Last Updated: Thursday - 07/22/2010

Thousands seek healing

Blessed Waters of Lac Ste. Anne have provided hope for 120 years

WCR PHOTO | RAMON GONZALEZ Archbishop Gerard Pettipas of Grouard McLennan celebrated the Sunday liturgy July 18 during the Lac Ste. Anne Pilgrimage

They came by tens of thousands to the shores of Lac Ste. Anne to seek healing.

"We all need to be healed; that's why we are here," said Grouard-McLennan Archbishop Gerard Pettipas.

"We all want to go into the blessed waters (of Lac Ste. Anne) because past experience has told us that there is healing in these waters. There is a new spirit and a new life."

At the end of the July 18 Mass, Pettipas and the congregation walked in procession down to the shore of the lake and blessed it. As he did, dozens of pilgrims waded into the waters in the hope of finding healing - both physical and spiritual. Some filled plastic jars with the blessed liquid to take back home.

WCR PHOTO | RAMON GONZALEZ Cecile Alook receives a blessing from Brother Allan while her husband George looks on.

The procession and blessing of the lake are rituals engraved in the annual Lac Ste. Anne Pilgrimage, that this year ran July 17-22.

"I come here for healing and for cleansing," said Wabasca nurse Pauline Auger, as she stood knee-deep in the lake beside her friend Dorothy Badger. "I have sore knees and I come here so I can dip them in the water so that I can walk better. I also pray that my children and grandchildren will not drink much alcohol."

"I came because I want to get better," added Badger. "I have sore knees and sore legs (because) of arthritis and I am a diabetic. Now I feel the pain is more manageable. I feel a little better."

ROSARY IN THE LAKE

Holding hands, a group of women pray the rosary. Nearby is a man with his hands upraised to heaven. He is Chief White Buffalo Man (of) Many Feathers from Coldstream, B.C. This is his first year at Lac Ste. Anne.

WCR PHOTO | RAMON GONZALEZ The pilgrimage draws people from across Western Canada who seek healing for a variety of ills, both physical and spiritual.

"I'm praying for the people," he declares. "I pray for healing and forgiveness. I pray for guidance - that they find their own purpose in life and that all would be forgiven."

The roots of the pilgrimage date back to 1844 when Father Jean-Baptiste Thibault blessed the lake - then called Manito Sakahigan or Spirit Lake - and renamed it in honour of St. Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary. Before 1844, aboriginal families and clans and tribes were drawn to its shores for ceremonial summer gatherings.

NEARLY 55,000

WCR PHOTO | RAMON GONZALEZ After the lake is blessed, hundreds of people wade into the water to pray and collect holy water.

Four hundred people attended the first pilgrimage 120 years ago. Now it is a major pilgrimage destination - the largest event of its kind in North America. This year close to 55,000 pilgrims, mostly aboriginal and Métis, made their way to the lake.

Camped in tents and trailers along the south shore of the lake the pilgrims come from across Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and Manitoba.

WCR PHOTO | RAMON GONZALEZt Mary Halcrow and Rose Spence of Cross Lake, Man., felt rejuvenated by the pilgrimage.

Near the shore of Lac Ste. Anne, scores of people lined up to get a blessing from Brother Allan of the Order of St. Andrew - Inner City Pastoral Ministry.

PATIENT WAITING

George Alook and his wheelchair-bound wife Cecile didn't take their place in the lineup. They waited patiently behind the religious until the brother took notice and blessed the ailing woman.

"My wife was hit by a car in 2001 and can't even move her fingers," explained Alook. "We come here in the hope that she can be healed."

WCR PHOTO | RAMON GONZALEZt Crutches lining the wall of the shrine church testify to the many healings experienced.

The Wabasca couple has been coming to the annual pilgrimage for 15 years. This year their eight children and 30 grandchildren accompanied them. All camped in one spot.

"At one time it really healed people," Alook said, looking at the lake. "There are many crutches in the shrine that prove that."

STRONG CATHOLICS

So far physical healing has been elusive for the Alooks but that's not a source of disappointment for this devout Catholic couple. "We are very strong Catholics and we believe in God," he said. "After coming here we feel renewed in our faith and closer to the Lord."

Already back near the shrine after having dipped their feet in the lake, Mary Halcrow and her friend Rose Spence, both from Cross Lake, Man., feel rejuvenated.

Both women have trouble with their legs but they said the healing power of the water was having an effect on them.

"We didn't have trouble coming up," Halcrow said excitedly.

"I feel healed of my legs when I'm in the water," added Spence. "I was having a hard time walking down there. I stopped I don't know how many times. And when I came up, I didn't need to stop. I feel good now."

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