The major relics of the Canadian Martyrs, including the skull of St. Jean de Brébeuf and bones of St. Charles Garnier and St. Gabriel Lalemant, will be at the Cathedral on Sunday, Jan. 12, and Monday, Jan. 13.
On Sunday, Mass will be celebrated by His Grace the Archbishop at 11 AM and in Spanish by Fr. John O’Brien at 6:30 PM.
Veneration of the relics will be available during the following times: 12:30–1:00 PM, 2:00–4:00 PM, and 7:30–8:00 PM.
On Monday, January 13, a Votive Mass of St. Jean de Brebeuf will be celebrated at 12:10 PM, with veneration available from 1 PM to 4 PM.
The major relics of the Canadian Martyrs are the skull of St. Jean de Brébeuf and bones of St. Gabriel Lalemant and St. Charles Garnier. Of the eight martyrs, they are the only three of whom relics survive. They are kept at the National Shrine to the Canadian Martyrs, located in Midland, Ontario, visited by nearly 100,000 pilgrims each year. This is the first time the relics have left the Shrine to go to Western Canada.
The eight Canadian or North American Martyrs were six French Jesuit priests and two lay companions, who lived and worked among the Wendat or Huron people in the early 17th century. Five of them were martyred in the region known as Huronia or Wendake in Ontario, and three were martyred in the country of the Iroquois in what is now upstate New York. They were beatified (declared “blesseds”) in 1925, canonized as saints in 1930, and declared the co-patrons of Canada in 1940. They are to date the only canonized martyrs of North America.
During the time of veneration people will have the opportunity to spend a few moments before the relics in personal prayer. You can bring your prayer intentions on a written piece of paper if you wish and leave them in a basket, and these will later be brought back to the Shrine. If you want you can also press holy cards to the reliquaries and bring the home with them as spiritual keepsakes (and third-class relics).
