Friday, March 25, 2016
Day 146 - The bells rang out...
The bells rang out in Old Town Quebec to welcome me - yeah, me! - to the almost-final destination of the Basilica Cathedral of Notre Dame. A group of about 15 pilgrims met me outside of the city at a lovely little shrine of St Therese de Lisieux, with its own Year of Mercy Holy Door. We walked together for the final stretch down into the old quarter of the city to the oldest cathedral in New France... the bells rang so loudly it interupted conversation and when I looked up wonder why, I was suddenly and heartily greeted by the big guys of the Basilica... to say it was a very nice welcome would be a tragic understatement... it was wonderful. Events followed, interviews - I was again in the local paper v. nice, indeed - the world needs to hear about pilgrims and pilgrimage... Bottes et Velo have organized a lot to promote the idea of pilgrimage in North America, and the Cathedral itself is also trying to get the word out. I've had a great time since coming back to the St Lawrence River from the northern part of the province, and the extra distance put me over the 5,000 kilometer mark for this pilgrimage... more later, Good Friday events and then the final little leap of the pilgrimage to Ste Anne de Beaupre for Easter Sunday... I'll try to get some more photos sent in...
Thursday, March 24, 2016
Sanctuary of Ste-Therese - Québec
Hi!
Thank you again for your visit. It was very appreciated to exchange with you and to hear about your pilgrim experience.
Here is a picture of us in front of the door of mercy of the sanctuary of Ste-Therese. Also you can find the article relating your visit on our website http://www.petitetherese.org/ in the section « Actualités ».
May God bless you,
Father Réjean Lessard
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Monday, March 14, 2016
Mashteuiatsh
Kuei! bonjour! Hello!
Pierre Larouche
Superviseur de l'accueil et de l'animation
Carrefour d'Accueil Ilnu
1516, rue Ouiatchouan
Mashteuiatsh (Québec) G0W 2H0
Tél. : 1.418.275.7200
Sans frais : 1.888.222.7922
Fax : 1.418.275.6048
Courriel : info@kuei.ca
Site Internet : www.kuei.ca
Saturday, March 12, 2016
Day 134 - another day of rest
What's a pilgrim to do when the destination is too close? Take another day of rest. What better place to rest than at a friendly and beautiful shrine? I rested a day at St Joseph's Oratory in Montreal, another at Notre Dame to Cap in Trois-Riviere, and now yet another at the Ermitage St Antoine. What a lazy pilgrim I've become... but I've had some long days afoot, with few places to stop and that's hard on the gams... 44 kilometers without a place to sit down... ooh.
The time so far in Quebec province has been a lot of fun with the involvement of the folks at Bottes et Velo. With their connections, radio, television, and newspapers have covered my arrival at each of these shrines - for you francophones, check out their facebook pages and the little videos they've made... bottesetvelo.com. Getting the word out that Quebec has good and worthy pilgrim destinations is an effort I'm happy to help with.
The pilgrim route between Montreal and Trois-Rivieres is a wonderful historical and picturesque one, and while speaking some French is pretty much an imperative for a pilgrim here, the parish workers have been pretty helpful. Pilgrims are common in large groups in mid August for the Feast of the Assumption. Otherwise, pilgrimage seems to be uncommon. But don't be discouraged, pilgrims, come any time - the St Lawrence is ripe for pilgrim pickings.
That said, I can't recommend extending the pilgrimage up north to the Ermitage St-Antoine by foot...too far without any services of any kind... people have been great and helpful, and more people would surely be around in conditions less snow-covered, but to begin the pilgrimage in Sageunay and walking the small roads between villages for 3 or 4 days is the better approach - and gorgeous.
A new word in my growing quebecois vocabulary is 'pourvoirie', which is translated as 'outfitter', but includes far more. All the best of summer camp for everyone. After my plans to walk through a forest were foiled by the absence of inhabitants after the holiday week was over, I took to the quiet highway, though villages are few and far between. Growing weary as the sun began to set, I came to Camp Hosanna, a pourvoirie near to the road. I assumed by the name that it was some sort of Christian camp or retreat center... I couldn't have guessed it was the name of the wife of the original proprietor 80 years ago. Nonetheless, the family who undertakes the current operations invited me to spend the night. Hunting, fishing, hiking, ice fishing, snow-mobiling, snowshoeing, crosscountry skiing, dog-sledding, sleighrides, horseback riding, etc... the list goes on... and one among the family of operators has a passion for collecting old snow-mobile busses, which were formerly the mainstay of transportation in northern Quebec winters. What great fun that stop was for me... and a surprise no doubt for them. The little kids have the bragging rights now - they hosted a pilgrim one night.
