St. Anne is a patron saint of Canada. Her most famous shrine in the world is located just outside Quebec City in a small village called Beaupre. Many miracles have been attributed to St. Anne in that shrine. In fact, my own family has been marked by a mini- miracle of St. Anne.
A long time ago in 1913, my great-grandfather, Eugine Reitzel, decided he was going to get married. He started taking the local girls of St. Clements on dates to see which one he should ask to marry him. Through that process he narrowed it down to two, but no matter how hard he thought about it, he could never decide which one to marry. So he decided to make a pilgrimage to St. Anne’s Shrine in Beaupre.
St. Anne was the patron saint of finding a good spouse. She is the perfect match maker. She brought Joseph and Mary together, and countless other couples have been formed due to her intercession. So powerful was her matchmaking the prayer was formed, “St. Anne find me a man”.
With that in mind, Eugine Reitzel set out to visit the shrine of St. Anne hoping she would solve his dilemma.
After a couple days on the train he arrived at the shrine and the first thing he did was enter and ask St. Anne to reveal to him which of the two girls should be his wife. After making his prayers and not getting an answer, he got up to leave. That is when he noticed a young women praying a few pews behind him. He name was Edna Greenwood and she was on pilgrimage from Wolfe Island ON to ask St. Anne to provide her with a good and holy husband. Eugine felt the need to introduce himself, so he waited outside the church and when Edna was done he approached her.
Right away they felt something was bringing them together. St. Anne perhaps. After chatting for a bit, they exchanged addresses and went their separate ways. Over the next year, they wrote letters and visited each other’s families. One year later, in the summer of 1914, in a small church on Wolfe Island Eugine Reitzel and Edna Greenwood were married.
While the encounter of my grandparents at the shrine of St. Anne may not sound like a miracle, it is for me. Thanks to St. Anne, I have a wonderful family.
If you, or someone you know, need help finding a spouse or are having difficulty in their marriage, go to St. Anne, she is a powerful intercessor who can help.
Fr. David