We’ve all heard of Fatima, Lourdes and Guadalupe: places where the The Blessed Virgin Mary stepped into time to call people back to Christ. These were crucial moments in history and the effects of these apparitions helped build a thriving Christian civilization: one the world sorely needs again!

Bridge of Roses: The Story of Our Lady of the Cape is a faith-affirming documentary that recounts the remarkable story of Cap-de-la-Madeleine near Trois Rivieres, Quebec – it’s missionaries, miracles and 400 year relationship with the Mother of God.

The faithful were nowhere to be found. The little church on the banks of the St. Lawrence River was without a parish priest for nearly 100 years. Then in 1867, a hopeful but disillusioned new pastor discovers a pig chewing on a Rosary in the sanctuary of the church! “The people drop the Rosary and the pigs pick it up!” he thought. That moment led Fr. Luc Desilets to make a powerful vow to dedicate the remainder of his life to the promotion of the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary. This vow to our Lady would set into motion a series of divine interventions that transformed this tiny church in the middle of nowhere into a national shrine and a devotion that has spread across Canada throughout the world.

Stylized recreations recount the journey of the Cape’s earliest missionaries; the miracle of the ice bridge in the spring of 1879 -which spanned the entire width of the St. Lawrence; the Prodigy of the Eyes where a statue of Our Lady came to life in the presence of three men in the small shrine; and the first canonical crowning of Our Lady of the Cape in 1904, as decreed by Pope St. Pius X. News of these events would spread throughout the world and help reshape the church in North America. The film features Blessed Frédéric Janssoone played by Bishop Scott McCaig, CC, and Fr. Luc Desilets played by Fr. Ben St. Croix, CC. The faithful witness of these two priests would bring about the birth of the now famous shrine at Cap-de-la-Madeleine.

Devotion to Our Lady of the Cape reached a high point in 1947, when a pilgrim statue journeyed from The Cape to a spectacular Marian Congress in Ottawa. She visited over 340 parishes and was venerated by over a million people on route. The whole event was worthy of a feature in LIFE Magazine.

Present day missionaries Dennis and Angelina Girard are guardians of this statue at their home parish of Blessed Sacrament in Ottawa. Their ministry promotes global enrolment in the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary, a tradition that shares a deep connection with Our Lady of the Cape.

Featuring interviews with Bishop Pierre-Olivier Tremblay, Bishop of the diocese of Trois-Rivières, Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC, Fr. Lawrence Lew, Dominican Promoter General of the Holy Rosary, Fr. Roger Vandenakker, General Superior of the Companions of the Cross and Fr. Mark Goring, CC, the film gives witness to the efficacy of the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary as a means of conversion, miracles and hope for our times.

The U.S. Grace Force is partnering with the makers of this film to help make it available across America. Watch Grace Force Podcast Episode 107 for an interview with Dennis Girard of the Marian Devotional Movement. Dennis will share more about the film and how it relates to the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary.