Newsletter #40 – Our Lady of Mount Carmel USA

Dear Friends and Benefactors, 10/28/2020

Long before the title of Our Lady of the Cape was known and venerated, Jacques Cartier, the discover of Canada, sailed past the present site of Cap-de-la-Madeleine. Indeed, on October 7, 1535, Cartier’s ship, the Emerillon explored the St. Lawrence River for the first time. When Cartier reached the point where the St. Maurice River flows into the St. Lawrence, he was invited by the Indians to come ashore. Cartier obliged and soon afterwards erected a huge cross as he had previously done at Gaspe (Hunguedo) and at Mount Royal (Ochelaga). The act was duly reported in his journal:
“We erected a cross thirty feet high and indicated to them, by pointing to the sky, that it was by the Cross that our Redemption was achieved.” (Le Decouvreur du Canada, Victor Tremblay) (source of this article comes from ‘Our Lady and Her People’, Fr. Laurent Tremblay, O.M.I.)
Such a great religious gesture, more imposing than a simple prayer, took place at the tip of Saint-Quentin Island, just next to the privileged piece of land which was to become later on the domain of Mary at Cap-de-la-Madeleine.
Cartier decided to spend the entire winter in Canada (at Stadacona) in order to experience the dangers and rigors of the climate. The bold mariner had more than he bargained for: he hit upon a winter that was excessively humid and unhealthy, a breeder of colds, pneumonia, and sore throats. An epidemic of scurvy swept through his men, killing about 30 of them. But this leader, a native of St. Malo, was a strong believer, and on the forecastle of his ship he had enthroned the radiant image of Mary.
As the epidemic took serious proportions, Cartier brought the Virgin’s picture on land and placed it in open view on a nearby tree. Then he ordered his men to come one by one bare-foot and carrying the Rosary to pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary before her image. This unusual procession aroused the curiosity of the Indians to the point that one of them came to the settlers’ camp. Upon seeing the pitiful condition of the French, this Indian gave them a very simple cure to get rid of the dreadful disease: ‘cut cedar branches, boil them in water and then drink copiously the infuse liquid’. The recipe proved excellent to eradicate the plague of scurvy, but Cartier and his men saw in this happening a marked favor from the Blessed Virgin Mary. Without any shadow of a doubt, Mary was already taking care of that country that would become Canada by revealing to the very first French settlers her loving care and intercession on our behalf.
THE SEIGNIORY OF THE CAPE (1634)
The establishment of New France started less than a century after Cartier with the foundation of Quebec by Samuel de Champlain (1608). The young colony became organized with villages and farms spreading along the majestic St. Lawrence.
The distribution of land and property was done by the Company of “The One Hundred Associates”, which was directing the enterprise. The Company followed a certain feudal form of government with seigniories, manors, fiefs and tenant lands. In 1629, with the unlawful aggression of the Kirk brothers, the colony became the property of England. The governor, Champlain, was taken prisoner and exiled to London. Abandoned by all, he made a vow consecrating his cause to the Queen of Heaven. After 30 months of persistent diplomatic negotiations, he recovered his cherished New France (1632). Back in Quebec, Champlain carried out his promise by dedicating a chapel to Our Lady of Recovery, but his gratitude would go much further.
When he made the foundation of Three Rivers (1634) on the west bank of the St. Maurice River, he recommended to the Company of “The One Hundred Associates” that they establish all the land on the east bank as the Seigneurie du Cap de Trois-Rivières. Furthermore, he asked that this seigniory be given to Canon Jacques de la Ferte, who was then Abbot of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine de Chateaudun, and a most worthy member of the Company.
Some years later, this land was no longer called Seigneurie du Cap de Trois-Rivières, but took on the name Seigneurie du Cap-de-la-Madeleine, in honor of his first seigneur.
At the beginning of October, 1635, the father of New France (Samuel de Champlain) was struck with paralysis. He found comfort in a most Christian resignation. At his last will and testament, before the clerk of the court of Quebec, he appointed the Virgin Mary as his heiress and died on Christmas Day.
With Samuel de Champlain, Cap-de-la-Madeleine definitely takes its place in history.
THE AGE OF THE JESUITS (1634-1668)
Father Jacques Buteux of the Society of Jesus was among the first contingent of settlers sent to establish the new colony of Three Rivers. While having the task to evangelize the Attikameques Indians, whose conversion seemed to take place at the rate of one hundred or so a year, Father Buteux shared the poverty of the beginning and the peril of the Iroquois with all the settlers.
