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The peace that is experienced at Notre Dame du Cap will remain with you long after you've returned home. In this unique haven of peace, you will be moved by the inspirational faith of Blessed Father Frederic who was dedicated to building a magnificent shrine to honor Mary, the Mother of God. It is said that after he witnessed the miraculous animation of the statue of the Virgin Mary, (her eyes opened and gazed upon him and 2 other witnesses) he became fervently devoted to spreading Our Lady's message of peace and conversion, and there were many conversions and miracles.

That miraculous statue now stands on the altar in the small Old Historical Shrine where we celebrate mass with our pilgrims. The beloved true story of the miraculous "Rosary Ice Bridge", which enabled construction of the new parish church in 1879 when ice formed over the St. Lawrence River during a spring thaw, exemplified a true miracle and the return of the faithful to the devotion of the rosary.

One of the most lasting memories of Notre Dame du Cap is the inspirational candlelight procession following mass at the Basilica. Pilgrims process singing the Ave Maria and the Magnificat through the scenic Rosary Monument Garden to the beautiful St. Mary's Lake and back to the inside of the Old Historical Shrine. The evening liturgy ends with the pilgrims singing the Ave Maria. There is a peaceful silence while you gaze upon the miraculous statue of Our Lady. You feel as if you belong there forever at the foot of Mary, and it's hard to leave such a serene holy ground.

Your stay at Notre Dame du Cap wouldn't be complete without experiencing our privately guided tour of Blessed Father Frederic's tomb and intriguing museum in the Franciscan Church in Trois Rivieres. Here you will hear many fascinating stories about Blessed Frederic and his apostolic work. You may pray before his tomb and venerate the major relics of Good Father Frederic of whom many miracles have been attributed. We pray for his future canonization.

THE ONLY CROWNED MADONNA IN CANADA

The shrine of Our Lady at Cap de la Madeleine is one of the most beautiful of all the world's churches dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. It is set in magnificent gardens: the Garden of the Rosary and the Garden of the Stations of the Holy Cross. The bridge which connects the two is suspended on chains which represent the beads of the rosary. The final Station of the Cross is designed to resemble the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. The statue's golden crown was a gift of the Franciscans in 1904, and the rosary which she is holding is made from wood from the olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane. Some of these trees are at least two thousand years old and must therefore have been in Gethsemane on the night when Our Lord was betrayed and taken to be crucified.

Over the years Canada's national shrine has greatly expanded its missionary functions. The Cenacle of the Queen of the Apostles was opened there in 1937 as a retreat home visited by thousands of pilgrims every year. A journal, Annals, is devoted to homilies and meditations on the person of Our Lady and to publicizing the shrine. First published in 1892, it now has a circulation of more than seventy thousand. In recent times the shrine has been greatly extended and designated a basilica; it receives more than a million pilgrims annually. A novel way for visitors to arrive is by steamboat up the St. Lawrence.

The statue of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary was crowned under the authority of Pope Pius X in 1904 and again under the authority of Pope Pius XII: it is the only crowned Madonna in Canada. Pope John Paul II made his personal pilgrimage on September 10, 1984.

In 1988, the centenary of the apparition, Father Frédéric, one of the first visionaries, was beatified. Many cures and accounts of spiritual blessings have been attested in the name of the Virgin who opened her eyes.