Bronze Pendant Cross, Remembrance of Pilgrimage to Basilica Of St Anne De Beaupre, Quebec, Canada Circa 1890 Hand Made, 10x6 Centimetres

Bronze Pendant Cross, Remembrance of Pilgrimage to Basilica Of St Anne De Beaupre, Quebec, Canada Circa 1890 Hand Made, 10x6 Centimetres

A beautiful pendant cross made from light bronze with an even paler bronze for the wonderful Corpus Christi. It is completely hand made as is evidenced by the file marks on the side of the cross itself and the Corpus Christi.

Also amazing that this stunning cross was found at an antique fair in south west France. To think that a pilgrim from here went all the way to Quebec to the Basilica of St Anne at Beaupre in Quebec in the late 19th or early 20th century, what a journey.

The basilica in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré was initially a shrine to honour Saint Anne. On March 8, 1658, settler Étienne de Lessard donated two frontal acres from the west end of his property to the Catholic Church, so that a chapel could be built. This chapel eventually became the site of the modern-day basilica. The chapel was built to provide a place of worship for the new settlers in the area [4] and to house a miraculous statue of St. Anne. The first reported miracle at the site happened during the shrine's construction.

A man named Louis Guimont was hired to help build the shrine even though he suffered from rheumatism. After placing three stones upon the shrine's foundation, Guimont was cured of all his ailments. This was followed by other testimonies of healed people, and the shrine soon grew in popularity. Many pilgrims came to the shrine hoping to receive a miracle while others, like Anne of Austria, wife of Louis XIII and Queen of France, supported the shrine from a distance. Because of the popularity of the shrine, the building was enlarged several times to accommodate all the pilgrims. In the late nineteenth century, a basilica was constructed around the shrine. In 1876, the first basilica opened for worship.