to reflect modern tastes. He began a campaign to repair and paint the exterior of the church but was unable to complete the project because he was reassigned to another parish.

Father Francis MacIsaac became the next resident priest and he continued the effort throughout the fall of 1956 and the spring of 1957. Among the interior renovations that were untaken was a new tile floor replacing the previous plain boards and linoleum. The interior was also painted by a firm from Quebec.

The whole exterior of the church was staged. The windows and fancy trim in the spire were removed. The clover shaped windows that were above the side entry doors were removed and closed out. The workers were headed by Wally Walsh of Port Hood with a crew consisting of Angus Beaton, John Alex "Angus Johnny Ban" MacDonald, Sandy Batherson, Alex Joe MacLean - all from Mabou. Written on a wall in the belfry by John Alex is: "painted Aug. 24, 1956".

The appearance of the landscape was changed with the cutting of the old trees that ran across the front. In place of the picket fence, a stone wall was constructed by John Angus Nicholson, of West Mabou. Donald Roddie Rankin, was one of the volunteers who dug a trench four feet deep, by hand, to prepare the foundation for the stone work.

Stanley "Doc" MacNeil hauled rock from the Samuel MacDonell house in Dungarry near Port Hood, which was torn down in the 1950's, with the stone going to Mabou and Margaree. The stone was used by John Angus Nicholson for the masonry work for the stone wall.

Through his efforts with government authorities, Father MacIsaac was instrumental in bringing the first Dutch settlers to Mabou. These people had a significant impact on the agriculture life of the region.

After Father MacIsaac, Father John Allan Gillis was the resident pastor. Through his efforts, the interior of St. Mary's church was renovated in 1971 in keeping with the changes of Vatican 11. Father Gillis died, 28 December, 1973.

Father Norman MacPhee began as resident pastor in January, 1974 and completed the unfinished work. He built the present glebe and in 1977, he installed the first "crying room" in the choir loft. In 1979, a new steel roof replaced the former shingled roofing. He stated in 1979 there were 30 baptisms in the last two years, higher than in the 30 years previous.

Father Francis Cameron replaced Father MacPhee in 1979, continued repairs to the church. He installed new front entrance doors, repaired the supports for the steeple and carried out repairs for the vestry. The kneelers which had been removed were replaced in the entire church by new pine kneelers constructed by Donald "Johnny Murdock" MacDonald.

Father Currie, who served from 1985 - 1989, did much to better the appearance of the church. In 1987, the people of the parish did a restoration of the West Mabou Cemetery and erected a cairn with a plaque in memory of the pioneer settlers. Also a new Grotto was built beside the church. The sidewalls and pillars of the church were painted in 1988 and the second "crying room" was installed in the choir loft to the right. The whole church was carpeted and a ramp for the handicapped was installed on the grotto side of the church.

Father Boutilier, 1989 - 1994, installed the non-neon Cross that lights up the night sky of Mabou village. He also installed the two floodlights that dramatically accentuate the vertical gothic architecture of the building. The new statues were placed in the Grotto to Our Lady and the steeple was repaired and painted.

Father Angus Morris, June 29, 1994 - present, installed a new roof and the exterior of the church was repainted in 1995. Statues that dated back to when the church first opened in 1897, were restored and repainted. The Centennial Altar was placed in the sanctuary.

In 1997, the interior was repainted in smokey gray with contrasting trim of deep burgundy. In April, 1998 new lights were installed, enhancing the subtle colors of the vaulted ceiling.

In 2002, the glebe was repainted inside and new hardwood flooring was installed. The windows were replaced with vinyl windows and the roof was re-shingled. Two new oil furnaces, with higher BTU ratings, were installed in the Church replacing the old ones.

In 2004 new exterior Church steps with railings, front steps with railings and walk way were constructed and the exterior doors were changed to out swinging, adding to the appearance and safety of the building. The interior wiring was also overhauled and brought up to code.