The Building of the Bridge
It had been decided that this parish needed a new church because the crowds that were coming there now more than filled the little stone church. So plans were made and in the summer of 1878 the stone was dressed in the quarries at the far side of the St. Lawrence River. The men had hoped that the river would freeze over so that the stones could be transported across the river on sleds. Go over to the banks of the St. Lawrence and stand looking out across this wide river. Right across from you, you can see the cars and trucks on a roadway and as you look remember that right here at this point the river is over a mile wide. Note, too, how rapidly it moves and how deep it is. But remember too, that it was right across the river from this point that the men prepared the stones for the new church. On this side of the river where you now are and where the Shrine stands, there is nothing but sand and clay. This was demonstrated very clearly when the foundations for the new Rosary Basilica were being laid. The builders had to drive piles down 91 feet into the ground before they hit solid rock.
By the Fall, all was in readiness in the quarries. The stones were dressed and gathered together, ready for the sleds to cross over the ice. Father Desilets knew enough about the St. Lawrence River not to count on its being frozen. So in November, he ordered that public rosaries should be said each Sunday after High Mass, so that ice would be obtained on the river. Father Duguay was now doing more and more work in the parish and each Sunday he would lead the public rosary. December came and there was no ice on the river. January and February came and there was still no ice on the river. What was more, the people began to grumble, and who can blame them? The farmers knew that if the weather continued cold enough for ice that they would have a late Spring, with the results that the crops would be planted late, perhaps too late. The parishioners were grumbling because here they were Sunday after Sunday knocking themselves out and to no apparent avail. These good people said the Rosary and to them it was not just five decades but all fifteen. And what is more, between each decade there would be a homily by Father Duguay on that mystery of the Rosary and this after High Mass and a sermon. You see, they were really going all out and nothing was happening. This is the way at all times------the darkest part of the day is just before the dawn and how wonderful the dawn seems after the darkness of the night. So it is with us. Things seem darkest when your prayers are not answered, but when our Blessed Mother answers them, how bright and gay, how wonderful and serene things become.
Unknown to the parishioners, Father Desilets had made another vow and he had great faith that this vow would be answered. Father had solemnly entrusted the matter to Our Lady and he knew that She would take care of things. He vowed that he would leave the little stone church standing and that it would be dedicated "to serve in perpetuity for rendering homage to the august Queen of Heaven under the title of Our Lady of the Rosary". At the same time, he ordered the Rosaries to be continued publicly after Sunday Mass. Also Father Duguay promised a High Mass in honour of St. Joseph, Patron of Canada, if they had ice on the river by his Feast Day.
One of the parishioners had hay stored in a barn across the river and on March 14th he went over in his boat to examine the hay. When he came back to Cap-de-la-Madeleine, he advised Father Duguay that there was no sign of ice anywhere and that the priests should give up the idea of a bridge of ice at least for this year. Why not use our boats? he asked. Father Desilets and Father Duguay both told him that the parish could not afford such a venture and, secondly, they pointed out that some of the stones weighed 3,000 pounds and the small boats that they had could not handle such weights. Then, quietly, Father Desilets said that there would be a bridge of ice within the week and that he considered the matter closed. The parishioner left the priests thinking to himself that the men of God could, at times, be very simple and very foolish. He would, however, get his hay across in the boat and leave the priests to their foolish ideas. He and a companion did get across and did get the first load of hay across to Cap-de-la-Madeleine, but that was all because a great wind arose and they were unable to cross the river again at this point. This incident is very important because it serves to point out that the river was free of ice at this date and that it was open to navigation on March 14th, 1879. Saturday was a very heavy day and veryovercast and Father Duguay later reported that the winds stripped the mouth of the St. Maurice river on that Saturday. By this he meant that the ice-floes which had jammed the mouth of the river were freed and able to follow the flow of the St. Lawrence River. Sunday morning, the people arose to a quieter day, but on looking at the river they saw that the St. Lawrence was covered with ice floes and sheet ice. They were by no means impressed because they figured that this was the last of the ice flowing down the river and was it not also a sign of the coming spring? However, the good priests were impressed and Father Duguay said the public Rosary as usual and announced that when the prayers were all finished that he would lead the way across the river on the ice. It is recorded that the people were skeptical of this being possible and some of them even thought that the poor priest was losing his sanity. At the same time Father Duguay also announced that the High Mass in honour of St. Joseph would be said as promised on his Feast Day which was the following Wednesday. This was how sure the priests felt that the ice was in answer to the prayers of the people.
Crazy or not, Father Duguay and some of the more courageous men set out to cross the ice and they found that in parts the ice would bear their weight, but that in other parts it was too thin. They found that they were unable to go across the river in a straight line, but had to feel their way with a rod and oftentimes had to proceed on their hands and knees for fear that the ice would give way under them. Thus they reached the far shore and found that they had crossed the river in the manner of an inverted vee. The men and the priest returned again to the church side of the river and word was sent to all the men of the parish to come and help with the work. There was a great deal of work to be done for the ice-floes had to be cemented together, as it were, with water and slush ice. Layer after layer of water was poured on the floes, just like on an ice rink, until there was a solid bridge from side to side. What had seemed impossible before was now a veritable fact and THE BRIDGE OF ICE WAS NOW A REALITY. There was a lot of work to be done------work that was dangerous and nerve-wracking. To prove how small and narrow the bridge was, it is recorded that in the center there was not enough room for two horses and sleds to pass each other. It required nerve and courage to cross again and again, but the men and the horses never faltered even once.
Father Desilets was still confined to his bedroom owing to his ill-health, but he organized the women and children into groups. While the men and horses were at work, the women and children kept up a continual barrage of Rosaries that matched the labours of the men. An interesting sidelight to this is the story told of the mothers who kept the children walking around the kitchen table to keep them awake. Thus it was that as the men toiled away in the dark of the night, they could look back to the shore and see the light in Father Desilet's room window and know that the priest and the women and children were praying for them. Thus it was that they themselves called the bridge of ice the Bridge of the Rosaries. There is no doubt that. the people of the Cape looked upon the Bridge of Ice as a Bridge of the Rosaries and a miracle sent from Heaven by Our Lady.
ON TUESDAY, MARCH 18TH, 1879, the first load of stones arrived at the Cape and from then on until MARCH 25TH the men and the horses worked night and day, never ceasing in their efforts to get the stones across. ON THE 25TH OF MARCH, THE FEAST OF THE ANNUNCIATION, it was decided that there was enough stone across to build up to the level of the windows and that would do for the time being. Also, the bridge of ice was beginning to melt away and on the 26TH OF MARCH IT BEGAN TO BREAK UP AND FLOW DOWN THE RIVER AS IT HAD BEEN DOING BEFORE OUR LADY INTERVENED.
Naturally, word of this occurrence spread far and wide and the crowds of people who came from Three Rivers and the neighbouring towns were immense. It would seem that the Queen of the Rosary wanted people to come to Cap-de-la-Madeleine and She used Her own ways to accomplish this. First there was the Bridge of Ice. Next, there was the natural curiosity of the people who having read the accounts of this in the newspapers came to see the place where this had happened. Having come, they were impressed by the saintly Father Desilets, especially when they heard him preach on Our Lady and Her Rosary.