When the French Jesuits travelled to Canada to spread the Faith, they brought with them a strong devotion to the Blessed Mother. They built many shrines and chapels in Her honor, and prayed to Her throughout their missionary endeavors.

In the mid 17th century, a simple settlement was built, named after St. Mary Magdalene, to whom its church was dedicated. To this day, the place is called Cap-de-la-Madeleine (Madeleine being the French variant of Magdalene).

In time, sadly, the people there grew indifferent to their faith. It got to the point where the place didn't even have a permanent priest. At last, in 1845, the bishop appointed Fr. Leandre Tourigny to fill this position. Not long after he arrived, an event of worldwide importance occurred in Rome. Due to the Marian apparitions in Lourdes, the Church proclaimed the Dogma of Mary's Immaculate Conception. To celebrate this, someone made the generous gift of a statue of Our Lady for Fr. Tourigny's small church.

Despite all his best efforts, the good priest was dismayed at his lack of success in rousing the people to a more spiritual life. So Bishop Cooke sent another priest, Fr. Luke Desilets, to help in the difficult task. Fr. Desilets earnestly promoted the Rosary, which overtime brought such graces that the little church became too small for the growing congregation.

With the bishop’s permission, preparations were made to build a larger church - a National Shrine in honor of the Blessed Mother. Stones for the project were cut and prepared at the quarry of S. Angele. The construction site was located on the opposite side of the river from this quarry. But transportation of the heavy materials was no concern to the workers. They were used to the harsh Canadian winters, during which the St. Lawrence River would be so frozen over as to be literally rock-solid. It would be just as easy to haul the many pounds of stone across the river as if the load was being driven along a street.

Unfortunately, things did not go as expected. The winter of 1879 was not nearly cold enough to freeze the water as needed. As the parishioners observed the unusually warm weather, they prayed the Rosary, hoping for a return to the normal freezing winter so their new church could be built. However, by March, they began to lose hope that the stone would get delivered at all.

Fearing that the project would be abandoned, Fr. Desilets even considered deconstructing the old church, and using its stones for the new shrine. He fervently prayed that if Our Lady would form a bridge of ice strong enough to transport the stones, he would leave the old church in tact, and dedicate it to Her.

He did not have to wait long for Her answer. One day, in the middle of March, a fierce storm piled up ice floes forming a bridge that connected the opposite shores. Wasting no time, the parishioners worked to add snow and water to freeze over and enhance the bridge. Before long, over 150 horse-drawn sledges went back and forth over the ice for a full week hauling heavy loads of stone.

Once all the supplies had been delivered, the ice was no longer needed. A thaw immediately set in. The following day, as rapidly as it had been formed, the bridge of ice was gone. Reports of this incredible phenomena were printed in newspapers at the time.

The grateful people never forgot Our Lady’s answer to their prayers. To this day, the shrine includes a beautiful "Rosary Bridge" in commemoration of the ice bridge.

On October 3, 1880, the new shrine was opened to the public. Nearly 8 years later, on June 22, 1888, the small old church was officially dedicated to Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary. The statue which had been donated years before was put in a place of honor above the altar. That very day, the Blessed Mother again came to the miraculous aid of Her children. An infirm pilgrim and two priests prayed together before Her statue. Not only was the man happily cured, but the astounded witness of another marvel.

The statue had been formed with the Virgin's holy eyes looking downward. This was how it had always looked since the day it was donated. But now, as the three men prayed, each one was astonished to notice a sudden change. The eyes were no longer downcast, but looked straight ahead!

The lovely eyes of the Virgin remained wide open for five to ten minutes. The whole face no longer looked like that of a statue, but of a real, living person.

The shrine has since become the most visited shrine of Our Lady in Canada.