PilgrimstaysThe Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré on the banks of the St Lawrence River, 30 km east of Quebec City, is the oldest and most visited pilgrimage site in North America. Devotion to St Anne — mother of the Virgin Mary and grandmother of Jesus — has been continuous here since the 1650s, when French missionaries and Breton sailors established a chapel after being rescued from a shipwreck in the St Lawrence. The basilica receives approximately one million pilgrims per year. The current Romanesque-Byzantine basilica, completed in 1926, is the fifth church to stand on the site. The previous church was destroyed by fire in 1922, just after construction of the new one began. The interior is one of the richest in Canada: 240 stained glass windows, mosaics covering the ceilings and walls, carved stone columns, and the chapel of the miraculous statue of St Anne — a powerful focus of healing devotion. The July 26 feast of St Anne draws over 100,000 pilgrims in a single day. The Scala Sancta — the reproduction of the holy stairs in Rome — is climbed by pilgrims on their knees. The collection of crutches, walking frames, and braces hanging in the entrance porch is one of the most visceral physical testimonies to miraculous healing in the Americas. Pilgrims have been leaving their crutches here since the 17th century.
The oldest pilgrimage site in North America — continuous devotion since the 1650s The July 26
feast of St Anne draws over 100,000 pilgrims in a single day The entrance porch holds
hundreds of crutches and braces left by those healed at the shrine The Scala Sancta —
replica of Rome's holy stairs — is climbed by pilgrims on their knees St Anne is
the grandmother of Jesus — one of few shrines in the world dedicated to this saint
Side chapel, main basilica The statue of St Anne, venerated for healing since the 17th century, stands in its own chapel with a continuous glow of votive candles. Pilgrims queue to kneel before the statue and to touch the relic of St Anne's arm. The healing tradition is the strongest element of Beaupré devotion.
Entrance of the basilica The entrance porch displays hundreds of crutches, walking frames, prosthetics, and braces left by pilgrims who came on them and went away without. The earliest date from the 17th century. This is the most immediate physical evidence of miraculous healing anywhere in the Americas.
28 steps representing those of Pilate's Praetorium that Jesus ascended before his condemnation — is climbed on the knees by pilgrims at every hour. The sight of pilgrims making their slow painful ascent on wet stone, reciting prayers, is medieval in its intensity and entirely contemporary in its occurrence.
the walls, vaults, and ceiling form an encyclopaedia of Christian imagery in colour. The 240 stained glass windows, designed by seven different workshops, flood the interior with coloured light. The apse mosaic of Christ in Glory at the eastern end dominates the nave.
the great waterway of New France. The view of the river and the far bank, with the basilica towers above, is a landscape of extraordinary tranquillity. French missionaries and sailors saw the same view in the 1650s when they gave thanks for their survival.
St Anne is the grandmother of Jesus. She raised the woman who raised the Saviour. Almost nothing in the Gospels is about her — her name does not even appear in the Bible. But she has had millions of pilgrims visit her shrine in Quebec for nearly four centuries. The lesson of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré is that the most important people in any story are often not the ones who appear in the text.
“But why am I so favoured, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”
Read in full on Bible Gateway →The Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré on the banks of the St Lawrence River, 30 km east of Quebec City, is the oldest and most visited pilgrimage site in North America. Devotion to St Anne — mother of the Virgin Mary and grandmother of Jesus — has been continuous here since the 1650s, when French missionaries and Breton sailors established a chapel after being rescued from a shipwreck in the St Lawrence. The basilica receives approximately one million pilgrims per year.
The current Romanesque-Byzantine basilica, completed in 1926, is the fifth church to stand on the site. The previous church was destroyed by fire in 1922, just after construction of the new one began. The interior is one of the richest in Canada: 240 stained glass windows, mosaics covering the ceilings and walls, carved stone columns, and the chapel of the miraculous statue of St Anne — a powerful focus of healing devotion.
The July 26 feast of St Anne draws over 100,000 pilgrims in a single day. The Scala Sancta — the reproduction of the holy stairs in Rome — is climbed by pilgrims on their knees. The collection of crutches, walking frames and braces hanging in the entrance porch is one of the most visceral physical testimonies to miraculous healing in the Americas. Pilgrims have been leaving their crutches here since the 17th century.