On May 10, 1652, after 18 years of fruitful labor, Father Buteux, accompanied by a Frenchman and a converted Huron Indian, left for a short pastoral trip toward the upper St. Maurice River. Shortly afterwards, while they were making a portage around a steep cliff (where Shawinigan stands today), they were brutally attacked by 14 Iroquois Indians who had been hiding behind trees. The Huron was bound hand and feet for future torture; the Frenchman was killed point-blank and Father Buteux, after being wounded by 2 bullets, was finished off with a tomahawk and thrown into the river. Meanwhile, the Huron Indian managed to break his bonds and escape to bring the sad news to Three Rivers.
But this sad report was soon followed by comforting news. Canon Jacques de la Ferte, no longer able to administer his Seigneurie du Cap-de-la-Madeleine, gave it to the Jesuits of New France, who now became the recognized owners of the land. Their first act was to divide this immense domain into several dozens of lots of land, in order to establish around them permanent settlers and artisans of every trade. To protect the young colony against ferocious attacks from the Iroquois, the Jesuits organized shelters surrounded by high palisades and guarded day and night. But in spite of all these human precautions, the toll of victims among the settlers was very high. It can be said that every family of the Cape paid its tribute of bloodshed.
Yet, far from crushing them, the insecurity made the settlers braver and especially more fervent. In every household, as day was ending, the family would entrust its destiny to the Blessed Virgin by gathering for the recitation of the Rosary around her statue.
Among these hardy pioneers, Pierre Boucher (1622-1717) deserves a special mention as a key figure in establishing the colony. Governor of Three Rivers, for two terms, he was noted for his victories against the Iroquois, for his book “Histoire de la Nouvelle France” and even more so, for his small personal audiences with Louis VIV and Colbert to discuss urgent problems concerning the new colony.
His property at the Cape, near the small River Favrel, was called Fief Sainte-Marie. There, in 1659, he had a chapel built which belongs to history, for it was the first church of Cap-de-la-Madeleine. It served for worship until 1714 when the second church and present-day Shrine was built.
THE CONFRATERNITY OF THE ROSARY (1694)
When Bishop de Laval erected Cap-de-la-Madeleine as an autonomous parish, he assigned Father Paul Vachon as the first parish priest. Bishop de Laval had a high esteem for Father Vachon, who had been named a canon and appointed to the Episcopal Council only 4 years after his ordination. Father Vachon’s career at the Cape lasted 44 years, right up to his last breath. He leaves to posterity the memory of an exemplary pastor entirely devoted to his flock and a fervent servant of Mary.
At that time, the parishioners had no other place of worship but the humble chapel of Pierre Boucher. An official document of the Diocese gave them permission to build a new church. However, because of divided opinions on the subject, Father Vachon thought it would be wise to delay the construction a little while. Rightly so, he thought that such a construction should first come to exist in the hearts and souls of the parishioners.
More than ever, prayer became the motivation of his life manifested by an unfailing devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Shortly afterwards, the story of the Confraternity of the Rosary came into his hands. He meditated on the marvels realized within the Church through the devotion to the Rosary from the time of the conversion of the Albigensians to the victory of Lepanto, and decided to implant such a powerful instrument of grace in his parish. For that purpose, he wrote to the Very Reverend Father Antonin Cloche, Superior General of the Dominicans in Rome and requested an affiliation for himself and for all others who might have the same desire. His request was granted on May 11, 1694.
Such was the implantation in Canada of this meritorious and worldwide association of prayer; an association often recommended by the Church and which has counted among its members popes, emperors, famous converts and well-known saints. Its establishment at the Cape initiated a renewal of prayer accompanied by the granting of many a favor. It was, in fact, a further concrete realization of Our Lady’s promise to Saint Dominic when she gave him the Rosary, saying: “Here is a sure means of salvation. Let it be spread everywhere, and sinners will be converted, the just will persevere and will reach the glories of Heaven.”
THE STONE BUILDING (1714)
When a pilgrim comes to Cap-de-la-Madeleine, whether for the first time or for the hundredth time, one building in particular attracts his attention and warms his heart: the little Shrine. Its charm comes from its small dimensions, its air of antiquity with its small paneled windows and covered gables, its ingenious bell-tower recalling the Cross of Jesus Christ on earth, and its cock, whose crowing pricks the conscience … as in the days of Peter … Every detail here speaks of a gracious House of God, which welcomes and inspires recollection. Habitual pilgrims kneel in a silence that speaks louder than words. New arrivals ask questions: How old is the building? Who was the architect?
