The Martyrs' Shrine, also known as Shrine of the Canadian Martyrs (french: Sanctuaire des martyrs canadiens)is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

Midland, Ontario Midland is a town located on Georgian Bay in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. It is part of the Huronia/Wendat region of Central Ontario. Located at the southern end of Georgian Bay's 30,000 Islands, Midland is the economic centre of the region, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, which is consecrated to the memory of the Canadian Martyrs, six Jesuit

Martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

s and two lay persons from the mission of

Sainte-Marie among the Hurons Sainte-Marie among the Hurons (french: Sainte-Marie-au-pays-des-Hurons) was a French Jesuit settlement in Wendake, the land of the Wendat, near modern Midland, Ontario, from 1639 to 1649. It was the first European settlement in what is now the ...

. It is one of nine national shrines in Canada, including, among others,

Saint Joseph's Oratory Saint Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal (french: Oratoire Saint-Joseph du Mont-Royal) is a Roman Catholic minor basilica and national shrine located at 3800 Queen Mary Road in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood on Mount Royal's Westmount Summit in ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

and the

Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré The Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré (french: Basilique Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré) is a basilica set along the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada, east of Quebec City, and one of the eight national shrines of Canada. It has been credited by ...

History

In 1907, Dennis O'Connor, Archbishop of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, consecrated a small chapel at Waubaushene, near the site where Sts.

Jean de Brébeuf Jean de Brébeuf () (25 March 1593 16 March 1649) was a French Jesuit missionary who travelled to New France (Canada) in 1625. There he worked primarily with the Huron (Wyandot people) for the rest of his life, except for a few years in Franc ...

and Gabriel Lalemant were martyred. In 1925, Fr. John M. Filion, provincial superior of Jesuits in Canada, decided to pursue the construction of a larger church closer to the mission. He bought the Standin farm in Midland, across the road from Sainte-Marie. Construction began that year, using some materials from the Waubaushene church and others donated by lumber companies in

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Pro ...

. Pews, stained glass windows, Stations of the Cross and an altar were donated by churches in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and Toronto. The interior, shaped like an overturned canoe, was designed and built by Ildège Bourrie. Construction on the shrine was completed by the winter of 1925, and the shrine was formally consecrated on June 25, 1926 by Cardinal

William Henry O'Connell William Henry O'Connell (December 8, 1859 – April 22, 1944) was an American cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Boston from 1907 until his death in 1944, and was made a cardinal in 1911. Early life William O'Connell w ...

of Boston, Massachusetts. The shrine houses the bones of St. Jean de Brébeuf, St. Gabriel Lalemant, and St. Charles Garnier. Due to cold temperature conditions, the shrine is closed in autumn and

winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultur ...

, because it was built without any insulation. During that period, the reliquaries are taken out of the church. The martyrs were subsequently

canonized Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of s ...

by Pope Pius XI in 1930.

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

visited the Martyrs’ Shrine in September, 1984, and prayed over the skull of Brébeuf.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Roman Catholic churches in Ontario Midland, Ontario Roman Catholic national shrines in Canada Buildings and structures in Simcoe County Tourist attractions in Simcoe County Midland, Martyrs Shrine Martyrs' monuments and memorials History of Simcoe County