CCHA, Report, 21 (1954), 87-101
Saskatchewan’s Marian Shrines
by
Rev. JEROME
WEBER, O.S.B.
In a joint pastoral letter of April 7,
1933, the Archbishop, Bishops and
Abbot Ordinary of the
Ecclesiastical Province of Regina consecrated their flocks in the province of
Saskatchewan to Mary in the following words:
Let us practice
without ceasing a loving devotion to Our Blessed Lady, the Queen of the Holy
Rosary, the glorious patroness of this Ecclesiastical Province of Regina. The loving
protection of Mary over our dioceses under the title of the Queen of the Holy
Rosary gives us supreme confidence and unfailing hope that, through her most
powerful intercession with her Divine Son, God will bless our common efforts,
save our dioceses and religious institutions and solve our pressing problems.
It was with this most firm faith and serene abiding confidence that We, your
Fathers in Christ, after a day of serious deliberation for your spiritual and
temporal welfare, have, on the evening of April 5th, consecrated together Our
dioceses and Abbey to Mary, God's holy Mother. In the chapel of the Regina
Cleri Seminary, We have, after reciting the rosary and litany of Our Blessed
Lady, placed Our beloved flocks and Our common concerns, spiritual, temporal
and social under her maternal protection. More than that: there, on bended
knees, We have made a solemn vow to propagate without ceasing the devotion of
the Most Holy Rosary, throughout our jurisdictions; to keep, with special
solemnity the annual feast of Our Lady of the Rosary; and to establish her
confraternity in every parish and mission under Our charge. We know that your
faith and piety will prompt you to help your Chief Pastors carry out this
solemn pledge and We ask you even now and particularly during the month of May
to fulfill the promise made in your name and in Our own.
With the utmost
confidence in your cooperation, made meritorious by supernatural motives, We
lovingly invoke upon you the blessing of Almighty God, and again consecrate
you, Our most dear children, to Mary, our Queen and Mother.1
Subsequently the
Confraternity of the Holy Rosary was established.2 Devotion to Mary
increased still more through the Rosary Crusade in 1948. At the shrine of Our
Lady of Mount Carmel, the hierarchy of the province together with Fr. Patrick
Peyton, C.S.C., the organizer of the Crusade, and thousands of the faithful,
invoked her aid for the success of the Crusade in Saskatchewan. The response
made by the Catholic people of the Province to the Crusade was even beyond what
the hierarchy and Fr. Peyton had hoped for.
The consecration of the Catholics of the
Province to Mary and the Rosary Crusade stand out as high points in the story
of Marian devotion in Saskatchewan, for devotion to Mary was an integral part
of the religion of the Catholics of the Province from its very beginning. Even
before the Province was established in 1905, the name of Mary was very
familiar, for the foremost missionaries of Saskatchewan, as well as of the rest
of Western and Northern Canada, were the Oblates of Mary Immaculate.
It was through their work, too, that the
first public shrine in honor of Mary was set up, and the first public
pilgrimage held in the same year as the Province was established. It was the
first of the shrines in Saskatchewan where public pilgrimages in honor of Mary
are held annually.
ST. LAURENT
The beginning of the shrine of Our Lady of
Lourdes at St. Laurent de Grandin, on the left bank of the South Saskatchewan
River, was slow and difficult, for it dates back almost to the time of the
first settlements there.3
Settlers from the Red River in Manitoba,
the Metis, came to this region in 1870, and Oblates of Mary Immaculate
ministered to their spiritual needs. In 1879 a lay brother, Jean Pierre Marie
Piquet, arrived to help at the mission. It is to him we owe the idea of
establishing a shrine in honor of Mary.
Bro. Piquet was born in France, about
twenty miles from Lourdes, where the Blessed Virgin Mary had appeared to
Bernadette. He had known her, and knew well the place of pilgrimage. The
scenery near the mission of St. Laurent – -the steep cliff, the water coming
from a spring, the rumbling of the River nearby – reminded him forcefully of
the place of pilgrimage at Lourdes. He made known his thoughts to Fr. Fourmond,
O.M.I., who was in charge of the mission. The latter was much impressed, and
both of them formed the habit of going to the spot to pray. Fr. Fourmond
continued this custom and induced others to follow his example, even though
obedience called Bro. Piquet away in 1880.
