NEWS RELEASE ANISHINABE SPIRITUAL CENTRE ************************* The relics of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Indigenous North American saint, and St. Jean de Brébeuf, one of the Canadian Martyrs, will travel across Northern Ontario beginning Jan. 15, as part of a special 10-day pilgrimage tour focused on prayer, healing, and reconciliation.
The Northern Ontario leg of the relic tour will begin at the Anishinabe Spiritual Centre and continue north through multiple dioceses, including stops in Sault Ste. Marie, Timmins, Kapuskasing, Moosonee, Aroland, Long Lac, and Sudbury, before returning to the Martyrs’ Shrine in Midland.
The tour will be accompanied by Edwina MacDonald, Executive Director of the Anishinabe Spiritual Centre, her husband Mark MacDonald…
NEWS RELEASE ANISHINABE SPIRITUAL CENTRE ************************* The relics of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Indigenous North American saint, and St. Jean de Brébeuf, one of the Canadian Martyrs, will travel across Northern Ontario beginning Jan. 15, as part of a special 10-day pilgrimage tour focused on prayer, healing, and reconciliation.
The Northern Ontario leg of the relic tour will begin at the Anishinabe Spiritual Centre and continue north through multiple dioceses, including stops in Sault Ste. Marie, Timmins, Kapuskasing, Moosonee, Aroland, Long Lac, and Sudbury, before returning to the Martyrs’ Shrine in Midland.
The tour will be accompanied by Edwina MacDonald, Executive Director of the Anishinabe Spiritual Centre, her husband Mark MacDonald, and Father John O’Brien, S.J., Director of the Martyrs’ Shrine who will lead reflections and provide historical and spiritual context at each stop.
“This relic pilgrimage is about encounter,” said MacDonald.
“It brings the stories of the saints to communities that are often distant from major pilgrimage sites and invites reflection on faith, history, healing, and reconciliation—especially here in Northern Ontario.”
“Relics remind us that faith is not abstract, it is lived and embodied in real places and real people,” added Father John O’Brien, S.J.
“Bringing the relics of St. Kateri Tekakwitha and St. Jean de Brébeuf to Northern Ontario is an invitation to prayer, to honest reflection on our shared history, and to hope for healing and reconciliation.”
Relics are physical reminders of the lives of saints and are venerated in the Catholic tradition as signs of spiritual connection, continuity, and hope. The purpose of the tour is to allow communities, particularly in northern and remote regions, to encounter these relics locally, without the need to travel long distances.
Each community event may include a Mass, a talk by Father O’Brien, and time for personal prayer and veneration. The relics are on a national tour across Canada, bringing opportunities for prayer and reflection to regions whose residents may not otherwise be able to visit major pilgrimage sites.
Northern Ontario Relic Tour Itinerary
Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie
- Jan. 15 – Espanola (Anderson Lake), event at Anishinabe Spiritual Centre (7-9 p.m. Mass with Bishop Dowd)
- Jan. 16 – Sault Ste. Marie; event at Precious Blood Cathedral (3-7 p.m., 4 p.m. Mass)
Diocese of Timmins
- Jan. 18 – Timmins, event at St. Anthony of Padua Cathedral (9 a.m.–3 p.m., 2 p.m. Mass)
Diocese of Hearst–Moosonee
- Jan 19 – Moosonee; event at Christ the King Church (5-8 p.m., 7 p.m. Mass)
- Jan 21 – Long Lac; event at Paroisse Jean-Baptiste, (6-8 p.m., 6 p.m. Mass)
- Jan 22 – Aroland; Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, (6-8 p.m., 6 p.m. Mass)
- Jan 23 – Kapuskasing; Paroisse Immaculée Conception, (6-8 p.m., 6 p.m. Mass with Bishop Tremblay)
Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie (Return Trip)
- Jan 25 – Sudbury; St. Patrick’s Church, (10 a.m.-2 p.m., 10 am Mass)
- Jan 26 – Midland; Return to Martyrs’ Shrine
Note: Weather and travel conditions may impact this schedule.
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