The candlelight benefit concert held at Paroisse Saint-Joseph de Saint-Lazare on Friday, February 9 was a great success. A total of 284 people turned out to be serenaded on the eve of Valentine's Day, the ultimate holiday for lovers. Interview with Lucie Bettez, responsible for pastoral and social activities at the parish. 

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"We were asking the audience for feedback at the end of the show, and the general word was that they loved it. They told us that if another concert of this kind were organized again, they would attend without hesitation. It has to be said that the evening's format was different from that of a traditional show. The host told stories between each piece performed. The lights also changed color, from blue to green to red, depending on the piece being played. It was really beautiful in the church," she sums up. 

The Cupid Concert featured a string quartet. "The musicians were incredible and very professional. You could tell they had experience.Some 350 candles were arranged around the musicians.The show started at 7.30pm and finished at around 10pm, with a twenty-minute intermission. Everyone, both in the crowd and among the evening's organizers, was happy," she adds.An ongoing fund-raising campaign 

The concert was held to raise funds for St. Joseph's Parish. A total of $9,000 was raised by the end of the evening."We must highlight the financial participation of Soulanges MNA Marilyne Picard, who gave us $5,000 in two installments of $2,500." 

"Since last July, we've been running fundraising campaigns for the Cedars and Saint-Lazare churches. Over the next few years, we'll be holding a number of activities to raise money to maintain these churches, which are less and less frequented.For the Saint-Lazare church, the government will oblige us, in about a year and a half, to change our oil-fired heating system for an electric one.Simply removing the oil tank, which is buried in the ground, will cost us $30,000. This amount does not include the cost of removing the wiring and other work required for this task," explains Lucie Bettez. 

The biggest expenses in maintaining these religious buildings are electricity, heating and general maintenance. 

Ms. Bettez points out that church attendance has dropped since the pandemic, which is having an impact on the parish's finances. "Many worshippers didn't come back after the health crisis.Since we depend on the money raised at Mass, it hurt.So we had to turn to the government for financial assistance. Fortunately, we were able to reimburse the government for this year.Our activities enable us to continue raising funds to maintain our churches. The Cedars church dates back a very long time and has heritage status. This means that we receive funds to carry out some work, but it's not enough for everything that needs to be done.Volunteers are also in short supply.At Cedars, there's no shortage of them. They take care of exterior maintenance, but at Saint-Lazare, we have to hire people to do it. That's an extra cost," she says. 

The next fundraising event is a spaghetti supper to be held at the Saint-Lazare Community Centre on Sunday, April 7. Details will be announced at a later date.

Then, on May 5, St. Joseph's Parish will hold a bazaar. "We're calling on anyone who has items to donate.You can bring them to the church until the beginning of May.We'll take anything in good condition.For example, clothing, crockery and other items.Games or puzzles must have all their pieces or they will have to be thrown away." 

The parish can be reached at 450 455-3523.The office is open Monday to Thursday, 8 a.m. to noon.