In these "walks" in NDG, I have wanted to show some of the expressions of spirituality in this neighbourhood. I've noted before that Quebec is the most secular and probably anti-religious place in North America, but expressions of Spirit are still present. Spirituality is a part of the human psyche and, basically, you can try to repress it, you can make it unpopular and not politically correct to say you pray or you believe in God, but Spirit, God, and prayer are a part of the psyche, a part of human consciousness, and they cannot be denied or repressed for long. As an example of this, consider the emergence of the orthodox church in present-day Russia. Even after seventy years of official atheism people needed religion, not the substitute of dialectical materialism and Communism . . . In this photograph, someone has placed a cross over a side door, beneath a pizza parlour, just off Fielding near Walkely Avenue in Notre Dame de Grace, Montreal.
Note: as of 04 July 2023 I am not as optimistic as I was when I wrote this. Quebec was never secular until around 1960 with the Quiet Revolution, before this it was in the grip of the Roman Catholic Church; today, this very claim to secularism is being as an excuse to deny religious groups their freedom to express their religion, as per Bill 21 and the restriction of wearing religious garb when employed by the massive civil service here.
