July Pilgrimage to Notre-Dame de Québec for the 350th Jubilee

My wife and I will be making another pilgrimage to my native province of Quebec this summer to enter the holy door of the cathedral of Quebec, the primatial see of the Church in Canada. 

This pilgrimage is on the occasion of the jubilee year celebrating the 350th anniversary of the founding of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Québec, North America’s first Catholic parish north of the Spanish colonies. 

The Holy See has granted the parish the special privilege of installing a Holy Door. This door—the first outside Europe and the only one in the Americas—will be the only Holy Door open in 2014. 

For those interested in registering for a group pilgrimage or making a virtual visit to the cathedral, see the website:   350th anniversary of Notre Dame de Québec

Interior of Notre-Dame de Québec,

I am applying to Quebec's new Cardinal Lacroix to have the privilege of saying an Ordinariate Use Mass in the Cathedral (pray for us) and will post D.V. the date in case any of our Canadian, US, British, Aussie or other friends are on pilgrimage this summer.

Cardinal Gérald Cyprien Lacroix, Archbishop of Quebec with Pope Francis
receiving the red biretta in a consistory at St. Peter's  Feb.22, 2014.

On the way we hope to visit the Shrine of St. Anne de Beaupré, a famous shrine of healing, known to some as the North American Lourdes.

We have also planned a mini-retreat at St. Benoît-du- lac in the Eastern Townships of Quebec where our friend, and a prayer warrior for the Ordinariate,  Father Charles "Chip" Gilman is a member of the community. 

Fr. Chip is an American former Episcopalian priest who was received into full communion and became a member of the Benedictine community in St. Benoît some years ago. He was a congenial host when a number of us visited New York in the 1980s for Trinity Institute conferences. Fr. Chip and the sisters in the neighbouring convent pray for STM and the Ordinariate daily and we are very grateful to them.

Vistas of St. Benoît du lac

Those who are interested in a retreat here should visit: Abbaye de St. Benoît-du-lac website (English)

Last summer we spent time in Chateauguay, just south of Montreal where we paid several visits to the shrine of the newly canonized St. Kateri Tekakwitha (more about this on another posting).  We noted a number of U.S. visitors and hope that visits to La Belle Province from south of the border increase now that St. Kateri is canonized - the first native North American woman to enter the universal canon of saints.

In Quebec City we hope to visit the tomb of Msgr. François de Laval, the first bishop of Quebec, whose cause for sainthood is proceeding. He was beatified in 1980.  Again, more about him later as well. 

Please let us know if you are planning a pilgrimage this summer.