Fortunately, history can answer all questions with exactitude and precision. The Shrine is the work of a parish priest, or better still, of the people of the parish and, one can add without hesitation, of the Blessed Virgin Mary herself. Here is how it all happened.
Until 1714, in the days of Father Vachon, the beloved parish priest, the old wooden church of Pierre Boucher was standing on this site. Though revered by many settlers as a touching memorial, the chapel of Pierre Boucher had become too small and could no longer answer the needs of the people. Finally, a happy solution was reached, that of respectfully demolishing the first chapel while keeping all that could be useful for the new church. These relics of the past, especially the wooden beams, would serve in the construction of the new temple to be built on the same spot, which had always been considered as the heart of the village.
The new building, they decided, would be sober and durable. Sober: that is to say, within reach of their limited means. Durable, in the language of the time, meant built of fieldstones, joined and solidified to excess by means of a special mortar, which was limed and fermented in the ground during a period of 6 months. Such masonry was employed in the building of defensive walls and fortifications. Neither time, nor rain, nor frost nor fire could vanquish it.
As to the major problem – money – the good parish priest took charge of that. He became a mendicant, and went from parish to parish looking for generous gifts. He returned from each trip with his hands filled, and could say: “Continue the work, Our Lady is with us.”
One conclusion is clear: Our Lady desired that not only the parishioners, but also in some way all the people of the colony would contribute to this stone building which was first called the parish church of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine and Centre of the Confraternity of the Rosary. Then, 160 years later, it would be known as the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Cape.
A CENTURY OF SORROW
“Unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, itself remaineth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:24,25)
Work at the Cape had scarcely begun when the settlement had to endure a century of stagnation where progress was zero on all fronts. The greatest trial of the colony was the fact of not having a resident priest for a period of 115 years. Visiting priests would come from here and there for Mass on Sunday and then would leave as soon as Mass was over. The rest of the week, the village witnessed the depressing emptiness of a deserted church and of a rectory with closed shutters. Christian life needs animation to maintain its vigor; one must fan the glowing embers to inflame them less they become dull ashes. Alas, this is what happened to the Cape! Even social activities and economic were affected while the country, at large, experienced a period of progress mainly due to the able governorship of Jean Talon and Count Frontenac. New undertakings and various projects were springing up everywhere but they seemed to bypass the Cape for some unknown reason.
It is also during this painful century that occurred the most bitter drama of colonial life in 4 acts: the Deportation of the Acadians, the Seven Years War, the defeat of the Plains of Abraham, and the final Capitulation. These conflicts entailed much devastation and even vandalism throughout the land.
Meanwhile, serious difficulties arose between Church and State. The English laws excluded all dependence on Rome. As a result, there were struggles against the Bishop and the clergy followed by the suppression of seminaries and of religious orders. Such difficulties had repercussions even at the Cape by relegating its Marian vocation to the secret dungeon for several generations.
The awakening, however, could only be more comforting. As soon as activities resumed, Our Lady hastened to make known to one and all that she was with us more than ever before. Without the shadow of a doubt, that was the feeling of Zephirin Dorval, a fervent devotee of Mary, who donated to the church in 1844 a magnificent life-sized Madonna (a replica of the Virgin as she appeared to Saint Catherine Laboure in Paris 1830 to propagate the Miraculous Medal) that was immediately installed on the altar of the Rosary. This statue came to be called the Miraculous Madonna or Our Lady of the Cape.
A NEW MOSES
Some compare Thomas Cooke to Moses, a prominent Biblical character who, as a baby, was saved from drowning in the Nile, later became the Deliverer of his People.
Little Thomas Cooke was born in 1792 at Pointe-du-Lac near Three Rivers. His father, John Cooke, had emigrated from Ireland while his mother, Isabelle Guay, was a native of Three Rivers. They lived on a property adjoining a seignorial mill where John worked as a miller.
One day when Thomas was only a little tot, he accidentally fell into a pond which supplied water to the mill. He was drowning when suddenly a lively Newfoundland dog quickly plunged into the water, got hold of the child and brought him back home.
