History

As a measure of the enthusiasm demonstrated by that generation of parishioners for their parish, the mortgage for the building came from the people themselves. The parish sold bonds which were fully subscribed within the parish. The average bond purchase was approximately $135 per family. At a time when the average skilled worker, should he work 52 full weeks, might earn $1000 in a year this manifestation of support exhibited how closely linked the people were to their parish. Once again the spirit prevailed. The Pastor led but the devotion of the people provided the finished product.

In Verdun, as in the rest of the world, the onset of the depression warned of even darker days to come. The sudden death of father McDonald in October of 1931 brought a new Pastor; the articulate and witty Martin P. Reid. Father Reid, arriving as the depression deepened, shepherded the people of St. Willibrord’s as they reached out to help each other in times of deprivation unimaginable to those who didn’t live through them.

Families, without homes, and without any income at all, lived in Sodality Hall until the parish found them living quarters. The people of St. Willibrord’s kept the spirit strong by those who had, rallying to assist those who did not, thus raising the hopes of everyone. There was great suffering but there was great love, and despite hardship, the St. Willibrord family continued to grow.

As the thirties came to a close and the depression lifted, war clouds brought a new and terrifying prospect to the world. In 1939, St. Willibrord’s welcomed its third Pastor, Father Frederick Elliott, a priest who had served the English speaking Catholics of the area even before the founding of St. Willibrord’s. As a curate at neighbouring Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs, assisting the Fabled Monsignor J. A. Richard, he ministered to the English-speaking Catholics of Verdun before the founding of St. Willibrord’s. Father Elliott, with a sharp mind and a gentle heart was a man of projects. He engineered the installation of the new altar early in his mandate.

Present church opened in 1927

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