Way of the Cross, The Beauvoir Sanctuary, 675 Cote de Beauvoir, Brompton, Sherbrooke, Eastern Townships, Quebec
Excerpt from histoiresainteducanada.ca/en/le-sanctuaire-du-sacre-coeur...:
Father Joseph-Arthur Laporte was born in Saint-Paul de Joliette on August 15, 1857, the feast of the Assumption. He entered the community of the Clerics of Saint-Viateur on August 25, 1879. The members of this community have a great devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and it is through their contact that Father Laporte developed this devotion.
He left the community of the Clerics of Saint-Viateur on July 28, 1886 and requested his incardination to the Bishop of Sherbrooke. He was admitted to the number of priests of the diocese by Bishop Antoine Racine, and appointed pastor of the parish of Sainte-Praxède de Bromptonville (1891-1902) from where he discovered the “mountain” that he would later call “Beauvoir”.
Eight kilometers north of Sherbrooke, a small mountain of one hundred and fifteen meters, still unnamed, had long attracted the attention of this great lover of nature. After many approaches to Mr. Émile Lessard, a farmer, he bought two hectares of land from him in 1915. He gave the name “Beauvoir” (beautiful to see) to this corner of paradise whose panoramic view enchanted him. He decided to build a small cottage, a house of six meters on a side surrounded by a gallery. In 1916 and 1917, he bought more land to enlarge his small domain.
And in 1920, he founded the Sanctuary of the Sacred Heart of Beauvoir.
For years, Father Laporte has been fascinated by the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He speaks of it tirelessly. So it is not surprising that the only decoration on the bare walls of his cottage is a lithograph, without much artistic pretension, of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre.
In 1916, Father Laporte still dreamed of making Beauvoir a place where people would come to pray and celebrate the Sacred Heart of Jesus, whose devotion was spreading more and more throughout the country. He therefore decided to erect, not far from his cottage, a statue of the Sacred Heart. Measuring two meters in height, this statue, with its arms wide open, stands on a pedestal of field stones that farmers have faithfully transported on their carts.
The parish priest now invites his parishioners to come and taste the happiness that is his at the Sacred Heart…
As early as 1918, pilgrims began “the ascent of the Rosary”, a devotional practice that would have its heyday in the 1930s. On Sunday afternoons, pilgrims, starting from the main road, climbed to Beauvoir while reciting the rosary.
In 1933, at the request of the pilgrims, Father Pierre-Achille Bégin had a cross erected in front of the road leading to the Shrine. It is from this cross, still visible, that the pilgrimages to Beauvoir started. Along the way, wooden boards were set up on which were written the fifteen mysteries of the rosary. For Beauvoir, the erection of this cross gives all its meaning to the ascent of the rosary: it is the beginning of the ascent, it is the cross of the rosary that the lips kiss before murmuring the “Aves”, the first links of this long chain that leads the pilgrims to the very Love that awaits them at the Shrine.
In 1920, during a Holy Hour, he asked for a special favor from the Sacred Heart, with the promise of building a small chapel in Beauvoir if he was granted it. With the help of some local craftsmen, he had the promised little chapel built.
It is an architectural jewel that Abbé Laporte had built on the hill of Beauvoir.
But the Sacred Heart, never defeated in generosity, knows how to reward his servant by giving to vile materials a stamp of rustic elegance, to a humble and poor building, a beauty that escapes no one. And all those who come to pray in this rustic chapel find there a calm, a peace that penetrates deep into their souls and leaves them pacified. One can almost feel the loving presence of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which bends down with tenderness over those who come to visit it.
The exterior of this chapel is reminiscent in many ways of some of the country chapels of France. The rustic walls, the rudimentary furnishings and the few decorations are not likely to satisfy the connoisseur of expensive works of art. It is poverty, destitution. The only decoration is a statue, a frame, two statuettes, a few ex-votos testifying to the goodness of the Sacred Heart, lanterns and old images of the Way of the Cross. But, near the tabernacle, how one can taste with love and peace the divine presence of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus!
On October 24, 1920, Bishop Larocque came to bless the little chapel. The next day, Father Laporte celebrated the first mass on Mount Beauvoir.
In the spring of 1921, his health inexorably deteriorated. Even though he was ill, he was taken to Beauvoir four or five more times. Then he had to give up returning to Beauvoir. He was hospitalized at the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul Hospital at the beginning of August. And on August 20, Father Laporte was finally able to meet face to face with the one who was the great love of his life.
