prayer and spiritual aid had been established but three years before his
arrival; it was directed by a chaplain and two directors, the latter
elected annually by secret ballot. He had wished to offer in 1660 a more
striking proof of his devotion to the Mother of the Holy Virgin, and had
caused to be built on the shore of Beaupré the first sanctuary of Saint
Anne. This temple arose not far from a chapel begun two years before,
under the care of the Abbé de Queylus. The origin of this place of
devotion, it appears, was a great peril to which certain Breton sailors
were exposed: assailed by a tempest in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, about
the beginning of the seventeenth century, they made a vow to erect, if
they escaped death, a chapel to good Saint Anne on the spot where they
should land. Heaven heard their prayers, and they kept their word. The
chapel erected by Mgr. de Laval was a very modest one, but the zealous
missionary of Beaupré, the Abbé Morel, then chaplain, was the witness of
many acts of ardent faith and sincere piety; the Bishop of Petræa
himself made several pilgrimages to the place. "We confess," says he,
"that nothing has aided us more efficaciously to support the burden of
the pastoral charge of this growing church than the special devotion
which all the inhabitants of this country dedicate to Saint Anne, a
devotion which, we affirm it with certainty, distinguishes them from
all other peoples." The poor little chapel, built of uprights, gave
place in 1675 to a stone church erected by the efforts of M. Filion,
proctor of the seminary, and it was noted for an admirable picture given
by the viceroy, de Tracy, who did not disdain to make his pilgrimage
like the rest, and to set thus an example which the great ones of the
earth should more frequently give. This church lasted only a few years;
Mgr. de Laval was still living when a third temple was built upon its
site. This was enlarged in 1787, and gave place only in 1878 to the
magnificent cathedral which we admire to-day. The faith which raised
this sanctuary to consecrate it to Saint Anne did not die with its pious