A patch of bark was cut away from the trunk
of a tree, and a picture of Mary’s apparition at Lourdes was placed there and
covered by a glass, but this deteriorated quickly. In 1882 a small statue was
placed in the tree by Miss Dorval who arrived in that year to teach school. A
flower bed was planted in front of the tree bearing the statue, and hither the
people of the mission would often come to recite the Rosary.
Bro. Piquet returned to St. Laurent in the
same year, and at once, in his spare time, began to improve the grounds near
the spot and to build a grotto. His work and plans for the future of the grotto
were again suddenly halted in the next year (1883), when the superior, Rev. Fr.
Souillier, during a canonical visit, pointed out that there were other things
more important than a pilgrimage in a pioneer land. Consequently nothing was
done for more than a year, and then an unusual event again drew attention to
Our Lady of Lourdes.
Mrs. Charles Nolin, the wife of a settler
of the district, had been sick for about ten years, and physicians had been
unable to cure her. After reading a book on Lourdes, her husband procured some
Lourdes water. Bro. Piquet was also interested and advised the family to begin
a novena and to promise a statue. The lady was cured and in gratitude Mr. Nolin
procured a statue of Our Lady, but since the grotto was not yet ready, it was
placed in the chapel of the mission.
Then in 1885 came the insurrection led by
Louis Riel, but there was no bloodshed at St. Laurent. The trouble quickly
subsided. Bro. Piquet completed the grotto, and the statue was placed there.
Led by Fr. Fourmond processions came to honor Our Lady on her feast days, and
other people came at various times to pray to her, and to take away water from
the spring.
Another servant of Mary Immaculate, Bro.
Guillet, was to continue the work begun by Bro. Piquet. Bro. Guillet had been a
cripple for almost a decade as a result of a gash in his leg, which had never
properly healed because complications had set in. He made a novena to Our Lady
of Lourdes and a pilgrimage to her shrine at St. Laurent in 1893. So completely
was he cured that he was able to resume his work at Reindeer Lake and there he
remained until 1900.
In the meantime the mission of St. Laurent
had fallen on hard times, and the people had gradually drifted away. Things
came to such a pass that in 1894, Fr. Vachon, who was in charge, was ordered to
Prince Albert, and the buildings of the mission were abandoned. Pilgrims,
however, continued to come to the shrine, sometimes alone, sometimes in groups.4
Immediately after Bro. Guillet was stationed
at Fish Creek in 1901, he resumed work at the grotto during his leisure time.
He looked after the grotto and brought pilgrims to it. But he wanted to do
more; he wanted an organized pilgrimage from the neighboring parishes, and
directed his energies to achieve that purpose.
The result was the first public pilgrimage
on Aug. 15, 1905. The parishioners of Carlton, where Fr. Krist, O.M.L, was
pastor, had been accustomed to make such a pilgrimage on that day. Bro. Guillet
suggested that the people from other parishes be invited to come also. His
suggestion was followed, and on the appointed day about five hundred people
gathered at the shrine. The weather was most unfavorable, for it rained most of
the time, and Mass had to be said in a tent, and the sermon, preached by Fr.
Myre, was delivered under the protection of an umbrella held by Bro. Guillet.
From that time forward the pilgrimage in
honor of our Lady of Lourdes was an annual affair. At the suggestion of Fr.
Ovide Charlebois, O.M.I., who was then the principal of the Indian School at
Duck Lake, and later Vicar Apostolic of Keewatin, the date was changed to July
16. It was also he who encouraged Bro. Guillet in his work, and made it
possible for him to spend several weeks in the summer preparing the shrine for
the pilgrimage which Bishop Pascal, O.M.I., of Prince Albert, entrusted to the
Fathers in charge of the school at Duck Lake, a distance of about six miles
from the shrine.
Material changes and improvements at the
shrine since then have occurred from time to time. In 1906 Bro. Guillet built
an open oratory so that Mass would not have do be said under a tent, and Fr.
