Quebec: Our Lady of Rocamadour (Canada)

Origin

In mid-February of 1536, French explorers Jacques Cartier and his companions were threatened by a deadly epidemic of scurvy.

So the men invoked, in the crypt of the church of Saint Francis Assisi, the Virgin Mary under her title of Our Lady of Rocamadour, and then they made a pilgrimage with Our Lady's image placed on the branches of a tree near the fort.

Cartier then met some North American Indians who explained to the men how to brew the herb tea with the needles and bark of the anedda tree, a Canadian white cedar tree. After losing 25 men from the epidemic, all the crewmembers were cured by drinking this tea. Jacques Cartier himself admitted to "a true and clear miracle." (1)

The crypt became therefore the Our Lady of Rocamadour Shrine. This was the first destination of Marian pilgrimages in Canada.

Recent developments

Our Lady of Rocamadour became on May 31, 1998, the patron saint of the parish of Limoilou in Quebec City. In 2006, a young French priest from Rocamadour (France) decided to offer an ex-voto to the Cardinal of Quebec City. At present the two shrines, separated by an ocean, are joined by fraternity. (2)

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(1) www.patrimoine-religieux.com

(2) https://www.lejourduseigneur.com