Anecdotes about the Virgin Mary

The little boats hanging from Bon-Secours

Montreal (Canada)

Anyone entering the Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours chapel in Old Montreal by the port will look up and discover something heartwarming: small wooden model ships hang from the nave's ceiling. They are not decorations. They are votive offerings, fulfilled promises, expressions of gratitude suspended in the air by sailors who returned alive from the St. Lawrence River.

Since the 17th century, this church has been the beloved "sailors' church." Men who risked their lives on the river offered these small boats in gratitude for surviving storms and shipwrecks. The sanctuary's tradition recounts a typical story: a sailor from Montreal, caught in a fierce storm on the St. Lawrence River, promised Our Lady of Good Help that he would offer her a small boat if he survived. He arrived safe and sound, and he kept his promise: that votive offering joined those that still adorn the church today.

Let's distinguish fact from sentimentality. It is documented, and recognized as historical heritage, that since the 17th century sailors have hung these models, attributing their salvation to the Virgin; the ceiling still displays them. In contrast, the individual stories—"a fisherman saved in such a storm"—belong primarily to oral and devotional tradition: the sanctuary recounts typical cases without always providing names and dates. The exact year is unknown for this particular sailor, although the custom already existed in the time of Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys, who died in 1700.

It's heartwarming to think of that Mother who, according to Montreal devotion, watches over those who sail. And who receives, not gold or silver, but little toy boats carved by grateful hands.