Pilgrimages in Saskatchewan and Alberta will mark the Blessed Virgin Mary’s Assumption into heaven

Pilgrims celebrate Mass during the 2025 Marian Week in the Rockies celebration at the shrine church in Canmore, AB. The Marian pilgrimage week in Alberta begins on the Feast of the Assumption Aug. 15, and continues until the Queenship of Mary celebration Aug 22. Pilgrimages at St. Laurent and Rama in Saskatchewan also are held on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. (Photo courtesy of Roman Catholic Diocese of Calagary)

Posted By: Kiply Lukan Yaworski August 6, 2026

By Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News

Pilgrimage sites at Rama and at St. Laurent, SK, as well as at Canmore/Banff, AB, are among those around the world holding celebrations to mark the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a summer-time Marian feast day.

St. Laurent Aug. 15

The Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes at St. Laurent, SK, in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Prince Albert, each year marks the Feast of the Assumption Aug. 15 with prayer, devotions, and Mass at the historic pilgrimage site north of Saskatoon.

The 2026 schedule at St. Laurent includes a Mass for seniors at 4 p.m.; a penitential service and confessions starting at 6:30 p.m.; Eucharistic adoration, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and Marian devotions at 7 p.m.; celebration of the Eucharist at 8 p.m., followed by a torchlit procession from the shrine grotto to the log church on the site. Eucharistic adoration will continue in the log church until 11 p.m.

The Our Lady of Lourdes outdoor grotto at St. Laurent, SK. (File photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

The St. Laurent Shrine is located 11 kilometres northeast of Duck Lake (or turn at the small statue on Highway 11, north of Saskatoon) at the former settlement of St. Laurent de Grandin. The 32.4-hectare property adjacent to the South Saskatchewan River includes a wood-frame rectory, a log church, landscaped grounds, a grotto, and a cemetery.

The first pilgrimage to the sacred site at St. Laurent was held 121 years ago on the Feast of the Assumption 1905.

The main pilgrimage held July 15-16 each year includes Mass in English, French and Cree; as well as guest speakers, confession, Marian devotions, Eucharistic adoration, and candlelight processions. In addition to the pilgrimage day Aug. 15 to mark the Solemnity of the Assumption, events are also held at the St. Laurent shrine for the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Sept. 8.

Rama Aug. 14-15

The 81st pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes at St. Anthony Church in Rama, SK, begins on the Vigil of the Assumption, Friday, Aug. 14, and concludes with morning celebrations on the feast day, Saturday, Aug. 15. Among the pilgrims will be those travelling by bus from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon to the Regina archdiocese site, and St. Philomena Walking Pilgrimage participants journeying to the Rama site on foot from Yorkton, SK.

The 2026 Rama pilgrimage begins Friday, Aug. 14 with the Chaplet of Divine Mercy at 3 p.m.; Marian hymns and confessions at 6 p.m.; celebration of the Eucharist at 8 p.m. followed by a living rosary, candlelight procession, exposition and adoration.

Pilgrimage events continue on the Feast of Mary’s Assumption Saturday, Aug. 15 with morning prayers in Polish at 8:30 a.m. and Mass in Polish at 9 a.m.; Divine Liturgy in the Byzantine Rite at 10 a.m.; and Mass in English at 11:30 a.m., including anointing of the sick, blessing for plenary indulgence, and the blessing of religious articles.

Rama pilgrimage 2025. (File photo by Astrid Alas, Catholic Saskatoon News)

On the eve of World War II in 1939, Fr. Anthony Sylla OMI, a Polish-born priest, initiated the building of the grotto at Rama, designed as a replica of the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in France.

Marian Week in the Rockies Aug. 15-22

The second annual Marian Week in the Rockies, will take place Aug. 15–22 at the recently-built Canadian Shrine Church of Our Lady of the Rockies in Canmore, AB, and at St. Mary Parish in nearby Banff.

Beginning with the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Aug. 15 and concluding on the Feast of the Queenship of Mary Aug. 22, the Marian Week offers pilgrims opportunities for Mass, prayer, spiritual formation, sacred music and quiet reflection amid the beauty of the rocky mountains, says a media release about the event from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary.

Participants may attend one event, make a day pilgrimage, spend a weekend in the Rockies, or take part throughout the entire week, notes the release. Participants are encouraged to build their own journey according to the time available to them, whether they come for a single Mass, a concert, an afternoon of prayer or several days of activities.

Calgary Bishop William T. McGrattan will open the Marian Week at 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 15, by celebrating the Solemnity of the Assumption Mass at St. Mary Parish, 305 Squirrel Street, Banff, and will conclude the week with the celebration of Mass on the Feast of the Queenship of Mary 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 22 at the Shrine Church of Our Lady of the Rockies, 2 Silvertip Trail, Canmore, AB.

In a reflection prepared for Marian Week, McGrattan invited the faithful to consider Mary as a companion and model on the Christian pilgrimage.  “Mary’s journey of faith was not one without difficulties, but she walked forward with trust,” he said. “She always points us toward her Son and leads us into a deeper relationship with Christ.”

A Marian Pilgrimage Passport has been created to help pilgrims visit participating churches and sacred places, pause for prayer and reflection, and record their journey through the week. “Rather than measuring pilgrimage only by distance travelled, the passport initiative encourages Catholics to approach familiar places with renewed attentiveness and to recognize that meaningful pilgrimage can begin close to home,” notes the media release.

During the Marian Week, Mass will be celebrated weekdays at 11 a.m. at the Canmore shrine, followed by a spiritual talk at noon and the Divine Mercy Chaplet at 3 p.m. Mass will also be celebrated each weekday evening at 6:3o p.m. at St. Mary Parish in Banff.

The Our Lady of the Rockies Church in Canmore is the site of the first Marian shrine in the Diocese of Calgary. (File photo by Lincoln Ho, Grandin Media – Canadian Catholic News)

Another featured event is “The Sun, the Stars, and the Queen of Heaven,” a free sacred-music concert led by award-winning conductor, composer and organist Carlos Foggin to be held 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 16 at the Shrine Church in Canmore. The concert will bring together a professional chamber choir, brass quintet, timpani and organ in a program spanning nearly 1,000 years of sacred music.

Gregorian chant, Renaissance polyphony, classical masterworks, Scripture and Marian hymns will be woven together in an afternoon of music and prayer. The program will include works by Palestrina, Victoria, Charpentier, Beethoven and Parry, together with familiar hymns such as Ave Maria, Immaculate Mary and the Gregorian Salve Regina.

“This program will showcase great motets and thousand-year-old chants that are rarely heard anymore,” Foggin said.

Those gathered will also be invited to participate in congregational singing and the Office of None, part of the Church’s Liturgy of the Hours, celebrated at its traditional afternoon hour.

Admission is free, and all are welcome. A freewill offering will be accepted in support of the concert and sacred-music programming.

Find more details about Marian Week in the Rockies on the website.

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Kiply Lukan Yaworski is the communications coordinator for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon: rcdos.ca.

Communications and Catholic Saskatoon News are supported by gifts to the Bishop’s Annual Appeal: dscf.ca/baa.