25th Jul - OUR MOTHER OF ZOCUECA (SPAIN)

 Charles Napoleon Robitaille, a salesman traveled the roads in and around Quebec. During the winters he would have to cross frozen rivers and it was in the winter while trying 

    to cross the Saguenay River that the ice broke under the weight of his horse and sleigh. Pulled beneath the surface of the icy waters, Charles was alone and completely helpless. 

    Knowing he was dying, he implored the Blessed Virgin Mary to save him. Charles miraculously survived and managed to escape from the river with his life. 

    He knew the Virgin had assisted him and so to honor Mary and her recent apparition at Lourdes, he asked Louis Jobin to create a huge statue of the Blessed Virgin sculpted in the 

    image of Our Lady of Lourdes. He envisioned the statue in the heights overlooking the mouth of the river. The statue Jobin sculpted became known as Notre-Dame du Saguenay. 

    The finished statue is an impressive 35 feet high and weighs 3 tons. On the right side of the base of the statue, the sculptor affixed a lead plate 

    on which is written: "Louis Jobin, Quebec." The statue made him the most famous sculptor of the time and the statue has become a regional landmark, 

    with visitors from the world over assembling at her feet to sing the Ave Maria




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