Pope Francis
Lac Ste. Anne Pilgrimage
A traditionally sacred place of healing for Indigenous peoples
Lac Ste. Anne
The wonderful rolling hills located North West of Edmonton are very rich in history and hardworking people and also, the home of one of the most unique and memorable spiritual gatherings in North America.
First called Wakamne or God’s Lake by the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation who live on the west end of the Lake, and Manito Sahkahigan or Spirit Lake by the Cree, the lake was called “Lac Ste. Anne” by Rev. Jean-Baptiste Thibault, the first Catholic priest to establish a mission on the site.
Father Lestanc organized the first annual pilgrimage to Ste. Anne in July, 1889 after an inspirational visit to St. Anne d’Aurey shrine in French Brittany the previous year. Over the years the Lac Ste. Anne Pilgrimage has continued on an annual basis and always during the week of July 26 (the feast day of Ste. Anne, mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary).
The founding of the Mission at Lac Ste. Anne was the beginning of the long relationship of Indigenous and Métis peoples with Catholicism in what is now called Treaty Six territory.
Source: lacsteannepilgrimage.ca
Dear brothers and sisters, âba-wash-did! Tansi! Oki! [Good day!]I am very pleased to be here, a pilgrim with you and among you. In these days, and today in particular, I have been struck by the sound of drums that accompanied me wherever I went. This beating of drums seems to echo the beating of so many hearts: hearts that, over the centuries, have beat near these very waters; hearts of the many pilgrims who walked together to reach this “lake of God”! Here we can truly feel the choral heartbeat of a pilgrim people, of generations who set out on a journey towards the Lord in order to experience his work of healing