As John Cooke and his wife were profoundly religious, they could not underestimate such a tremendous favour and they felt justified to say: “God has given us this child twice: at his birth and today. What will become of him, for God has set his eyes on him? …” With great care they worked at his upbringing. Imitating Saint Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Presentation of Jesus, they offered Thomas to the Lord (Luke 2:22). That meant offering him to Father Orfray, a French priest exiled during the Revolution of 1789. Soon after, the young lad had a companion his own age named Norbert Provencher. While teaching them Greek and Latin, the pious parish priest perceived that both showed signs of a vocation to the priesthood. Indeed, these boys were to become bishops, even founders of dioceses, one at St. Boniface in the Province of Manitoba, and the other at Trois Rivières, Quebec.
It must be mentioned that Father Thomas Cooke as pastor of Ancienne Lorette Parish, was also responsible for the education of 2 boys of the Racine family who were later to become bishops: Antoine who founded the diocese of Sherbrooke in 1874, and Dominique, that of Chicoutimi in 1878. The Church was further indebted to Father Cooke for the establishment of one seminary, if not two.
For this pious priest, however, the events of Cap-de-la-Madeleine would always be a priority. As priest in charge of the chapel (1835-1844), he saved the cause by awakening the people and drawing them out of the lethargy into which they had fallen. He firmly approved the wish of many to have a resident parish priest. So well did he plead in their favour before the Church authorities in Quebec, that a priest was finally assigned to Cap-de-la-Madeleine.
In his later years, Bishop Cooke gave the Cape an outstanding pastor in the person of Father Luc Desilets. The choice could not be better for, apart from being the Bishop’s spiritual son, Father Desilets was a pious, charitable and well-informed theologian as well as a priest entirely devoted to Mary, the Virgin Mother of God.
THE STRANGE MESSAGE
Luc Desilets was born December 23, 1832, at St. Gregoire-de-Nicolet, located on the south side of the river, only a couple of miles from the Cape. Father Jean Harper, who baptized him, was the founder of the community of the Sisters of the Assumption.
As a student at Nicolet College, Luc was a brilliant scholar. Bishop Cooke ordained him in 1859 and immediately chose him as his private secretary. Later on, Father Desilets took charge of the Cape which, at the time, was in a state of depression. Poverty reigned everywhere especially at the rectory. The mother of Father Desilets provided him with the necessities of life; but what he received, he gave to those more poor than himself. However, those who benefited from his material gifts were not the least attracted by the real food offered in his sermons and in the Holy Eucharist. For some years, he was greatly discouraged with this pitiful situation, when suddenly an inconceivable event occurred.
It was the day before the Feast of the Ascension in 1867. The parish priest insistently invited his people to approach the Sacraments. The church door remained open all afternoon; he stayed near the confessional, but in vain; no one appeared. The failure was complete. Before returning to the rectory, the priest knelt at the altar, confiding all his distress to God and Mary: “Do grant me the grace to convince them!”
Suddenly, an unusual noise broke the silence. The priest rushed to the side chapel and stood horrified. There, before the altar of Our Lady was a pig chewing on a shattered Rosary. Heart-broken, Father Desilets pulled the sacred beads from the animal as he thought to himself: “The Rosary that the people have abandoned has been picked up by the swine.”
The next day, during his sermon, he exhibited the desecrated Rosary and commented severely on this sad event. Two days, later he started on a crusade that would prove successful. Visiting parishioners, stopping at each house, he invited people to join the Confraternity of the Rosary. The Blessed Virgin Mary rewarded his efforts for in September 1872 he could report to the authorities of the Confraternity in Rome that the Rosary was being said daily in 3,000 households in the area. The Blessed Virgin Mary had just started to grant countless favours as we shall see.
The first marvel consisted in a complete change of hearts. The 1714 church so empty in the past was now overflowing with worshippers. Many had to stand on the porch or on the surrounding grounds to follow the services.
Overburdened by work, Father Desilets was given a very devoted curate in the person of Father Louis-Eugene Duguay. In 1878, it was decided to build a new church that would be larger and more functional.
THE BRIDGE OF ROSARIES
The project of a new church at the Cape was being finally realized. The building stones were cut and piled up at the quarry of Ste-Angele on the other side of the river. The workers saw no transportation problem as they thought to themselves: “When winter comes the ice, as usual will serve as a bridge.” But the winter of 1878-79 was unusually mild; the St. Lawrence River would simple not freeze.
