The Canadian pilgrimage spot that attracted Pope Francis

The lake is located some 80 kilometers from Edmonton, and since the 19th century has attracted 40,000 people each year for a major pilgrimage.

Once called "Lake of God" (Wakamne) or "Lake of the Spirit" (Manito Sahkahigan), it is considered a sacred place and, as at Lourdes and other sanctuaries, the waters are considered healing.

The Sioux of the Alexis Nakota Nation settled on its shores long before European settlers, led by a chief who, according to the legend, received a vision of this lake where the trees would whisper their traditional song.

When a Catholic mission was opened there by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in 1844, the lake was named after St, Anne. The first pilgrimage was organized in 1889, inspired by the shrine of St. Anne of Auray in Brittany, France.

Attracting many Indigenous peoples -- Cree, Dene, Blackfoot, Métis -- this pilgrimage is an opportunity for communities to express their special devotion to the grandmother of Jesus - the grandmother being an important figure in their culture. "St. Anne is the patron saint of Quebec, and we can say that she is the patron saint of all Indigenous people in Canada," said Father Erik Oland, provincial of the Jesuits in Canada, who came to Alberta to follow the events with the pope.

The pontiff in his wheelchair made a slow advance, to the rhythm of drums, to a pier of the lake. There, overlooking the glistening waves in the late afternoon light, he blessed the lake as bishops accompanying the annual pilgrimage have done for decades, with these words: "Bless all those who will enter this water and use it. Protect them in their daily journey to you and in their service to others and to the care of creation."

At the end of the celebration, he offered the pilgrims a handcrafted sculpture of "Mary Undoer of Knots," created by Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz.

Pope Francis defended the vital role of mothers and grandmothers in this process of handing on the faith, citing his own grandmother but also Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas from the Canadian Arctic to the Pontiff's Argentina.

Lake St. Anne, recognized by the Canadian government as a National Historic Site since 2004, has been the site of an annual pilgrimage during the week of July 26 since 1889.

Considered a place of healing by local people for centuries, this lake called "Lake of God" by the Nakota Sioux or "Lake of the Spirit" by the Cree people took the name of Jesus' grandmother at the initiative of missionary Jean-Baptiste Thibault, who created a permanent Catholic mission there in 1842.