Annotated Schedule

Note: the exact locations and further details will be sent in June to those who register.

Transportation and your hotel or campsite is independent.

Saturday, July 11th

9:30am – Meet at the Martyrs’ Shrine Parking Lot for a morning car tour to sites of:

–          Carhagouha (first Mass in Ontario, 1615)

–          Toanche & Ihonatiria (sites of the early mission, 1626-1637)

–          Ossossane (mission started in 1630-1636)

–          Christian Island (where the mission fled in 1649)

1pm – Meet at Sainte-Marie among the Hurons Parking Lot

–          This living museum is a reconstruction of the Ste-Marie mission site that was in use from 1639-1649.

3:30pm – Meet at the Martyr’s Shrine Parking Lot

7:30pm – Mass at the Martyr’s Shrine, where the relics of Sts. John Brebeuf, Gabriel Lalemant, and Charles Garnier are kept.

Sunday, July 12th

9:30am – Meet at the Sainte-Marie among the Hurons Parking Lot

10am – Mass at St. Ignatius Mission site, where Sts. John Brebeuf and Gabriel Lalemant were martyred

10:45am – Optional Hike along the trail of martyrdom, either halfway (St. Louis Mission site, 4miles) or the entire route (8miles).

3:30pm – Pilgrimage ends at Sainte-Marie

Book Preparation

An outline of the book “Saints of the American Wilderness” by John A. O’Brien (Sophia Press: Manchester, NH, 2004) will be sent to participants at the end of May. This outline will include maps and important sites to note in the book that we will be visiting on this pilgrimage.

Travel

Without traffic, the drive to Midland, ON is about 4:45 hours from Shelby Township. Please note, however, that this area is Toronto’s version of Detroit’s “Up-North”, except on steroids, so please take this into account with both travel time and lodging reservations.

While most will choose to leave Michigan on Friday afternoon, it is possible to leave early Saturday morning and meet the group at 1pm at the Sainte-Marie Mission.

Lodging

There is a Hampton Inn, along with several motels, in Midland itself.

Both Barrie, ON and Orillia, ON are about 45 minutes from the Martyrs’ Shrine and provide a variety of comfortable hotel options that tend to be slightly more affordable.

Awenda Provencial Park has a large number of campsites that are available, although these tend to fill up in the summer weekends.

Cost

Apart from your personal transportation, lodging, and meal expenses, the cost of entry will be $12 to the Martyr’s Shrine and the Sainte-Marie among the Hurons Mission museum.