Charlebois had to take down the original grotto built by Bro. Piquet because
the wind and the weather had damaged it. He had an excavation made into the
hillside which was then lined with stones. Fr. Delmas, O.M.I., who succeeded
Fr. Charlebois, had a roof built to shelter the grotto and the new statue, a
gift from a lady in the United States (1912). In 1917 a roof, supported by wooden
pillars, was built. It was large enough to shelter about one thousand people.
Finally enough money was gathered by Fr. Latour, O.M.I., so that a new
construction could be made. The new grotto was built of solid concrete, as like
to the original at Lourdes as possible, and this was ready for the pilgrimage
of 1951.
Among the annual pilgrimages the one in
1912 is remembered particularly because in that year Bishop Pascal of Prince
Albert came to bless the new statue and the grotto, and it was he who began the
procession with the Blessed Sacrament, which became an integral part of the day
of pilgrimage. Bishop Prud’homme was present in 1922. It was his first visit to
the shrine and about eight thousand people came for the occasion.
The pilgrimage has followed much the same
program from year to year. The following is a description of the pilgrimage in
1935:
On the afternoon
of July 15, the lonely roads of the Canadian prairie began to hum with
activity. First to appear were the Indians. In battered wagons which lazily
rumbled over dusty surfaces, the redskins travelled from far and wide. Then
came the white man in more up-to-date carriages and automobiles. People emerged
from all directions, for all roads on that day led to Saint Laurent. By
nightfall the encampments were set up and camp fires began to blaze. The
prairie was aglow with flames to announce that July 16, the feast of Our Lady
of Mt. Carmel, was at hand. In their open-air confessionals a dozen
missionaries were busy reconciling souls to God.
At the first
glimmering of dawn, pilgrims began pouring in again from far and near. The
confessionals were besieged anew and over three thousand received Holy
Communion at the numerous Masses. Starting at seven o’clock, each nationality
in turn had its own Mass. Sermons were preached in six different languages.
Finally, at ten o’clock, about nine thousand pilgrims assembled on the
hillsides for the Solemn Mass which concluded the morning service.
After the mid-day
pause for lunch, the shrine bell rang out and the procession was organized.
Banners were unfurled and the Indians, sure guides in the forest, led the way.
They were followed in turn by the Slavs, the Germans, the Hungarians, the
English, the Irish and the French. From the shrine in the valley the procession
made its way to the tableland above. Here Benediction was given and the
procession returned to the main altar of the shrine.
During this lengthy
program, for close to an hour and a half, a hymn to the Blessed Virgin was
chanted in six languages. As one eyewitness has so beautifully stated: “How can
one translate the charm of the Christian soul in that diversity of languages,
blending in harmony in the expression of a like worship in the unity of the
Church? It is a magnificent triumphal march of all tribes, of all languages and
of all nations to honor the Host of the Tabernacle and His Divine Mother. In
that Christian Babel, in that Pentecost of idioms, no discordant cry can be
heard. There is but one heart, one soul, one voice!
It is the heart,
the soul, and the voice of nine thousand pilgrims singing the praises of
Mary-pilgrims who come on July 16, to give life to the village of St. Laurent,
which throughout the years sleeps in a vast wilderness full of mystery and
memories.”5
KRONAU
Another shrine in honor of Our Lady of
Lourdes is at Kronau,6 about fifteen miles southeast of Regina.
German-Russians from the region of the Black Sea, and from some of the northern
states of the United States settled in this district after 1890. The parish of
St. Peter at Kronau was established in 1916 and Fr. Metzger was the first
resident pastor.
He had been in charge of the church of St.
Peter since 1913, while it was still a mission, and already on his first visit
he had pointed out that near the church was a site which would be most suitable
for a grotto in honor of Our Lady of Lourdes toward whom he had a great
devotion. In the summer of 1915 he organized a procession to the site which he
had selected along a creek called “Many Bones.” A statue of the Blessed Virgin
was placed there; the congregation sang hymns, recited the Rosary, and sang the
Magnificat.
