Canada celebrates Feast of Saint Anne

Image from Shrine of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré

This year the Feast Day of Saint Anne along with her husband Saint Joachim takes placeon July 26, 2026. Saint Anne is the Patron Saint of Canada sharing that distinction with Saint Joseph, who is the primary saint of the country. She's also the Patroness of the Province of Quebec.

French Canadian voyageurs and early fur traders held a deep devotion to Saint Anne, frequently praying to her for safety during perilous water journeys. According to Maritime legend, sailors navigating the treacherous St Lawrence River to Quebec City encountered a violent storm and prayed to Saint Anne promising her they would build a shrine in her honour if she saved them. She is the Patron Saint of sailors.

The original shrine was built in 1658 by ship wrecked French sailors. The current basilica was constructed between 1923 and 1946 and consecrated in 1976 following a fire.

Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre is most famous for its magnificent shrine which is also a Basilica located along the shores of the St Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada some 30 kilometres east of picturesque Quebec City.

The Shrine is the oldest pilgrimage site in North America. The oldest Catholic Church in Canada is the Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame-de-Quebec in Quebec City.

Saint Anne is the mother of the Virgin Mary and the grandmother of Jesus. With close to 600,000 pilgrims visiting each year, millions of pilgrims and visitors have come to the Shrine over its 350 years, renowned worldwide for many miracles curing the sick and the disabled.

The Rector of the Shrine of Sainte-de-Beaupre is Father Andre Morency, CSsR, and he has been serving in this role for three years Here's a brief online interview with Father Andre.

How long have you been Rector of the Shrine of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, and what is your role and duties?

I have been Rector of the Shrine of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré for three years.

My role is to oversee the spiritual and pastoral mission of the Shrine. Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré is not only a historic basilica; it is first and foremost a living place of faith, prayer, healing, and welcome. As Rector, I work with the Redemptorist community, the pastoral team, employees, volunteers, and many partners to ensure that pilgrims and visitors are welcomed with dignity and that the Shrine remains faithful to its Catholic mission.

My duties include overseeing the liturgical life of the Shrine, supporting the celebration of Masses and pilgrimages, accompanying major pastoral events such as the Novena to Saint Anne, and helping preserve the spirit of hospitality that has marked this place for more than 350 years. It is a mission of presence, service, prayer, and welcome.

How many pilgrims and visitors are you expecting this year at the Shrine of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré?

In a normal year, the Shrine of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré welcomes more than six hundred thousand pilgrims and visitors. This year, we are preparing to welcome a very large number of people again, especially during the summer season and around the Novena and the Feast of Saint Anne in July.

People come for many different reasons. Some come as pilgrims, to pray, to give thanks, or to ask for Saint Anne's intercession. Others come as visitors, drawn by the beauty of the basilica, its history, its art, and its importance in Quebec's religious heritage. Our mission is to welcome all of them with respect, whether they come with deep faith, curiosity, or simply a desire for peace.

The Redemptorists have been in charge of the Shrine since 1878. Why were the Redemptorists chosen for this role?

The Redemptorists were chosen because their mission corresponds very closely to the needs of a major pilgrimage shrine. The Redemptorists are a missionary congregation. Their charism is to preach the Gospel, to welcome people, to accompany them spiritually, and to bring the message of God's mercy especially to those who are searching, suffering, or in need of hope.

At the end of the 19th century, Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré was already becoming a major place of pilgrimage. The Church needed a religious community that could offer stable pastoral care, preach, hear confessions, accompany pilgrims, and organize the growing spiritual life of the Shrine. The Redemptorists were well suited for that mission.

Since then, they have helped shape the Shrine as a place of prayer, healing, preaching, reconciliation, and welcome. Their presence has allowed the Shrine to remain not only a beautiful monument, but a living spiritual home.

Indigenous peoples and First Nations communities are especially drawn to Saint Anne and her Shrine. Why is this so?

The devotion of Indigenous peoples to Saint Anne is very deep and very historic. For many Indigenous communities, the figure of the grandmother has a very important place. A grandmother is often associated with wisdom, transmission, tenderness, memory, and protection. Saint Anne, as the grandmother of Jesus and the mother of Mary, speaks powerfully to that spiritual imagination.

At Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, many First Nations pilgrims have found a place where they can pray, gather, remember, ask for healing, and pass on faith from one generation to another. This relationship is not new. It goes back centuries. Every year, the Shrine continues to welcome Indigenous pilgrims with great respect and gratitude.

So the bond is not only historical; it is also spiritual and familial. Saint Anne is seen as a grandmother who welcomes, protects, listens, and intercedes.

Why is Saint Anne and her Shrine such a popular destination and pilgrimage site for pilgrims and visitors?

Saint Anne is loved because she is close to people's hearts. She is the grandmother of Jesus, and people naturally understand the image of a grandmother: someone who listens, comforts, protects, and accompanies. Many pilgrims come to Saint Anne with their joys, their sufferings, their illnesses, their family concerns, and their hopes.

The Shrine is also popular because it is a place where faith has been lived for more than 350 years. Generations of families have come here. Some people return every year because their parents or grandparents came before them. There is a strong sense of continuity, memory, and trust.

But the Shrine also speaks to visitors through its beauty. The basilica is filled with mosaics, stained glass, sculptures, paintings, and sacred art that tell the story of faith in a powerful way. Even people who do not come primarily as pilgrims often feel that this is a place of peace, beauty, and meaning.

That is why Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré remains so important: it brings together faith, history, beauty, healing, family memory, and welcome. It is a place where people can pause, pray, discover, and leave with hope.

Francisco Ruffolo writes: 'I have personally been to many wonderful pilgrimages with my late mother Maria Assunta to the Shrine of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre. My mother had a deep devotion to Saint Anne and to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

My mother must have visited the shrine over a dozen times over the years and I had the extreme pleasure of going with her at least six times. We travelled to the shrine by train mostly, or by bus on church organized pilgrimages and even went by plane once or twice. It kind of reminds me of the movie, Planes Trains and Automobiles.

Saint Anne is celebrated as the Patron Saint of grandmothers, mothers, housewives and the elderly along with her husband Saint Joachim. She was profoundly honoured by many Indigenous Catholics across Canada. In many First Nations grandmothers and elders are deeply venerated as healers and teachers.

Two Popes have been to the Shrine. Pope Francis celebrated a Mass at the Shrine on his visit to Canada on July 28, 2022. Pope John Paul II visited the Shrine in 1984 where he prayed before a mosaic on the floor before a statue of Saint Anne.

I noted with great interest this year that July 26, Feast of Saint Anne literally dozens of churches in the Toronto area and near me many local churches are planning pilgrimages to the Shrine of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre.

One of the highlights of visiting this amazing shrine is going to Old Quebec City where there is plenty to see and experience in a city renowned for its culture, restaurants and rich history.

If you travel to Canada the Shrine of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre and Quebec City are must see destinations if you want to have an amazing visit. Saint Anne pray for us.'

LINK

Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré website: https://sanctuairesainteanne.org.