High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Saint Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal, is a Roman Catholic basilica on the northern slope of Mount Royal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In 1904, Blessed André Bessette, CSC, began the construction of a small chapel on the side of the mountain near Notre Dame College. Soon the growing number of visitors made it too small. Even though it was enlarged, a larger church was needed and in 1917 one was completed - it is called the Crypt, and has a seating capacity of 1,000. In 1924, the construction of the basilica was inaugurated; it was finally completed in 1967.