The Birth of Our Lady of the Cape (I)

In 1878-1879, the Church at Cap-de-la-Madeleine had become too small and the population wanted to build a bigger one. In order to transport the stones from the opposite bank of the river, the Saint Lawrence needed to be frozen, yet the winter was too mild and the ice did not form. The parishioners prayed, but the months passed without bringing any change in the weather: January, February, then the beginning of March went by, but still the ice was not thick enough. So Fr. Luke Desilets, the parish priest, promised the Holy Virgin to dedicate the little old church to her if they managed to transport the stones across. On the night of March 16, an ice crossing two kilometers wide formed from one bank of the river to the other. From March 19 to 25, a hundred carts pulled by horses carried the stones across on this ice-bridge that was quickly dubbed the "Rosary Bridge." Once the building was completed, the little old church was no longer used, and Fr. Desilets kept his promise by dedicating it to the Virgin Mary.