Fr. Metzger had wished to proceed at once
to the building of a grotto, but waited another year, because the parish was
being formed in 1916, and a parish house had to be built. In 1917, however, the
actual construction was begun in the side of a small hill which had been
excavated to make room for the grotto. The intention was to put the whole
parish in a special way under the protection of Mary. To defray the expenses of
the construction contributions were made by the parishioners. The statue of
Mary, made of bronze, was obtained from a firm in Chicago, and a statue of
Bernadette of cement from Montreal. A master mason was hired to supervise the
construction of the grotto, and the parishioners helped as much as they could.
The grotto is made of rocks. There is a niche at the base for an altar, and
one, higher, and to the right of the altar, for the statue.
The blessing of the shrine and the first
pilgrimage were held on Aug. 15, 1917. His Excellency, Archbishop Mathieu of
Regina, officiated. There were about five thousand people present for the
occasion.
Since that time a pilgrimage has been held
annually, and the shrine is visited by small groups from time to time. On the
day of the pilgrimage there is usually a low Mass in the church at eight. Later
the people gather at the church. A procession is formed and goes to the grotto
for the Solemn High Mass at ten. At two the pilgrims gather again at the shrine
for a sermon, blessing of medals and other religious articles. This is followed
by Benediction with the Blessed Sacrament. The Archbishop of Regina is usually
able to be present for the afternoon services.
RAMA
A third shrine in honor of Our Lady of
Lourdes is at St. Anthony’s Parish,7 Rama, where many of the
people are of Polish descent. Polish people have been dedicated to Mary in a
special way already for centuries, and had been accustomed to visit the
numerous shrines in her honor in their native land. This tradition of honoring
her was brought along to this country.
Under the leadership of Fr. A. Sylla,
O.M.I., the Catholic people of Rama decided to build a shrine in honor of Mary.
During her apparitions at Lourdes she had expressed a desire that as many
people as possible should come to her grotto. They could not do this, so the
parishioners chose to make a replica of the Lourdes grotto to which they all
could go. A small hill west of the Church was selected as the site of the
shrine.
The work of building the grotto, done by
Fr. Sylla and the parishioners, began in 1938, with the removal of a part of
the hill. Stones were brought by the wagonload from the surrounding district to
serve as the building material. On Sept. 1, 1939, the erection of the grotto
began,8 and the main part
was completed that year. In the following year, the large front wall and the
two sidewings, in the form of a half circle, were completed.
The shrine was blessed on June 15, 1941, by
Mgr. A. Janssen, the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Regina. On the
following Aug. 14 and 15, there was the first public pilgrimage to the new
shrine, and every year since then the pilgrimage has taken place on the same
dates.
The services begin on the evening of Aug.
14 when the people come to the shrine for solemn vespers, a holy hour and the
Benediction with the Blessed, Sacrament. Then the pilgrims in procession
accompany the Blessed Sacrament to the church where it is exposed for
adoration.
On the morning of Aug. 15 Masses begin at
six, and are said at every hour, the last Mass being a Solemn High Mass at
eleven. At three the pilgrims, usually between two and three thousand, assemble
at the grotto to recite the Rosary and to consecrate themselves again to Mary.
This is followed by a procession around the grotto, in which the neighboring
parishes display their banners. The annual pilgrimage concludes with Solemn
Benediction.
More work on the original construction was
done in 1944. A large cross was erected above the niche containing the statue
of the Blessed Virgin, and at the foot of the cross two statues were placed,
one of the Sorrowful Mother, and the other of St. John. In the same stone
calvary are altars with three statues, one of Our Lord being taken down from
the cross, another of Him in the sepulchre, and a third of His resurrection.
Plans for the future include a Way of the Cross around the grotto, and the
fifteen mysteries of the Rosary within the two stone wings of the grotto.
REWARD9
Among the pastors of the parishes of St.
Joseph’s Colony there was a long standing desire to have a place of pilgrimage
for their German-Russian
people. In May, 1932, through
their Provincial, they made known their wish to Bishop Prud’homme of Prince
Albert and Saskatoon, and he willingly granted his permission for such a
pilgrimage. In a pastoral letter he wrote:
It is with a sense
of great satisfaction that we write this letter to the Reverend Oblate Fathers
and to the Faithful of St. Joseph’s Colony, because we know that this news will
bring joy and gladness to your hearts ... St. Joseph’s Colony shall, at last,
have a place of pilgrimage ...
