Photos of the Annual Marie Reine du Canada Pilgrimage

The annual Marie Reine du Canada pilgrimage to Canada’s historic Marian shrine, Notre Dame du Cap, took place on September 2-4. A lay-led endeavour based out of the FSSP’s apostolate in Ottawa, the parish of St Clement, the pilgrimage is an annual three-day trek, covering 100 km (62 miles) in the footsteps of the North American Martyrs along Quebec’s north shore of the St. Lawrence River. Much like the Pentecost pilgrimage to Chartres, pilgrims walk in chapters, and carry banners while singing and praying; chaplains provide confession and spiritual direction en route, and all participants camp in tents. Priests celebrate the Mass in the traditional Roman Rite each day of the pilgrimage in parish churches along the route, with the solemn High Mass taking place in the historic Old Shrine of Notre Dame du Cap, where upon the high altar stands the miraculous statue of Our Lady of the Cape, which opened its eyes on June 1888, in the presence of Fr. Frederic Janssoone (now Blessed), Fr. Luc Desilets, and a layman, Pierre Lacroix.

This year marks twenty years since the pilgrimage’s inception. Approximately 100 walking pilgrims attended, mostly from Ontario and Quebec, with a small cohort from the United States joining in. The chaplain of the pilgrimage, Fr. Jacques Breton FSSP, recently authored a book on the shrine, “The Miraculous Story of Our Lady of the Cape”, which is now available in both English and French. This year Fr. Breton was joined by a priest of the diocese of Pembroke, Fr. Peter Do. Next year’s pilgrimage will be from August 31 to September 2.