The Assumption, the Acadians and Louis XIII

The first National Acadian Day in 1909 in Shediac, New Brunswick

In the first decades of the seventeenth century, immigrants from southern France began to settle in the Maritime Provinces under the auspices of King Louis XIII. They would come to be known as the Acadians, but from the first their story would be intertwined with the this dates, August 15th, the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. And it was their attachment to France, the eldest daughter of the Church and it’s thirteenth King names Louis that is at the heart of the matter.

Louis’ mother and father, you see, were childless and without an heir. So they asked all the Churches in France to intercede with the Blessed Virgin, on the feast of her Assumption into heaven, to intercede for them.

In response to their prayers, Louis XIII was born, and so, the feast of the Assumption was declared a National Holiday, as it still is, all throughout France. There are 11 national holidays in France, and four of them are feast days: Christmas, All Saints, the Ascension of the Lord and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

Which is why the Acadian ancestors of those who built this Church declared the Blessed Virgin Mary on the feast of her Assumption to be their patron. As we do too, trusting that the great Mother of God, who interceded for all those who have gone before us, will intercede for us too, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.