Another similar stop was at a rather posh forest gîte at the edge of the inhabited zone... knock knock, hi I'm a pilgrim, it's getting dark, I can't continue on foot tonight, can I stay here? Uh, sure, why not? So kind are the couple who run Domaine de Bostonnaise, thankfully open year-round.
Finally, I've arrived at the northern-most part of my pilgrimage this winter, nearly 50 degrees north latitude... off toward a series of monasteries - Augustinian nuns then Trappist (chocolatiers!) - before trying to figure out how to get back down to the St Lawrence river and Quebec for Holy Thursday.
The time so far in Quebec province has been a lot of fun with the involvement of the folks at Bottes et Velo. With their connections, radio, television, and newspapers have covered my arrival at each of these shrines - for you francophones, check out their facebook pages and the little videos they've made... bottesetvelo.com. Getting the word out that Quebec has good and worthy pilgrim destinations is an effort I'm happy to help with.
The pilgrim route between Montreal and Trois-Rivieres is a wonderful historical and picturesque one, and while speaking some French is pretty much an imperative for a pilgrim here, the parish workers have been pretty helpful. Pilgrims are common in large groups in mid August for the Feast of the Assumption. Otherwise, pilgrimage seems to be uncommon. But don't be discouraged, pilgrims, come any time - the St Lawrence is ripe for pilgrim pickings.
That said, I can't recommend extending the pilgrimage up north to the Ermitage St-Antoine by foot...too far without any services of any kind... people have been great and helpful, and more people would surely be around in conditions less snow-covered, but to begin the pilgrimage in Sageunay and walking the small roads between villages for 3 or 4 days is the better approach - and gorgeous.
A new word in my growing quebecois vocabulary is 'pourvoirie', which is translated as 'outfitter', but includes far more. All the best of summer camp for everyone. After my plans to walk through a forest were foiled by the absence of inhabitants after the holiday week was over, I took to the quiet highway, though villages are few and far between. Growing weary as the sun began to set, I came to Camp Hosanna, a pourvoirie near to the road. I assumed by the name that it was some sort of Christian camp or retreat center... I couldn't have guessed it was the name of the wife of the original proprietor 80 years ago. Nonetheless, the family who undertakes the current operations invited me to spend the night. Hunting, fishing, hiking, ice fishing, snow-mobiling, snowshoeing, crosscountry skiing, dog-sledding, sleighrides, horseback riding, etc... the list goes on... and one among the family of operators has a passion for collecting old snow-mobile busses, which were formerly the mainstay of transportation in northern Quebec winters. What great fun that stop was for me... and a surprise no doubt for them. The little kids have the bragging rights now - they hosted a pilgrim one night.
Another similar stop was at a rather posh forest gîte at the edge of the inhabited zone... knock knock, hi I'm a pilgrim, it's getting dark, I can't continue on foot tonight, can I stay here? Uh, sure, why not? So kind are the couple who run Domaine de Bostonnaise, thankfully open year-round.
Finally, I've arrived at the northern-most part of my pilgrimage this winter, nearly 50 degrees north latitude... off toward a series of monasteries - Augustinian nuns then Trappist (chocolatiers!) - before trying to figure out how to get back down to the St Lawrence river and Quebec for Holy Thursday.
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
le départ!
6 :30 du matin, c’est le départ de chez Max Béland, Lucie Paquet, Émile Béland (8ans) et Élodie Béland (6 ans)
Bonne route Ann!!
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| LUCIE PAQUET adjointe administrative / directrice des opérations hivernales Tél. : 819 646-5244 / Téléc. : 819 646-5682 / info@clubhosanna.qc.ca 3460, route 155, Trois-Rives (Québec) G0X 2C0 |
Sunday, March 6, 2016
Merci de votre visite et bonne route!!!
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| LUCIE PAQUET adjointe administrative / directrice des opérations hivernales Tél. : 819 646-5244 / Téléc. : 819 646-5682 / info@clubhosanna.qc.ca 3460, route 155, Trois-Rives (Québec) G0X 2C0 |
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