THE BASILICA OF SAINT ANNE OF BEAUPRÉ

The first church dedicated to Saint Anne, was built in 1658 and the present Basilica which was inaugurated officially in 1976, is a place of pilgrimage, the most important of which takes place on the 26 July, the occasion of the feast of Saint Anne, who is both the ecclesiastical and civil patron of Quebec. The Basilica was designated by the Canadian Bishops’ Conference as one of the five national shrines of the country.

On the 6th June, 2008, a painting of Dina Belanger, the work of Mr Marius Dubois, was placed in the crypt of the Basilica, in the chapel of the Immaculate Conception, on the occasion of the International Eucharistic Congress which marked the 400th anniversary of the foundation of the city of Quebec. This painting is to be found among those of the Founders, the Beatified and the Saints of the Canadian Church. Furthermore, there is a photo of Dina, at the entrance to the crypt, a reproduction of the same picture together with a brief of her life in English and French. 

Given the importance of this Basilica, which welcomes more than one and a half million pilgrims each year, Blessed Dina Belanger can thus become known by many more people. Pictures and leaflets in four languages, which tell the story of her life, are available on the counter beneath the painting. Books and brochures can also be obtained in the Basilica bookshop.

The church of Our Lady of Jaques Cartier, known for its leaning tower, was founded in 1851. It is situated at the heart of the old town of Quebec and is the oldest church in the city. It was Dina’s parish church and where she made her first Holy Communion.

On the 24th of March, 1994, the first anniversary of the Beatification of Dina Belanger, was the occasion for the celebration of a Mass during which a large photograph of Dina as a student, the work of the celebrated photographer  Eugene Kdil, was unveiled and placed on the front of the organ loft.

On the 25th of April, 2001, the day before the 104th anniversary of Dina’s birthday, Father Robert Sylvain blessed a statue of Blessed Dina, the work of Mr Andrew Pelletier and the gift of Mrs Gertrude Maheux, a parishioner and god-child of Mr and Mrs Octave Belanger, Dina’s parents.

In 1998, this church was joined to the parish of Saint Roch and is now known as Our Lady of Saint Roch. In January 2011, on the iniciative of the Saint Roch Foundation, it became the Benevolent Cooperative of Our Lady of Saint Roch, perpetuating, in this way,  the work of social assistance carried  out by the clergy over many years.

The Sanctuary Dina Belanger in the Church of the Holy Name of Jesus at Chicoutimi

The church of the Holy Name of Jesus is in the district of Chicoutimi, in the sector Riviere-duMoulin, in the municipality of Saguenay. In the middle of the 20^th century the rapid demographic development of Chicoutimi which, by then, was a flourishing industrial town, required the creation of several new parishes in order to respond to the needs of the increasing population. This was the context in which, in 1950, the parish of the Holy Name of Jesus was established.

On Sunday, the 18^th June, 1995, on the Feast of Corpus Christi, four religious of Jesus and Mary, travelled to Chicoutimi. In the afternoon,  during a celebration presided over by the parish priest, a picture of Blessed Dina Bélanger was blessed and placed on the wall of the church. A lamp was then set before it which will shine in this simple sanctuary and invite prayer and thanksgiving. At the end of the celebration everyone was  invited to venerate the relic of Dina by an act  faith,  entrusting to Our Lord, through the intercession of Dina, the personal intentions and the needs of our brothers and sisters throughout the world.