Pilgrimage to Montreal and Quebec city

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Our pilgrimage to the shrines in Montreal and Quebec commenced on Friday October 30th and ended on Sunday November the 1st. We were very blessed to have two priests, Fr. Francois Bandet, Fr. Ramon and three Brothers of the Heralds, Br. Gustavo Kralj, Br. Justin Bonyun and Br. Francois. Br. Gustavo, the chief organizer of the trip did a fantastic job in coordinating everything very efficiently. The driver of the coach was Carlos Montenegro, who was an excellent driver and his wife too was on the trip.
A group of us from St. Catharines, Hamilton, Milton, Brampton and Mississauga areas joined the coach at the Heralds school Lumen Veritatis Academy in Streetsville around 4:00 a.m. The next group of pilgrims was picked up at Cartwright Avenue near the Yorkdale Mall around 4:30 a.m.
Around 7 a.m. we stopped for breakfast in Kingston. We prayed two rosaries prior to getting into Montreal led by Fr. Francois and always seeked the invocation of St. Joseph, Our Lady of Good Success, Our Lady of Good Counsel, St. Anne, Our Lady of the Cape and Blessed Frederick and many other Saints. Fr. Francois also gave us the history of Notre Dame Basilica and St. Joseph’s Oratory. We had a guided tour of the beautiful Basilica of Notre Dame in Montreal and then went to St. Joseph’s Oratory. We had lunch at the Oratory and had time to pray, light candles etc., and also Fr. Francois heard confessions. We were a little late getting into Montreal, hence mass could not be celebrated as scheduled in the Crypt church at St. Joseph’s. We were very fortunate that the weather was very good and there was no rain.
Our first stop was a visit to the Basilica dedicated to Our Lady the Blessed Virgin – “Notre Dame”.

The small original chapel was operated at first by the Jesuits followed by the Sulpician Fathers, who in 1657 undertook construction of a larger church. The Sulpician François Dollier de Casson was its architect, and the present-day Notre-Dame Street served as the original site. Its construction, in Baroque style was completed between 1672 and 1683.

Next stop, Saint Joseph’s Oratory which is the largest shrine in the world dedicated to Saint Joseph, perched atop Mount Royal.

Brother Andre who was a member of the Congregation of Holy Cross realized an impossible dream in founding Saint Joseph’s Oratory, a treasure trove for generations of believers around the world!
If canonized, Brother André would be the first Quebec man to be named a saint. Marie Marguerite d’Youville (1701-1771), founder of Montreal’s Sisters of Charity, or Grey Nuns, was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1990.
Brother André was born Alfred Bessette in 1845, the eighth of 12 children in a family in the farming village of St. Grégoire, 50 kilometres southeast of Montreal.
Around 3 pm we boarded the bus again and left for Cap-de-la-Madeleine. We also had a fairly large group from the Spanish community and it was so nice to see the young children and teenagers who came with their parents. Some of the little ones were the children that served at all the masses. Br. Gustavo led the 3rd rosary in Spanish and Br. Justin gave us the history of Our Lady of Cape. By this time most of us were tired and were nodding off, hence Br. Justin had to give us the talk again the next day.
We arrived at the Madonna House around 5:30 and the hotel had everything ready for us and the keys were handed over to us as we walked in, so there was no waiting. We had time to freshen up and went downstairs for dinner. After dinner around 7 pm, Fr. Francois heard confessions and mass was celebrated at the Basilica of Our Lady of Cape at 8 pm. This was a very special mass and again we were blessed to be in such a magnificent and holy place. The night was dreary with the rain; hence after mass everyone retired to bed early as we had had such a long day.
The next morning Saturday, we began with breakfast at 7 and mass was celebrated at the original shrine of Our Lady of the Cape. This is where the miracles of eyes took place many centuries ago. During the mass those of us who did not have the brown scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel were all presented with one and a special blessing conferred upon us by Fr. Francois.
Below is a picture of Notre-Dame-du-Cap or Our Lady of the Cape which is located on the shores of the St. Lawrence River, in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec.