The body of Father Laporte now rests in the crypt of the church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste of which he was parish priest. However, on the west wall of the little chapel in Beauvoir, a commemorative plaque recalls the man who founded the Shrine and who continues to watch over its work from above.
Father Laporte had bequeathed the Beauvoir property to the diocese on the condition that he pay the remaining $3,500 debt. The diocese refused this bequest. Beauvoir thus reverted to the universal legatee, Miss Euphémie Charest, Father Laporte’s former housekeeper. She sold Beauvoir in 1923 to the executor of Father Laporte’s will, the notary Gédéon Bégin, for the price of the debt. This wealthy businessman used Beauvoir Hill as a summer vacation spot for his family.
From 1923 to 1929, Beauvoir fell into almost complete abandonment. Only a few lovers of the Sacred Heart would go up there privately to pray at the foot of the Sacred Heart statue. But at the end of July 1929, Father Pierre Achille Bégin, a retired priest and brother of the owner, accompanied by a few members of the family, came to visit Beauvoir. Although the buildings had been quite damaged by thieves and the weeds had invaded the area, the group was charmed by the landscape and decided to settle there for two weeks.
From then on, the Bégin family would come to spend a few weeks in Beauvoir during the summer vacations.
Without looking for signs, the good abbot knows how to recognize an invitation. First of all, together with his family members, he decided to restore the place and to revive the project of Father Laporte. Every year in June, he invites the people of the area for the triduum in preparation for the feast of the Sacred Heart. This is the highlight of the year.
Throughout the summer months, Father Bégin, surrounded by nephews and nieces, ensures for the pilgrims the mass every morning and the prayer at the Sacred Heart every evening as well as a Holy Hour every Thursday evening. Father Bégin, after Father Laporte, sought to spread devotion to the Sacred Heart. It is in the small stone chapel that he spends most of his time in prayer and in welcoming the small groups of pilgrims who continue to climb the mountain. “All my desire is that in Beauvoir the Sacred Heart be particularly honored, praised and prayed to, and that He spread His greatest graces there.”
Way of the Cross, The Beauvoir Sanctuary, 675 Cote de Beauvoir, Brompton, Sherbrooke, Eastern Townships, Quebec
Excerpt from histoiresainteducanada.ca/en/le-sanctuaire-du-sacre-coeur...:
Father Joseph-Arthur Laporte was born in Saint-Paul de Joliette on August 15, 1857, the feast of the Assumption. He entered the community of the Clerics of Saint-Viateur on August 25, 1879. The members of this community have a great devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and it is through their contact that Father Laporte developed this devotion.
He left the community of the Clerics of Saint-Viateur on July 28, 1886 and requested his incardination to the Bishop of Sherbrooke. He was admitted to the number of priests of the diocese by Bishop Antoine Racine, and appointed pastor of the parish of Sainte-Praxède de Bromptonville (1891-1902) from where he discovered the “mountain” that he would later call “Beauvoir”.
Eight kilometers north of Sherbrooke, a small mountain of one hundred and fifteen meters, still unnamed, had long attracted the attention of this great lover of nature. After many approaches to Mr. Émile Lessard, a farmer, he bought two hectares of land from him in 1915. He gave the name “Beauvoir” (beautiful to see) to this corner of paradise whose panoramic view enchanted him. He decided to build a small cottage, a house of six meters on a side surrounded by a gallery. In 1916 and 1917, he bought more land to enlarge his small domain.
And in 1920, he founded the Sanctuary of the Sacred Heart of Beauvoir.
For years, Father Laporte has been fascinated by the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He speaks of it tirelessly. So it is not surprising that the only decoration on the bare walls of his cottage is a lithograph, without much artistic pretension, of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre.
In 1916, Father Laporte still dreamed of making Beauvoir a place where people would come to pray and celebrate the Sacred Heart of Jesus, whose devotion was spreading more and more throughout the country. He therefore decided to erect, not far from his cottage, a statue of the Sacred Heart. Measuring two meters in height, this statue, with its arms wide open, stands on a pedestal of field stones that farmers have faithfully transported on their carts.
