Presentation
Our Lady of Lourdes Sanctuary is a place of pilgrimage situated at the foot of the Rigaud mountain, amidst the beauty of nature. The Sanctuary honours the appearance of the Immaculate Conception, the Blessed Virgin Mary, to a young girl, Bernadette Soubirous, in Lourdes, France in 1858 and the message given to her by Our Lady. Sixteen years later, in 1874, the call of Our Lady of Lourdes spoke to the heart of Brother Ludger Pauzé, a Cleric of St-Viateur who served at Collège Bourget. In a rock crevice on the side of the Rigaud mountain Brother Pauzé placed a small statue of Our Lady of Lourdes and would often go there to pray. It was not long after that his Superior, Father François-Xavier Chouinard, the teachers and all the students would follow him to join in prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes and they became the first pilgrims.