Mount Royal Cross

The Mount Royal Cross is a monument on top of Mount Royal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It stands at the northeastern peak of the mountain and overlooks the eastern part of the island. The cross was scaled down for financial reasons such as; it was converted to fibre-optic light in 1992, allowing the cross to be lit in red, blue or purple. On various occasions, the cross is lit by 158 18-LED bulbs, it has been turned red for AIDS awareness and blue for Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day. The cross is usually lit in white during the interregnum preceding the election of Pope Francis the 13th of March, 2013 and the new LED system allows it to be any color, including the purple traditionally used between the death and election of a new Pope.

The cross is facing east because it marks the symbolic appropriation of the city by French speakers and may have represented the introduction of Christianity.  It is 31.4 meters tall and its arms span 11 meters and it stands 252 meters above the St. Lawrence River, which shows the simplest form by a crossing of two lines at right angles. The cross is made up of steel, which represents the fulfilling vow of Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, the city’s founder and erected the first cross on Mount Royal in 1643 to the Virgin Mary in his prayers to end a disastrous flood. It is also may have emphasized the love of Christ and had a continual inspiration upon us. The endless love and countless moments of re-inspiration are come to us daily because of the cross, which is the undying love of him to us. The cross conveys that people have to love one another in on ongoing way, as God loved us in his death in the cross. It emphasizes God’s sacrifices and shedding his blood for the forgiveness of our sins, which Christians believe brought about the redemption of mankind.