Since Father
Provincial endorses the plan, and since he has requested us to express
ourselves, we gladly approve and grant the joint request, for undoubtedly
Divine Providence has been active in this enterprise. We approve of it in the
following terms: – As such is the desire of the Oblate Fathers and of the
Faithful of St. Joseph’s Colony, We hereby establish the Holy Rosary Church as
a shrine for the entire Colony under the title, Pilgrimage of the Blessed
Virgin. Each year, therefore, on the 16th day of July, the Fathers and the
Faithful of the Colony shall gather in this church and join in prayer at the
shrine...
Your pilgrimage to the shrine should
especially increase your devotion and love to the Mother of God ...
We all wish to be
children of Mary, but we are not all able to go to Lourdes or to other places
of pilgrimage. That is why we are establishing such a place here to excite
ourselves to a greater love for Mary and to imitate her virtues. Holy Rosary
Church with its beautiful presentations of the Holy Rosary mysteries, is most
apt to bring this ideal nearer your hearts; even the exterior attraction of
this church and its beautiful picture of the Mother of God, can inspire you
with confidence in the maternal intercession of Mary.10
The church was
built in 1918 by Rev. Fr. P. Bieler, O.M.I. The pictures referred to in the
Pastoral Letter were painted in 1920 by B. Imhoff, at that time a well known
artist of St. Walburg. Each of the mysteries of the Rosary is represented by a
picture ten feet high.
About 3,000 people took part in the first
pilgrimage on July 16, 1932. Mass was said at a temporary altar in the open.
Here also there was Benediction with the Blessed Sacrament. The people, in
procession, then accompanied the Blessed Sacrament into the Church.
The first Bishop of Saskatoon, Bishop
Murray, later Archbishop of Winnipeg, was present at the pilgrimage of 1934,
held a few months after his installation. He assisted from the throne during
Solemn High Mass in the morning and in the afternoon carried the Blessed
Sacrament in procession. In a sermon to the people he expressed his joy at this
manifestation of Catholic faith and Marian devotion.11
On the annual day of pilgrimage, now held
on the Sunday following July 16, the parishioners from each of the neighboring
parishes assemble at a stated time about half a mile from the Church. Then they
go in procession to the Church where they attend a low Mass and many receive
Holy Communion. For the Solemn High Mass the pilgrims, sometimes as many as
five thousand, gather before an altar which has been erected near the Church,
and which, since 1936, is permanent and enclosed on three sides. In the
afternoon the people gather again for the procession with the Blessed Sacrament
along a specially prepared way. Benediction is given from the chapel, and then
the pilgrims again accompany the Blessed Sacrament in procession to the Church
where it is placed in the tabernacle.
PONTEIX12
The pilgrimage at Ponteix is in honor of
Our Lady of Sorrows. The image venerated in the church of Our Lady of Auvergne
is a statue of Mary and her Divine Son after His body was taken down from the
Cross.
This statue of oak, originally covered with
pure gold, is more than four hundred years old and came from France. During the
Revolution in that country there was a time when it was not safe to leave such
religious images in churches. Hence this statue, too, was removed and hidden by
peasants in a haystack until it was safe to expose it again.
Later it came into the hands of a noted
antiquary, Canon Teytard, of Aubière, a place near the city of
Clermont-Ferrand, in a region once known as Auvergne. He gave it to his friend,
Fr. Albert Royer, while the latter was on a visit to France, and had informed
the Canon of his intention to start a parish in honor of Mary. The statue was
entrusted to Mr. Shoefer, who was leaving to settle at Ponteix, and he took it
with him. Through some mistake of the shipping company, however, it was sent
back to France. After long negotiations and considerable delay, it was again
shipped to Canada. On May 30, 1909, it was placed above the main altar of the
first church in Ponteix of which Fr. Royer was the pastor.
Due to the increasing population of the
district, a larger church became necessary, and a new one was built in 1916.
