News Letter Excerpts

The bells of the Roman mission
That call from the turrets twain
To the boatmen on the river
The hunter on the plain
The voyageur smiles as he listens
To the sound that grows apace,
Well he knows the vesper ringing
Of the bells of St Boniface

A poem written by John G. Whittier in summer of 1860

The Cathedral Was Ravaged By Flames

In July 1968, the burning of St Boniface Basilica saddened the whole community. Hundreds wept as flames swept through the handsome cathedral with its impressive spires.

But in 1860 an earlier St Boniface Cathedral was ravaged by fire - the proud stone edifice whose graceful turrets were immortalized by an American poet. The destruction of the cathedral was a disaster unparalleled in the history of the Red River.

On the morning of December 14, 1860, it was 25 below. In a bedroom near the bishop's, a young French priest lay dying. Heard above the murmur of the last rites was the desolate howling of the icy wind.

In the kitchen below, Sister Gosselin told the servant Ursule to hurry with the melting of a pot of 60 pounds of buffalo tallow. It was for Christmas candles and tapers would be needed for the expected funeral mass. Galarneau the carpenter was drying boards for the coffin behind the huge stove.

Suddenly the great bubbling cauldron boiled over, the grease blazed up and the flames enveloped the kitchen. Carried by the gale, the fire swept through the bishop's palace, the cathedral and the adjoining buildings.

The bells crashed from the turrets, clanging the death-knell of the cathedral as they fell. Soon only the blackened stone walls of the church remained, just as the walls of the basilica stood in 1968.

In the fire many of the parish archives and precious documents perished. The tabernacle and sacred species, parts of the alter, stations of the cross, the organ and a statue of the Virgin Mary were rescued. Risking her life, Sister Gosselin saved sacred vessels and some vestments.

One life was lost, a needy traveler was sleeping behind the stove, but in return one life was saved.

The parish priest from St Joseph had been to Pembina on a visit and on the return trip had gotten lost in a snow storm. He was found several days later suffering from severe frostbite. He needed immediate medical attention and was taken to St Boniface, a surgeon was available in Fort Garry. His right leg and part of his left foot had been amputated. After about eight days and the healing process was progressing nicely, the stitches were removed, but that caused an artery to burst. The bleeding would not stop, he was hemorrhaging severely. Father Lestanc administered last rites and the man lay dying in the upstairs bedroom as the fire below raged. The dying priest was dragged out on his thin mattress and left in the bitter cold as everyone tried to put the fire out to no avail. Then the miracle happened, the intense cold congealed the blood, the hemorrhaging stopped and Father Goiffon lived.

This said to be the Christmas miracle in St Boniface in the winter of 1860.

By Larry Haag | Source: Tales of Early Manitoba by Edith Paterson