'Largest spiritual Indigenous gathering' to return during Pope's visit to Alberta
Rev. Garry LaBoucane remembers going to Wakamne -- or God's Lake -- during the Lac Ste. Anne pilgrimage as a boy.
"It was always a family tradition," the 74-year-old said in an interview from Vancouver, where he's a Metis priest at Sacred Heart Parish.
He remembers sleeping in a pup tent near the cemetery with his grandfather, attending Latin church services he didn't understand and meeting people from all walks of life.
"It was a social time, visiting with family," LaBoucane said before the Vatican announced a visit to the sacred lake west of Edmonton would be part of Pope Francis' planned trip to Canada next month.
"It's a pilgrimage, a time to pray, a time to be with other nations. It's the largest spiritual Indigenous gathering in North America."
The annual pilgrimage had grown to about 40,000 people in 2019 -- the year before it shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It's to resume in person this year from July 26 to 29.
The papal visit is set to start in Edmonton on July 24, move on to the Quebec City area on July 27 and end in Iqaluit on July 29. It is to include public and private events with an emphasis on Indigenous participation.
Before the Pope's plans were confirmed, Rev. Les Kwiatkowski said in an interview that there was a lot of talk about a potential visit from the pontiff.
"Many people are very excited, but also this could bring even more healing and more reconciliation," he said.
Lac Ste. Anne has been considered sacred for many generations and has become known as a place of healing.
The oral history from the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation suggests a chief from the southeast followed his vision and led his people to the shores of the lake.
An annual pilgrimage was organized by a priest in 1889 and has continued annually during the week of July 26, which is the feast day of St. Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary. The grandmother figure is said to have strong importance within Indigenous culture.
The pontiff is to celebrate an open-air mass at Commonwealth Stadium, home to the Edmonton Elks football team, that day and travel to Lac Ste. Anne in the early evening.
Kwiatkowski, who has attended the pilgrimage every summer since 1990 when he moved from Poland, said he has heard from many people across Western Canada who are excited to come this year.
"People need that, there's no doubt," he said. "It's not only spiritual, it's also social.
"They come to worship, they come to pray, they come for healing. They also come to spend time together."
Half of those who attend, he said, come from isolated communities and that's the only time they get to see their friends and relatives.
"It's a beautiful spirit," said Kwiatkowski.
He has heard stories about family traditions and about miracles.
"Every day when doing the pilgrimage, someone will come to you and say, 'It helped me to forgive, it helped me to heal from the past, it helped me to understand things more,"' said Kwiatkowski.
"Healing is more than physical healing. It's the whole being. For people who come -- sometimes very far they have to travel to get here -- it's a special time of healing, of finding themselves."
LaBoucane said it's also known as a place of physical healing -- even featuring spots where people have left their crutches.
His parents had a similar experience when he was a child.
"I had eczema really, really bad," said LaBoucane, who hasn't had any problems since that visit.
Kwiatkowski agreed it's a special place, especially the lake's water.
"It has huge significance for Indigenous people," he said. "People take gallons of this water, they take it home. They use this water for many different reasons -- for strength and for healing.
"It has huge significance."
At a news conference Thursday alongside Edmonton's archbishop, LaBoucane said he welcomed news of the Pope's upcoming visit with great joy.
"People are looking forward to being with him, praying with him at Lac Ste. Anne."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 26, 2022, with files from Brittany Hobson
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in U.S. if legal options fail, Reuters sources say
TikTok owner ByteDance would prefer to shut down its loss-making app rather than sell it if the Chinese company exhausts all legal options to fight legislation to ban the platform from app stores in the U.S., four sources said.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
Improve balance and build core strength with this exercise
When it comes to cardiovascular fitness, you may tend to focus on activities that move you forward, such as walking, running and cycling.
Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.