Six years later it was completely destroyed by fire. The statue alone was
saved, and this was due to the bravery of two young boys, who broke through the
windows into the basement, and carried it from the crypt which had been built
for it under the bell tower.13 At the present time the statue is on the
Blessed Virgin altar in the large, brick, fireproof church which was completed
in 1930.
Veneration of this statue began as soon as
it was brought to Ponteix. It was only in 1934, however, that public
pilgrimages began. Drought, depression, and dust storms had laid hold on the
region. Bishop A. Melanson of Gravelbourg asked the people of his diocese to
make a pilgrimage to Ponteix in honor of Mary to obtain her special help in the
hard times. The people responded generously, and on July 16, 1934, several
thousand pilgrims came to Mary’s shrine at Ponteix. It is the diocesan
pilgrimage for Gravelbourg, and its importance continues to grow year by year.
There are usually between two and three thousand people for the yearly
pilgrimage.
The Bishop of Gravelbourg is usually there
to officiate at Pontifical Mass at ten. Sermons are given in French, English
and German. At two the Rosary is begun, and then the statue is carried in
procession through the streets of Ponteix. Services for the day conclude with
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
BLUMENFELD14
The shrine near the Church of St. Peter and
St. Paul, near Blumenfeld, is also in honor of the Sorrowful Mother. In a niche
in the grotto close to the church is a replica of the sculpture of the famous
Michelangelo of the Blessed Virgin holding the body of her Divine Son after His
death – the Pieta.
Fr. Hilland, O.M.I., was the originator of
the idea of building a special site to which the people of the Prelate
district, mainly German-Russians, could go for a day of prayer. On the occasion
of a meeting of German speaking Catholics, held at Blumenfeld on August 15,
1934, the twenty fifth anniversary of the parish, he asked the assembled people
to resolve to make such a pilgrimage every year, and they readily agreed. The
people met again at the same place the following August 5, and Bishop Melanson
of Gravelbourg was among them.
The pastors of the district asked his
permission to dedicate the day to the Sorrowful Mother. He granted their
request on June 22, 1936, in the following words:
To the Rev. Oblate
Fathers of Mary Immaculate,
St. Mary’s Colony.
Dear Fathers,
1. In order to
foster a greater devotion towards the Blessed Mother Mary in the hearts of the
faithful;
2. On account of
the distance that separates the faithful of your district from Ponteix where we
hold our diocesan pilgrimage to the Blessed Virgin;
3. On account of the ethnical group
of German folks of your district;
4. After having
received the testimony of at least three of the pastors of your district;
5. Considering
specially the sentiment expressed by Rev. P. H. Funke, O.M.I., provincial of
the German speaking Fathers:
I am happy to give permission to the
Fathers and the Faithful of the Colony or District of St. Mary to hold each
year a pilgrimage, on or about the 5th of August, Feast of Our Lady of the
Snows, which pilgrimage will be a regional celebration in honor of Our Lady of
Sorrows, at Blumenfeld. I think this place is approximately the center of the
district.
On this occasion I
give, by this letter, the privilege of celebrating Holy Mass in open air, if
necessary, and to have a solemn procession of the Blessed Sacrament outside the
Church.15
On the same day
Bishop Melanson transferred an authentic relic of the Blessed Virgin in the
following words written on the back of the document showing its authenticity:
Donated to Blumenfeld for the veneration of the faithful of the said parish and
to all the faithful who will go there to pray the Blessed Virgin Mary.16
The grotto was built by Fr. H. KeIz,
O.M.I., in the spring of 1936, and in the next year the statue was placed in
it. A pilgrimage was held for the first time on August 5, 1936. The date for
the pilgrimage was changed in 1940 to July 2 by Bishop Guy of Gravelbourg at
the request of the pastors and the faithful of the district.17 Between twelve and
fifteen hundred people usually attend. On the morning of the day of pilgrimage,
Masses are offered in the church for the people of the neighboring parishes. At
eleven there is a solemn High Mass at the grotto, and in the afternoon
procession with the Blessed Sacrament.