The parish priest now invites his parishioners to come and taste the happiness that is his at the Sacred Heart…
As early as 1918, pilgrims began “the ascent of the Rosary”, a devotional practice that would have its heyday in the 1930s. On Sunday afternoons, pilgrims, starting from the main road, climbed to Beauvoir while reciting the rosary.
In 1933, at the request of the pilgrims, Father Pierre-Achille Bégin had a cross erected in front of the road leading to the Shrine. It is from this cross, still visible, that the pilgrimages to Beauvoir started. Along the way, wooden boards were set up on which were written the fifteen mysteries of the rosary. For Beauvoir, the erection of this cross gives all its meaning to the ascent of the rosary: it is the beginning of the ascent, it is the cross of the rosary that the lips kiss before murmuring the “Aves”, the first links of this long chain that leads the pilgrims to the very Love that awaits them at the Shrine.
In 1920, during a Holy Hour, he asked for a special favor from the Sacred Heart, with the promise of building a small chapel in Beauvoir if he was granted it. With the help of some local craftsmen, he had the promised little chapel built.
It is an architectural jewel that Abbé Laporte had built on the hill of Beauvoir.
But the Sacred Heart, never defeated in generosity, knows how to reward his servant by giving to vile materials a stamp of rustic elegance, to a humble and poor building, a beauty that escapes no one. And all those who come to pray in this rustic chapel find there a calm, a peace that penetrates deep into their souls and leaves them pacified. One can almost feel the loving presence of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which bends down with tenderness over those who come to visit it.
The exterior of this chapel is reminiscent in many ways of some of the country chapels of France. The rustic walls, the rudimentary furnishings and the few decorations are not likely to satisfy the connoisseur of expensive works of art. It is poverty, destitution. The only decoration is a statue, a frame, two statuettes, a few ex-votos testifying to the goodness of the Sacred Heart, lanterns and old images of the Way of the Cross. But, near the tabernacle, how one can taste with love and peace the divine presence of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus!
On October 24, 1920, Bishop Larocque came to bless the little chapel. The next day, Father Laporte celebrated the first mass on Mount Beauvoir.
In the spring of 1921, his health inexorably deteriorated. Even though he was ill, he was taken to Beauvoir four or five more times. Then he had to give up returning to Beauvoir. He was hospitalized at the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul Hospital at the beginning of August. And on August 20, Father Laporte was finally able to meet face to face with the one who was the great love of his life.
The body of Father Laporte now rests in the crypt of the church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste of which he was parish priest. However, on the west wall of the little chapel in Beauvoir, a commemorative plaque recalls the man who founded the Shrine and who continues to watch over its work from above.
Father Laporte had bequeathed the Beauvoir property to the diocese on the condition that he pay the remaining $3,500 debt. The diocese refused this bequest. Beauvoir thus reverted to the universal legatee, Miss Euphémie Charest, Father Laporte’s former housekeeper. She sold Beauvoir in 1923 to the executor of Father Laporte’s will, the notary Gédéon Bégin, for the price of the debt. This wealthy businessman used Beauvoir Hill as a summer vacation spot for his family.
From 1923 to 1929, Beauvoir fell into almost complete abandonment. Only a few lovers of the Sacred Heart would go up there privately to pray at the foot of the Sacred Heart statue. But at the end of July 1929, Father Pierre Achille Bégin, a retired priest and brother of the owner, accompanied by a few members of the family, came to visit Beauvoir. Although the buildings had been quite damaged by thieves and the weeds had invaded the area, the group was charmed by the landscape and decided to settle there for two weeks.
From then on, the Bégin family would come to spend a few weeks in Beauvoir during the summer vacations.
Without looking for signs, the good abbot knows how to recognize an invitation. First of all, together with his family members, he decided to restore the place and to revive the project of Father Laporte. Every year in June, he invites the people of the area for the triduum in preparation for the feast of the Sacred Heart. This is the highlight of the year.
Throughout the summer months, Father Bégin, surrounded by nephews and nieces, ensures for the pilgrims the mass every morning and the prayer at the Sacred Heart every evening as well as a Holy Hour every Thursday evening. Father Bégin, after Father Laporte, sought to spread devotion to the Sacred Heart. It is in the small stone chapel that he spends most of his time in prayer and in welcoming the small groups of pilgrims who continue to climb the mountain. “All my desire is that in Beauvoir the Sacred Heart be particularly honored, praised and prayed to, and that He spread His greatest graces there.”