Our Lady of Lac Bouchet

https://www.roman-catholic-saints.com/our-lady-of-lac-bouchet.html 

July 25: Our Lady of Lac Bouchet, Quebec (1920)

The Saguenay Fjord is an ancient glacial valley that has been overrun with sea water.
In the year 1828 a surveyor, Joseph Bouchette, ventured into region for purpose of collecting data for topographical maps.

It was during this expedition that he found a suitable site for a future village, which Pascal Dumais and his family later settled.
This marked the founding of the village of Lac-Bouchette, with more & more people coming to settle in the area until village had 300 inhabitants in about the year 1888.

Our story actually begins with a man named Charles Napoleon Robitaille, a salesman who traveled roads in & around Quebec.
During the winters he would have to cross frozen rivers, & it was in winter of 1878 while trying to cross the Saguenay River that ice broke under weight of his horse & sleigh.
Pulled beneath the surface of the icy waters, Charles was alone & completely helpless.
Knowing he was dying, he implored the Blessed Virgin Mary to save him.


Charles miraculously survived, & managed to escape from the river with his life.
He knew the Virgin had assisted him, & so to honor Mary & her recent apparition at Lourdes, he asked Louis Jobin to create a huge statue of the Blessed Virgin sculpted in the image of Our Lady of Lourdes.
He envisioned the statue in the heights overlooking the mouth of the river.
The statue Jobin sculpted became known as Notre-Dame du Saguenay.

The finished statue is an impressive 35 feet high, & weighs 3 tons.
Sculpted of solid white pine, it was then sheathed in lead to protect the statue from the harsh weather.
Hauling such a huge statue into place was a difficult task in the late 19th century.
After being constructed, it was broken down into 14 separate pieces and then hoisted into place to be put together again.

On the right side of the base of the statue, the sculptor affixed a lead plate on which is written: "Louis Jobin, Quebec."
The statue made him the most famous sculptor of the time, & the statue has become a regional landmark, with visitors from the world over assembling at her feet to sing the Ave Maria.

In 1889 the mission church of Saint Thomas Aquinas was built, & the next year Father Joseph Ironwood became the first pastor.
A 2nd church was soon built, in 1898, as population increased dramatically.
Now, on the north shore of Lake Bouchet, in province of Quebec, there stand buildings of a friary & sanctuary of Our Lady of the Sagueney.

In 1920, Father Elzear Delamarre built a house & a private chapel dedicated to Saint Anthony of Padua on site, which later became known as the hermitage of Saint Anthony & is one of the national shrines in Quebec.
So began pilgrimage-shrine that has since grown steadily in popularity.

After Father de Lamarre’s death in 1925, the Capuchin Franciscans took over property, built their house & church there, & ministered to thousands of pilgrims who sought out the sanctuary.