May, the month of Mary

May, the month of Mary

The month of May is characterized by an increased devotion to Our Lady, the Virgin Mary. At St. Anthony’s diverse initiatives are in place to ask for Mary’s intercession, so that we may build up a stronger relationship to Jesus through Mary, His mother, as St. Louis-Marie de Montfort invites us in his book Consecration to Mary. Check further in the bulletin for more information.

A remarkable event is that this month, on May 23rd, we will receive the visit of Our Lady of the Cape. Who is she? you may wonder. “Pierre Boucher, Governor of Three Rivers, built a church and set up a little shrine to the Virgin, which in 1694 became the center of a local branch of the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary. A larger church was built in 1720. In 1855 a benefactor donated a statue of Our Lady in honour of the recent promulgation of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. This statue remains in the little Church of Our Lady of the Cape, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, Canada’s national shrine.”

(http://www.mariereine.ca/our_lady_of_the_cape_en.php)

Many miracles have been attributed to Our Lady of the Cape. In the mid 1800’s one of the most notable miracles took place in the middle of March, while the citizens of Cap de la Madeleine endeavoured to build a larger church for our Lady, the river was not frozen to allow the stone to be transported over the ice to continue construction. Father Desilets prayed to Our Lady for a bridge of ice. Packed ice was blown from the banks into the middle of the river by a strong storm. Thus, the people of Cap de la Madeleine transported the stones to build Our Lady’s shrine.

Entrust yourself to Mary during this month. She is the surest way to Our Lord Jesus.