Taken from the Booklet, Welcome to Notre Dame by Thomas F. Murphy Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur, 1963 The Witnesses The Prodigy of the Eyes took place quietly and with no fanfare. The three witnesses were unimpeachable in their testimony and the passage of time has proved this. Father Desilets died on August 20th, 1888 and we can have no better assurance of the Prodigy being a true fact than that he attested to the happening even to his death-bed and surely a holy priest would not tell of something untrue when he knew that in a few moments he was going to meet his Maker. Father Frederic took every opportunity in the remaining years of his life to refer to this Prodigy and he wrote about it in minute detail. Like all others to whom Our Lady had appeared, Father Frederic could never tire of describing the wondrous beauty of the living face of the Statue. Pierre Lacroix, though crippled, took every opportunity to go back over those few exquisite minutes and his foretaste of Heaven. On his death-bed, Pierre signed an affidavit that he had witnessed the Prodigy and that his statements were true regarding this happening. Go into the Shrine church, kneel at the Altar rails and look up at the statue of Our Lady standing there in majesty over the High Altar. As you kneel there, you can put yourself back, mentally, with those three people who witnessed the Prodigy of the Eyes. As you look up at the Statue, can you see Her eyes? Even though you strain and squint, you can barely make out the lower lids. And this is the same, yes, the very same statue that had this wonderful occurrence. Can you wonder as you kneel here that Our Lady wants to help you and me? Founding of the Annals So Father Desilets died and Father Duguay now was pastor at the Cape. He had a long and arduous task before him, because the pilgrimages were now starting to come in larger and larger numbers and more frequently than before. However, Father Frederic was always near at hand to assist where needed and to guide with the hand of experience the growth of the Shrine. Reports were coming in from all sides of supposed cures and these reports grew in number year by year. The Annals magazine was published for the first time in 1892 and from then on, each issue contained letters, stories and reports of these cures. Each year, the number of pilgrimages and pilgrims grew in leaps and bounds. A point that needs stressing arises now and I would ask you to note this paragraph closely. At no time do the Guardian Fathers of the Shrine use the word "miracle" and neither do I. A factual report is made and noted so that all can read the contents. These reports carry the testimony of the doctors and others concerned in the case, but no observation is made. The extent to which the supernatural entered into these matters is known to God alone and only Mother Church has the right to pronounce upon these events. However, the Church teaches that a miracle is an unusual event performed by God or through His intervention, which cannot be explained by the laws of nature. The Church demands that her children accept as a matter of faith that miracles occur; we must specifically accept those that are described in the Bible. Beyond that, the Church allows the widest latitude and we can believe or disbelieve any miracle that has occurred since Biblical times. Now as the next few years flew by, the basis was laid for the present Shrine. Ground was acquired by the priests and Father Frederic planned and marked out the Stations of the Cross. Simple crosses marked the site of each station and the Via Dolorosa followed closely the original in Jerusalem. But the immensity of the work of running a shrine like this overwhelmed Father Duguay and Father Frederic and it was decided to get a religious order to take over the care of the Shrine. The Arrival of the Oblates Thus, in 1902, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate came to Cap-de-la-Madeleine and so began the present era of the Shrine. These priests are dedicated to the caring for Shrines of Our Lady all over the world and it was only natural that they should come to take care of one of the greatest shrines in the Americas. Their motto is: "The Lord has sent me to preach the Gospel to the poor" and their outward signs are a great humility and a great simplicity of manner. This is always evident. Under the care of the Oblate Fathers, the Shrine has grown in size and the grounds have been added to as the need arose. This work has added to the beauty of the place and has helped to make the Shrine so famous for its landscaping. First Crowning The year 1904 was to be a memorable one for Cap-de-la-Madeleine. This was a year of great celebrations in honour of Mary throughout the whole world. A request was made to have the Statue of Our Lady crowned and in a short time word was received back from Pope Saint Pius X that this permission was granted. The privilege of being crowned solemnly in the name of the Holy Father is a rare one, granted only to statues at the most honoured and most frequented places of pilgrimages. It was granted to Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico's national Madonna, in 1895 and no other statue in Canada has received this privilege nor, as far as is known, in the United States either. Can't you just see the fever of preparation that now went on? Everyone helped and all Canada wanted to be present. The date was set------October 12, 1904, and the arrangements were all completed. The Apostolic Delegate was there; sixteen Archbishops and Bishops were present and who could count the clergy and the laity? After the High Mass came the actual ceremony. The Bishop in his splendid robes moved over towards the statue. Behind him, carrying the golden crown on a silken cushion, came Father Frederic in his humble Franciscan habit. The crown was blessed and placed on Our Lady's head and then all present were filled with excitement and emotion. Joy filled the hearts of all but there were a few who shared in a special joy on this special day. Father Duguay and Father Frederic must have had great feelings of joy and happiness to see the culmination of their work and to know that from that moment on, this was to be the National Shrine of Canada and that the crown was to be the sign of Our Lady's power and royalty. The Irish of Montreal must have had great feelings of pride and joy to know that it was they who donated the shamrock-girdled crown that now rests on Our Lady's head, thereby uniting their love for Mary to that of their forefathers who had suffered so much for Her and Her Son. But above all, each Canadian Catholic must have felt a personal pride that Cap-de-la-Madeleine was now the National Shrine of Mary in Canada and that all Canada could kneel at Our Lady's feet. Embellishment of the Grounds What followed after this is just a matter of chronology. The Oblate Fathers and Lay Brothers vied with each other in their zeal to make the Shrine more beautiful. From 1906 to 1908, the priests and brothers planted 780 trees and today, as you sit on a bench, these trees are giving you shade and shelter. During the period of 1906 to 1910, the unique Way of the Rosary with its fifteen bronze representations made by skilled French craftsmen, were erected. In 1914, the Rosary spring was redirected to its present site with its own little grotto. From 1913 to 1916, the old wooden crosses of the Via Dolorosa were replaced by the present Stations, which still maintain their exact relation to the original Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem. Father Frederic, from his vast storehouse of knowledge, organized the Way of the Cross and he kept it as close to the original as humanly possible. In fact the Tomb or, as we call it, the Fourteenth Station, is an exact replica of the Tomb at Jerusalem. Then in 1924, the Bridge of the Rosaries was erected and blessed. Next came the Pilgrim's House in 1937 and St. Mary's Lake was added in 1938. Various other additions have been made since then and the most noticeable of these is the modern guest house known as "Madonna House". Here the Guardian Fathers have taken every care to look after the needs of the pilgrims and especially those who are in wheelchairs. VIEW THE FULL IMAGE OF THE STATUE E-MAIL HOME--------MARY'S INDEX www.catholictradition.org/Mary/ducap2-4.htm