CARMEL
Anyone on the top of what is now known as
Mount Carmel has a magnificent view of the surrounding district in all
directions. It stood out as a landmark long before there were any permanent
settlements nearby, and has had various names; among them are Spathanaw Watchi,
Round Hill, Keespitanaw.18 The name “Mount Carmel” appears in a Report of
the Geological Survey of Canada for 1873-1874.19 When the district
was settled after 1903, the Mount became part of the homestead of Mr. John
Bunko. In 1921 he gave up his title to it, so that it could be used as the
place for a shrine to be dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel and which was to
serve as a place of pilgrimage.
The shrine is under the care of the
Benedictine Fathers who had come to minister to the spiritual needs of the
settlers, most of them German. Americans, of St. Peter’s Colony founded in
1903. The first Benedictine to climb to the top of the Mount was Fr. Conrad
Glatzmeier, of St. John’s Abbey, Collegeville, Minn. In the autumn of 1902 he
had accompanied some men who like himself were interested in starting a new
settlement. Mount Carmel was designated as the meeting place of this group and
of another led by Fr. Bruno Doerfler, O.S.B., both of which were examining the
land of the district. Fr. Conrad reached the Mount on Sept. 22, and Fr. Bruno
on the next day.
The latter became the second superior of
the Benedictine Fathers, and the first Abbot of St. Peter’s Abbey. He had
already had the idea of dedicating the Mount to Mary, but it was his successor,
Abbot Michael Ott, O.S.B., who carried out the idea.20
The dedication to Mary, under the title of
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, took place on Sept. 10, 1922. On the same occasion
Mary was chosen as patroness and protectress of St. Peter’s Colony, and all the
people present, about 3,500, dedicated themselves to her. A temporary altar had
been set up on the summit of the Mount, and here, after having encircled the
Mount and blessed it, Abbot Michael officiated at the Solemn Pontifical Mass.
During the sermon he announced that the Sunday following the feast of Our Lady
of Mount Carmel, July 16, would be the day for the annual pilgrimage to Mount
Carmel.
Various changes at different times have
been made on the Mount with a view to making it an ever more fitting place to
honor Mary. The temporary chapel was moved to the slope of the Mount to make
room for a statue of Mary. This statue, made in Italy of white marble, is eight
feet high and rests on a foundation, fourteen feet high, made of native stone.
It was blessed by Abbot Severin Gertken, O.S.B., who succeeded Abbot Michael,
on the annual pilgrimage, July 22, 1928.
The next big improvement was the erection
of a permanent chapel. The western slope of the Mount was leveled and there the
chapel was built of native stone. It was designed and built by Antonio Molaro
of Saskatoon, who had done the work on the base of the statue. This chapel and
the altar in it were blessed on July 17, 1938.
The stations of the cross were built around
the foot of the Mount in the following year by Mr. Molaro with material similar
to that used in the previous constructions. The cairns are nine feet high, and
each is surmounted by a cross of cedar wood. Each of the fourteen plaques
depicting the various scenes of the way of the Cross, is eighteen inches square
and made of hammered bronze, and placed solidly in the cairn. These stations
were canonically erected and blessed at the pilgrimage, July 16, 1939.
The first pilgrimage was held on July 23,
1923. The programme followed for the day of pilgrimage has been much the same
from year to year. Holy Mass is said every hour beginning at six, the last one
being usually a Pontifical at half past ten. The pilgrims, usually about five
or six thousand annually, gather again in the afternoon on the Mount for hymns
in honor of Mary, Stations of the Cross, and a procession with the Blessed
Sacrament. Benediction with the Blessed Sacrament is given from the statue at
the summit in the base of which is a niche for the monstrance.
