lac ste anne 3

In 1841... 

a local Métis named Piché... 

asked Bishop Provencher in far-off St. Boniface to send a priest to live among them. 

Priests were scarce. Bishop Provencher had only four priests to minister to a territory that stretched from Ontario to the Rocky Mountains. Still, the next spring, he sent Father Jean-Baptiste Thibault to make an exploratory trip of over 1,400 kilometers.

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In 1844... 

a small shack [keet,hut] was built to house Fr. Thibault and a young priest named Joseph Bourassa. 

Fr. Thibault immediately blessed the lake and called it 'Lac Ste Anne'. 

This was in fulfillment of a promise he had made...

to give her name to the first mission he would ‘father’. 

It was the first permanent Catholic mission west of Winnipeg.

The Oblates of Mary Immaculate...

are a society of Catholic missionaries. 

Founded in France in the early 1800’s, they are especially dedicated to preach the Gospel to the poorest of the poor and to serve in the most difficult of missions. 

With the coming of the Oblates, such as Father Albert Lacombe, the Mission enjoyed a period of great growth and importance. These men quickly gained a reputation for bravery, goodness and holiness. 

In plagues, they cared for the sick and comforted the dying, asking nothing in return. They worked for peace between warring parties and brought an end to the fighting. They preached the Gospel everywhere and many came to believe in Christ.

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Father René Rémas especially had a reputation for great holiness. 

Once, when the men were fishing on the lake and were suddenly threatened by a violent storm, their wives – fearing for their lives – ran to get Fr. Rémas. The priest went to the shore and commanded the storm and the angry lake to be calm. He sprinkled it with holy water and immediately all became still.

By 1887... 

the buffalo had disappeared... 

and the lake lost its importance as a gathering place. 

Most of the population moved away, and the mission was almost deserted. 

Its pastor, Father Joseph Lestanc, then decided to close the mission. 

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Then, on his first holiday back home to France in thirty years... 

he paid a visit to the Shrine of Ste Anne d’Auray.

He later related that while in prayer at this Shrine, God revealed to him in a powerful way that he must not close the mission. Rather, he must build a shrine there in honor of St. Anne, the grandmother of Jesus. It would be a place for pilgrims to come and receive spiritual help.

Father Lestanc was deeply moved. 

On his return, he lost no time in carrying out what God had revealed to him. 

The first pilgrimage was held in 1889, with several hundred attending. 

It soon became an annual event, on July 26th, feastday of St. Anne...

drawing people from all directions and many nations.

[bron]