Article

Lac Ste Anne

Published Online March 30, 2008

Last Edited March 4, 2015

Lac Ste Anne, Alta, Unincorporated Place. Lac Ste Anne is located 75 km northwest of Edmonton on the lake of the same name. The Rev Jean-Baptiste Thibault, an Oblate priest, named the lake for his patron, Ste Anne de

Lac Ste Anne

 Lac Ste Anne, Alta, Unincorporated Place. Lac Ste Anne is located 75 km northwest of Edmonton on the lake of the same name. The Rev Jean-Baptiste Thibault, an Oblate priest, named the lake for his patron, Ste Anne de Beaupré, and the shrine became a PILGRIMAGE destination in 1889, when rain fell following prayers. Thousands still visit the shrine on the feast day of Ste Anne (July 26), and bathe in the lake, which is believed to have curative powers. In 2004 its importance for social, cultural and spiritual rejuvenation was recognized when the pilgrimage site was designated a national historic site.