Fortunately, intense prayers generate faith, and faith moves mountains. Such were Father Desilet’s convictions, such were the means he used. In early November, the parishioners would recite the Rosary after each Sunday Mass in order to have severe frosts. Furthermore, the pious priest, with his bishop’s consent, made a promise with Our Blessed Mother: The 1714 church would be preserved forever as a sanctuary dedicated to Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary if the Blessed Mother would grant them an early “ice bridge”.
It was already mid-March! Fervent prayers to Saint Joseph, Patron of Canada, were continuous, and all were devotedly preparing for his Feast on March 19. All at once, a violent wind rushed from the north and quickly cleared the entrance to the St. Maurice River. This unexpected event drifted the ice which piled up on the shores of the St. Lawrence River. A question arose: was the solution to jump from one block to the other and weld them together by continuous watering? “I would dare the crossing” declared Firmin Cadotte, a master wood floater. “Let’s go” responded his brave companions Flavien Bourassa, Joseph Longval, Thomas Caron, Alex Lottinville, Georges Lacroix and a few others. “I will come too” continued the young curate Father Duguay.
On March 16, they left with ropes and poles. They jumped from one block of ice to the other, occasionally on very thin ice. After numberless detours, they reached the south shore at sundown, then returned to mark out the hazardous path.
For 3 days, they kept watering the ice and on March 18, at the sound of the noon Angelus bell, Joseph Longval drove in front of the chapel with the first load of stones (work-horse and sleigh). Needless to say, he was greeted by a triumphant ovation. The news travelled rapidly: “The ice bridge is formed!”
Volunteers were sought and reminded: “Tomorrow, March 19, be at church for Mass in honor of Saint Joseph, dress in your work-clothes. Immediately after, the sleighs will leave and those remaining at home will recite the Rosary.”
175 horses-and-sleighs dared to venture out on the narrow road of ice, 10-12 feet wide, with freezing waters moving on both sides and underneath.
Transportation of the stones went on for a whole week without cease. Fully aware of the fact that night and day their wives and families continuously prayed the Rosary, the men said: “We are not supported by the ice, but by prayers. Our bridge is the Bridge of Rosaries.” Hardly had the last load reached the land on the Cape shore, that the ice broke loose and was swept swiftly down the river.
Concerning the continuing history of Our Lady of the Cape, the Catholic writer J.G. Shaw summarizes, it goes without saying that this wonder attracted much attention to Cap-de-la-Madeleine. During the eight days the phenomenon lasted, the river bank was crowded with spectators from Three Rivers and the surrounding territory. Word soon spread and, long before the old chapel was formally dedicated as a shrine, spontaneous popular devotion brought pilgrims to pray the Rosary at the foot of Our Lady’s statue on the altar of the Confraternity.
The new church rose rapidly, and it was dedicated on October 3rd, 1880, the Feast of the Holy Rosary. On May 7th, 1883, five years before the dedication of the Shrine as a place of pilgrimage, the first organized pilgrimage recorded in the Shrine archives came to the Cape. It came from Trois-Rivières and made the four-mile journey on foot. Another coincidence of Marian dates has this beginning of pilgrimages to the Shrine taking place in the same year that Pope Leo XIII issued the first of his Rosary encyclicals, thus inaugurating his world-wide Rosary campaign.
CONSECRATION OF THE SHRINE AND PRODIGY OF THE EYES
On June 22nd, 1888, came the official dedication of the Shrine and a further prodigy by which Our Lady seems to have set her seal upon the work of Father Desilets and manifested her approval of her new-born shrine. As he celebrated the High Mass, Father Desilets looked up at the statue, now enthroned over the main altar, thanking the Blessed Virgin for this fulfilment of the vow he had made years ago. The sermon was preached by the Franciscan, Father Frederic, who had first come to the Cape in 1881, and immediately became Father Desilets’ colleague in zeal for the promotion of devotion to Our Lady of the Cape. That sermon, preached in a little church then little known outside the region between Three Rivers and Quebec, has a note of prophecy in it.
Father Frederic said: “In years to come, this will be the Shrine of Mary; pilgrims will come here from all the families of the parish, from all the parishes of the diocese, and from all the dioceses of Canada. Yes, this little House of God will be too small to contain the crowds that will come to invoke the power and kindness of the sweet Virgin of the Most Holy Rosary.”
And secretly, Father Frederic added, or rather said to Mary: “Thou art so merciful, O Mother, do give us a sign that thou does accept our donation.”
