In
1993, a short time after the Beatification of Dina Bélanger, Father Léon
Robichaud, a great friend of Dina, sent a letter to Sister Jeanne Yvette Rioux,
Superior at the Convent of Petite-Rivière-de-l’Ile, NB. asking her to make Dina Bélanger “visible” since on
September 4, 1939 she had obtained a great miracle, approved by the Church,
during a Novena made by the family, asking for the cure of a small child nine
months old, André-Jude Chiasson, suffering from incurable hydrocephalus. This child was born in the Parish of Lamèque,
Nouveau Brunswick. This petition of
Father Robichaud gave Sister Jeanne-Yvette the courage to carry out this
beautiful initiative. Without waiting,
she formed the “Committee Shrine Dina” with former pupils of Jesus and Mary to
carry out this project.
The
Committee met several times to prepare everything. In the first place, it was
necessary to find a corner in the Church and then all the work that had to be
done. After some time, over a year, the
Shrine was finished. On one of the walls
was placed a large picture, copy of the picture which in Rome, in the Basilica
of St. Peter, had presided over in the beatification, and on the left side was
placed the relic of Dina.
The
blessing of the Shrine by Father Claude Pinet, parish priest of the Parish,
before a large assistance, took place on Sunday April 30, 1995, on the feast of
the birthdate of Blessed Dina. In 1999
two stained glass windows were placed in the Shrine. These windows show the
symbols of the devotion of Dina, the Host and the Star.
The
novenas to Blessed Dina began in the year 1995, from August 26 to September 4,
the feast of her entrance to Heaven and continue every year with good
participation. On September 25, 2003, the Parish priest of Shippagan, N-B.,
supported by other Parish priests, proposed that this Novena become an event of
the Vicariate of Shippagan which consists of a group of nine Parishes. The
organization of the novenas is entrusted to the Committee of the Shrine. Every day there is a Eucharistic celebration
with preaching. The last one in 2016, the celebrant and preacher was Mons.
Valèry Vienneau, Archbishop of Moncton.
Before the Mass there is 10 minute reflection on the life of Blessed
Dina and at the end the veneration of the relic.
During
the novena there is also the blessing of the sick, the possibility for
confession and adoration to the Saint Sacrament. Many favors are obtained through the
intercession of Blessed Dina. People
trust Dina and she does them good. The Committee is very faithful in having a
Mass celebrated every second Wednesday of the month for the intentions of the
friends of Dina. The desire of the
religious is that of Dina: “To take souls to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus”. 
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