Description of Historic Place

The Roman Catholic Parish of St. Bernard is a Municipal Heritage Property situated on a six hectare parcel of land approximately eight kilometres northeast of the Hamlet of Pilger in the RM of Three Lakes No. 400. The property features a one-storey, wood-frame church, and a non-contributing cemetery and one-room schoolhouse.

Heritage Value

The Roman Catholic Parish of St. Bernard is valued for its association with the settlement of the community. The region was settled by German-Catholic immigrants through the efforts of the nearby St. Peter’s Colony, site of the first Benedictine Abbey established in Canada. Built in 1918, this church replaced an original church built nearby that was too small to hold the growing congregation. The prominent size of the church emphasizes the importance the community placed on religion.

The Roman Catholic Parish of St. Bernard is also valued for its Gothic Revival architecture. Gothic Revival was commonly identified with Catholic churches of eastern Europe and was often used in parish churches built in Saskatchewan during the early-20th century. The church’s size and interior embellishments set it apart from some more modest rural churches throughout in the region.

Source:

Rural Municipality of Three Lakes No. 400 Bylaw No. 1/1983.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Roman Catholic Parish of St. Bernard resides in the following character-defining elements:
- those elements that reflect the church’s strong association with the foundation of the community, such as its orientation on its original location;
-those architectural elements that reflect the Gothic Revival style of archictecture, such as the bell tower over the front entrance, arched pointed windows, steep gabled roof, stained glass windows, buttresses, elevated chancel and arched ceiling.