On the evening of that day, towards seven o’clock, occurred the event known as the Prodigy of the Eyes. A cripple named Pierre Lacroix had come to implore Our Lady of the Cape’s aid in her newly-dedicated Shrine. He was brought to the chapel in his wheel-chair by Father Desilets and Father Frederic. We have sound historical testimony for what followed. Father Duguay, who had his information from the three participants has written an account preserved in the Shrine archives. The same archives preserve the sworn and notarized statement of Pierre Lacroix. Recent research made by Father Onesime, O.F.M., in the Franciscan archives at Trois-Rivières in preparation for the introduction of Father Frederic’s cause at Rome have determined that Father Frederic himself is the author of a front page article which appeared in the Montreal “La Presse” on May 22nd, 1897, giving a detailed account of the event.
Here is how the incident is described by Raphael F. Brown, of the United States Library of Congress, one of the leading authorities on the life of Father Frederic and on the history of the Shrine of Our Lady of the Cape, in “Our Lady of the Cape” magazine, June 1947:
“After a few moments of prayer with closed eyes, Pierre Lacroix looked up at the lovely features of Our Lady’s statue, which the two priests were already contemplating. Suddenly all three were struck with breath-taking amazement; the face of the statue was becoming visibly animated with life and feeling! In speechless astonishment they clearly perceived that its normally lowered eyelids were now opening, revealing two remarkably beautiful dark eyes which looked directly ahead toward the open door and the setting sun beyond. They seemed to be gazing fixedly at some invisible sight to the west, in the direction of Trois-Rivières, Montreal, and the rest of Canada.
“Not daring to move or say a word, Pierre Lacroix just stared. But soon the impulsive pastor of the Cape could not control his excitement any longer. Getting to his feet, Father Desilets went over to Good Father Frederic, who was on Lacroix’s left, and exclaimed in an awed whisper: ‘Do you see it?’
`Yes,’ replied the friar slowly. ‘The statue has opened its eyes, hasn’t it?’
‘Well, yes… But has it really?’
At this point Pierre Lacroix summoned up enough courage to murmur: ‘I have been seeing it too for several minutes.’
“But the two prudent priests were not yet ready to accept the phenomenon objectively. They moved around before the altar to make perfectly sure that they were not being deceived by an unusual but natural optical illusion. However, they soon had to admit that no mistake was possible. They were indeed witnessing a truly supernatural marvel. The face of the statue, with its open eyes, had taken on an entirely new appearance as it gazed out over North America. Our Lady’s features were now both stern and sad, full of majestic gravity and dignity, as befits a heavenly Queen on a historic feast-day of lasting significance for the spiritual welfare of a whole people…”
It seems as though this day was for Father Desilets the completion of something that had started in this same place 22 years ago on the evening he found a pig chewing an abandoned Rosary before a forgotten statue in an empty and long neglected chapel. The work he had set himself that evening, bringing his people back to God through Mary by means of her Rosary, was well under way. His part of it was finished. Just nine weeks later, on August 30th, 1888, he died suddenly in his brother’s home at Trois-Rivières. At the actual moment of his death, Father Frederic who had then no knowledge of that event and no reason to expect it, was kneeling before the statue of Our Lady of the Cape in the old chapel. As he looked up, he saw tears run down its cheeks. When told one hour later of his friend’s sudden death, his own tears flowed too. Years later, when questioned about this, the good Father Frederic would answer, “The Blessed Virgin suffered in seeing one of her good servants die.”
FIRST CORONATION (1904)
Father Duguay became Father Desilets successor and he found an indefatiguable apostle in the work of promoting devotion to Our Lady of the Cape in the good Father Frederic. It would require a separate paper to do justice to Father Frederic’s part in building up the Shrine as a place of pilgrimage. It was due to his promotional work among the Franciscan Tertiaries that the English-speaking Catholics of Montreal, members of the Third Order under the direction of Father Ambrose, O.F.M., started coming to the Shrine in 1896. And it is to them we owe the shamrock crown which is now worn by Canada’s Madonna and the golden heart she bears on her breast. The crown and the heart were the gift of Irish Catholic ladies, Franciscan Tertiaries of Montreal, who donated the gold and jewels from their personal ornaments with the promise not to replace them. Two pilgrimages, on June 4th and August 15th, 1898, made formal presentation of the golden heart and crown respectively.
It is interesting to notice in passing that by this private coronation of Our Lady of the Cape, the Montreal Irish Catholics anticipated by six years the papal permission for coronation of a Madonna which is only granted after certain rigid requirements have been satisfied.