The largest crowd ever to assemble on Mount
Carmel was estimated at twelve thousand. They came for the launching of the
Rosary Crusade for the province of Saskatchewan on Sept. 26, 1948. His
Excellency, Archbishop O’Neill of Regina, was the celebrant for the Solemn
Pontifical Mass. Fr. Patrick Peyton, C.S.C., the director and organizer of the
Crusade, preached in English during the Mass, making his appeal to all to
recite the Rosary daily. Rev. Fr. Peter, O.S.B., of St. Peter’s Abbey, made a
similar appeal in German. The fifteen decades of the Rosary were recited in the
afternoon, the joyful mysteries before the Blessed Sacrament exposed, the
sorrowful mysteries during the procession with the Blessed Sacrament, and the
glorious mysteries at the foot of the statue on the crest of the Mount. In the
succeeding months this Crusade continued in all parts of the province, and
laymen everywhere cooperated in collecting from the Catholics in the province
the pledges in which they promised to say the daily Rosary.
A special devotion to Mary, then, begun by
the first missionaries, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, has found expression in
seven public shrines dedicated to her, four of which are still under their
care, St. Laurent, Reward, Blumenfeld, and Rama. The hierarchy of the Province
consecrated their people to Mary in 1933, and fifteen years later was begun the
Rosary Crusade which did so much to stimulate devotion to Mary in the homes of
the Catholic people of Saskatchewan.
APPENDIX
LESTOCK21
Since the above account of Saskatchewan’s
Marian Shrines was first written, another one has developed so that it may be
put in the same class. This is the Shrine of Mary, Queen of Our Hearts, at
Lestock. In a circular letter of April 9, 1954, Archbishop O’Neill wrote :
“Within the Archdiocese there are three officially recognized shrines in honor
of our Lady. These are at Rama, Kronau, and Lestock. ...The Third will honour
her on the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, August 22.”22
The devotion to Mary, Queen of Our Hearts,
was begun and fostered by the late Rev. J. A. Menard, the pastor of Lestock
Parish, 1930.46. He received the official approval of Archbishop Monahan of
Regina on June 9, 1942, at the same time as be received permission to have a
Novena prayer printed. A friend in Quebec donated the statue which was blessed
on June 17, 1943, by the pastor. It is made of plaster, but the trimmings and
crown of real gold were added in 1951 by an artist from St. Boniface.
At first the statue was in the parish
Church built by Rev. J. Poulet, O.M.I., in 1924, and named St. Gertrude after
the name of the Parish from which he came in Nicolet Co., Quebec. However, when
a new Church was built in 1949 it was dedicated by Archbishop O’Neill to Our
Lady under the title of Shrine of Mary, Queen of Our Hearts. The statue is now
in a niche to the right of the main sanctuary. Since it is in Church, it is
visited the year round by people who come to honor her, and who burn vigil
lights and bring flowers.
In connection with the shrine, the
Confraternity of Mary, Queen of Our Hearts, has also been established.
Permission for this was received from Archbishop O’Neill, April 27, 1951, in
the following words: “... Being persuaded that it will be useful for fostering
the devotion of the faithful towards the Virgin, the Mother of God, we erect
this Confraternity in the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of our
Hearts...”23 In a document issued at Rome, Jan. 8, 1952, the
Confraternity was joined to the Archconfraternity, and the members were to
share in all the indulgences and spiritual favors granted to the original
Archconfraternity.24 Its purpose is to make Mary the Queen of Our
Hearts as a means of developing the reign of Christ as King of our Hearts.
So far there has been little stress on a
public pilgrimage, but the Marian year and the encouragement of Archbishop
O’Neill have drawn more attention to it. An official pilgrimage will take place
this year, then, on August 22, and thereafter annually on the Sunday following
that date. A procession will start from the Church at 3 P.M. Four men will
carry the statue of Mary in the procession, and groups from the neighboring
parishes will recite the Rosary and sing hymns. The procession will go along
the main street of the town until it comes to the school. There Archbishop
O’Neill will offer a Solemn Pontifical Mass at 4.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
R.P. Jules LE CHEVALLIER, O.M.I., Saint Laurent de
Grandin. Vannes, 1930.
Rev. J. M. PENARD, O.M.I., The
Vicar Apostolic of Keewatin. Montreal, 1939.
Rev. H. METZCER, Geschichtlicher
Abriss ueber die St. Peter’s Pfarrei. Regina.
Marienbote,
Aug.
1947.
St.
Peter’s Bote, Sept. 14, 1922.
Prairie
Messenger, July 13, 1938; Sept. 30, 1948.