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POINTS OF INTEREST: Sainte-Anne-des-Chênes Roman Catholic Church
Sainte-Anne - Site of Pilgrimage

HISTORICAL NUGGETS: The River Lot System
Early Surveyors Meet with Resistance

On the right (south) side of Dawson Road #207 (named Centrale Ave as it goes through Ste-Anne) at 162 Centrale Ave is the Sainte-Anne-des-Chênes Roman Catholic Church. You can park in front to visit or continue on to the Parc des Redemptoristes (next tour location) and walk over the walkway bridge to visit from there.

Sainte-Anne-des-Chênes Roman Catholic Church

    “Located on the banks of the Seine River is the Sainte-Anne church. The Romanesque-style building was designed by architect Joseph-Azarie Sénécal and built between 1895 and 1898, making it one of the oldest churches in southeast Manitoba and indeed of the entire Archdiocese of Saint-Boniface. This religious structure features a Casavant pipe organ (1923) and works of art by the internationally renowned artist, Leo Mol. In 2006, the interior of the church was entirely renovated.

    "The parish has a long and rich history. This was the first place where mixed-race families and French Canadians settled along the Dawson Road. Farming and hunting sustained the settlers, who were also involved in logging.

    "The pastoral and spiritual presence of the Oblates (1859-1868), the Grey Nuns (1859-present) and the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists) (1916-1995) made Ste. Anne a flourishing parish, and the Christian faith is still very much in evidence today. Its fellowship is comprised of five communities, former parishes or missions: Ste. Anne (1876), Richer (1909), Ste. Geneviève (1916), Hadashville (1917) and Ross (1950). Of historical interest is the fact that the first priest born in Manitoba, Louis de Gonzague Bélanger, came from Ste. Anne, where he was born on April 12, 1879.”

Source: Villa Youville Inc. (1976). Paroisse de Ste. Anne des Chênes 1876-1976 (p.30). Published by « le Comité historique du Centenaire, » Ste-Anne, Manitoba. Retrieved June 3, 2020 from Untitled

    “Le Métis” newspaper reports on September 6, 1873 that Mrs. Augustin Nolin left in her will, the sum of $150,000.00 for the construction of the church to be built at Ste-Anne. Who was this Mrs Augustin Nolin? She was Helen Ann Cameron, daughter of John Dugald Cameron, bourgeois of the North West Company, then of the Hudson’s Bay Company and mother of the Nolin gentlemen of Ste-Anne. Mrs. Augustin Nolin died on August 28, 1873, at the age of 65. We must consider Mrs. Nolin a great benefactor of the parish of Ste-Anne.

History of the Parish of Sainte-Anne, 1876-1976

Source: Villa Youville Inc. (1976). Paroisse de Ste. Anne des Chênes 1876-1976 (p.30). Published by « le Comité historique du Centenaire, » Ste-Anne, Manitoba. Retrieved June 3, 2020 from Untitled

Courtesy Gordon Goldsborough. The Town of Ste. Anne designated its church a municipal heritage site in 2006. Ste. Anne Roman Catholic Church, a Romanesque Revival-style complex in one of the oldest parishes in southeastern Manitoba, is an ambitious example of the type of churches built in Franco-Manitoban communities at the turn of the twentieth century. Erected in 1895-98, the substantial brick edifice, symbolically cruciform in plan and designed by Joseph-Azarie Senecal, then the architect of choice for local Roman Catholic facilities, presents a stately visage from its spacious site in the centre of Ste. Anne. Equally impressive is the church’s interior, including its elegantly appointed nave and sanctuary paintings by internationally renowned artist Leo Mol. Also valued for its historical significance, this church serves a parish established in the pre-Confederation era (1859) by Father Joseph LeFloch to minister to Metis and French settlers (many of whom are buried in the adjacent cemetery), and is situated on the Dawson Road, part of the first surveyed all-Canadian route between Lake Superior and the Red River district. Retrieved from Province of Manitoba Municipal Heritage Sites | Historic Resources Branch

Interior of the Ste. Anne Roman Catholic Church in Manitoba designated a municipal heritage site since 2006. Courtesy Gordon Goldsborough. Retrieved from Historic Sites of Manitoba: Ste. Anne Roman Catholic Church and Cemetery (162 Centrale Avenue, Ste. Anne)

Sainte-Anne - Site of Pilgrimage

    “The Redemptorist fathers had religious responsibility for the parish since 1917. The faithful from surrounding villages and the diocese sing to the glory of the village’s patron saint “Vive Ste. Anne, elle est notre patronne”. (Long live Ste.Anne, she is our patron saint.) An annual pilgrimage was a long-standing tradition, with a feast day typically held annually in mid-July."

Source: Conseil de la coopération du Manitoba. (n.d.). La région Seine Region: Guide Touristique | Tourist Information Guide (P.7). Borrowed with permission from the book by Annette Saint-Pierre, Au Coeur de l’Amérique. Éditions des Plaines. Print only.

Poster for the first train excursion to Ste-Anne-des-Chênes for a catholic pilgrimage to the Ste. Anne Church grotto, 1898. Source: Villa Youville Inc. (1976). Paroisse de Ste. Anne des Chênes 1876-1976 (p.94). Published by « le Comité historique du Centenaire, » Ste-Anne, Manitoba. Retrieved June 3, 2020 from http://www.mb1870.org/localhistory/125%20-%20La%20Paroisse%20de%20Ste.%20Anne-des-Chenes.pdf

      “When Taché sent Father LeFloch to the area to establish the mission he renamed it Sainte-Anne. They had a vision of Sainte-Anne being a sanctuary for all French-speaking Catholics of the region in the face of a rapidly growing Anglo-Protestant population from Ontario and an exodus of Métis.  Each year Sainte-Anne welcomed Catholics from the east as far as Sault Ste. Marie, west as far as Athabasca, north into Cree territory and south into the USA and Dakota territory to celebrate together.  Apparently the grotto was built around 1898 for this purpose such as it was in many communities throughout Manitoba that have grottos, however, this place served as a site of pilgrimage for Catholics to Sainte-Anne until as late as the 1920s and 1930s. There were organized trains to go on pilgrimage to Sainte-Anne from Winnipeg every July 18th which is the settlement of Sainte-Anne’s birthday.  Ste. Anne’s religious infrastructure supported the spiritual needs of travelers on the Dawson road, training for those entering the clergy, as well as for retreats. This explains the prominence in the region of all of its churches and related religious infrastructure compared to other towns and disproportionate in size to its local population.” 

Mireille Lamontagne, Dawson Trail Heritage Tour researcher

Source: Lamontagne, M. (2020). Historiography of the Dawson Trail. Dawson Trail Arts & Heritage Tour.

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