From the first pilgrimage in 1883 down to the present day, the history of the shrine has been one of steady growth and an annually increasing number of pilgrims. By 1898, the work of attending to the pilgrims had become too much for Father Duguay, even with the zealous help of Father Frederic. The religious orders were called upon for aid and Jesuits, Dominicans, Franciscans and Oblates took turns in serving the shrine.
Finally, the appeals of Father Duguay and Father Frederic that the perpetual care of the Shrine should be assured by assigning it to the guardianship of a religious order was heard by Bishop Cloutier of Three Rivers. In 1902 the Bishop issued a pastoral letter (M.E.T.R. Vol. VII, p. 404) welcoming the Oblates of Mary Immaculate as Guardians of the Shrine of Our Lady of the Cape. A mere two years later, speaking at the Shrine on the occasion of the formal coronation of the statue by order of His Holiness Pope Pius X, the bishop was able to praise the new guardians in the following terms: “Two years have barely passed, and yet what changes have already been accomplished both in the temporal and in the spiritual domain! The church has been completed, the Shrine enlarged and restored, a splendid monastery has replaced the old presbytery. Pilgrimages have become from day to day more numerous and more beautiful, devotion to Mary has greatly increased in our midst, thanks to the preaching of the Fathers… Here certainly are accomplishments which bear eloquent witness to the labours and the zeal of these good workers of the Lord.”
The occasion on which His Excellency spoke was one of the most glorious in the history of the Cape. Rome had decided favourably on the question of whether or not the Shrine at Cap-de-la-Madeleine possessed the three main requirements for the privilege of coronation of its Madonna: antiquity of devotion to the Virgin; supernatural favours obtained through her intercession; the concourse of the faithful in sufficient numbers.
Hence, on that day, October 12th, 1904, in the presence of the Apostolic Delegate to Canada, fifteen archbishops and bishops, many hundreds of priests and a crowd estimated at 15,000, Bishop Cloutier, acting in the name of Pope Pius X, solemnly placed upon the head of Our Lady of the Cape the golden crown which the Irish of Montreal had donated to her six years previously.
The next important step in recognition of the Shrine came in 1909 when the Fathers of the First Plenary Council of Quebec speaking officially for the Church in Canada made a statement on the shrine which has generally been interpreted since as establishing it as a national place of pilgrimage to Our Lady for all Canadians. They said (Official Acts No. 575):
“It is desirable that the faithful of Canada go in pious pilgrimage to Cap-de-la-Madeleine where a Confraternity of the Holy Rosary has been in existence for more than 200 years and where a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, crowned by Pius X, is the object of solemn manifestations of faith and piety.”
A few statistics will convey a rapid idea of the growth of the shrine. During the twenty years from the first pilgrimage in 1883 until 1903 it is estimated that 500,000 pilgrims visited the shrine. The year, 1952, there were 200,000 participating in the ceremonies for the Feast of August 15th alone and the total for the single year will be well over 800,000. On the eve of the feast of the Assumption more than one hundred priests were hearing confessions on the shrine grounds, and more than 40,000 people by actual count of Hosts distributed received Holy Communion between midnight and noon.
It is such spiritual miracles rather than the hundreds of reports of temporal favours which come to the shrine each month that are the chief glory of this great Marian devotion built in the little city of Cap-de-la-Madeleine from the humble beginnings made by a little known secular priest.
The Cap-de-la-Madeleine which Father Desilets found in almost complete abandonment of its ancient fervour is now a veritable City of Mary. In 1921 it incorporated into its official crest the Monogram of Our Lady surrounded by her 12 stars and in 1929 the entire city was consecrated to Our Lady of the Cape.
The still-continuing story of devotion to Our Lady at Cap-de-la-Madeleine is an historically factual Canadian demonstration of what could happen to the whole world if someone like Father Desilets could lead it to return to God through Mary by means of devotion to her Rosary. Cap-de-la-Madeleine today is a living proof of the validity of the promise of Fatima.

AVE MARIA !
Father Joseph Poisson

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Consecration of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel to Immaculate Heart of Mary
http://ourladyofmountcarmelusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Consecration-to-Immaculate-Heart-by-Our-Lady-of-Mt.-Carmel-SSPX-Marian-Corps.pdf

Featured Sermon
Given By His Excellency Bishop Pfeiffer

Posted in Newsletters and tagged Father Joseph Poisson