The original stone parish church, now known as the Little Old Shrine, was opened for worship in 1720. It is the oldest church preserved in its integrity in the whole of Canada.
On June 22, 1888 the statue of the Virgin was placed on the altar and the little church was dedicated to Mary’s honour, becoming the “Shrine”. At the same time, Fr. Frederic, a Franciscan friar, became the first pilgrimage director. On this very night, kneeling in front of the altar, along with two other witnesses, he saw the miraculous statue open her eyes! An event that will be later on identified as the “Miracle of the Eyes”.

In 1955, the building of the present basilica was begun. Inaugurated in 1964, it is adorned with remarkable stained-glass windows by Fr. Jan Tillemans, a Dutch Oblate. The basilica can seat over 1660 people. Its dome rises up 125 feet high (38 meters).

On September 10th, 1984, during his trip to Canada, Pope John Paul II came to pray in the Old Shrine and had an outdoor celebration of the Eucharist before a crowd of more than 75,000 pilgrims.
After mass Br. Francois took some pictures of the group with the Basilica as the backdrop and then we boarded the bus and proceeded to St. Anne de Beaupre.
Again, on the way we prayed a couple of rosaries and the history of St. Anne de Beaupre and history of the area was relayed to us by Fr. Francois.
We arrived at the Comfort Hotel in St. Anne’s in time for lunch. Again, as we arrived our keys were handed over to us without any delay. There were many restaurants near the hotels, so everyone went to their choice of restaurant and had lunch. At 3 pm we were taken to the Basilica of St. Anne. Since mass was scheduled to be celebrated at 4:30 pm., we had time to pray, light candles and visit the gift shop.
The parents of Fr. Francois and the Mother of Br. Francois paid a surprise visit at St. Anne’s and it was a pleasure meeting them. Mass was celebrated at the Blessed Sacrament chapel. After mass we were taken to the main church and we venerated the relic of St. Anne.
St. Anne De Beaupre – First Church was built in 1658. The healing of Louis Guimont took place during the construction of this chapel. It was to be the first of many favours received.
The present Basilica’s construction began in 1923, after a fire destroyed the first Basilica in March of 1922. This new construction was oriented towards the future, all the while remaining faithful to the past. There was need for a large church, and the local people wanted it to be beautiful so pilgrims would be proud of it. Built in the Neo-Romanesque style, the Basilica is very harmonious to the eye, and is meticulously decorated. Cardinal Maurice Roy consecrated the Basilica on July 4, 1976.

There was a heavy downpour and high winds when we left the Basilica after mass. As such we went back to the hotel instead of going to Quebec City which was an optional visit weather permitting.

The next morning we went to the Basilica for mass at 7 a.m., which again was celebrated in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel and this was the feast of All Saints. At the time the host was elevated and the consecration prayers were being recited, the sun shone brightly through the stained glass windows and the chapel lit up so brightly, which was almost a sign of hope from Our Lord.
After mass we had a quick breakfast at the hotel and departed for Toronto around 9. On the return journey also we prayed 3 rosaries and Fr. Francois gave us a talk on how Jacques Cartier and his men survived the winter through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother. Prior to getting into Toronto Bro. Gustavo asked us to sharing our experiences and testimonies. It was especially nice to see how confidently the little children came up and shared their experiences. Also we were made aware of the spouses of some of the pilgrims who are sick and in hospital and now we can lift them up in our Thursday night rosary group. We arrived in Toronto about an hour earlier than expected; hence we also had time to have a tour of the school when we got to Streetsville.
My association with the Heralds goes back to 2001 when I first got the lay apostolates to bring the statue of Our Lady of Fatima to my new house that I moved into the previous year. Subsequently I became one of their benefactors and have been getting the statue to my house every year except this year as the girls had left for Brazil on mission work and studies.

Since returning from the pilgrimage, 3 of my numerous prayers have been answered and I mean I wrote pages and pages of prayer requests for family and friends and deposited them at all the shrines and lit candles everywhere. Almost as soon as I got back home, I heard of 2 of my prayers being answered and I was waiting for the 3rd and I received it today, which is a real miracle as a relative of mine who had major surgery for breast cancer has been told that she does not need chemotherapy nor radiation treatment. So Praise the Lord, Mother Mary, Saint Joseph, St. Anne and all the saints for their intercession in hearing our prayers!
My friends Mira and Feliks Josipovic and Indi Sahni and I were blessed to be part of this pilgrimage and would like to say a sincere thanks to Br. Gustavo for keeping me informed about the pilgrimage and for the wonderful spiritual journey we all had together.