Canadian Press, Nov. 9, 2002
http://cnews.canoe.ca/
FOND DU LAC, Sask. (CP) – Hundreds of Catholics are gathering around an image formed by frost between the sealed panes of a window in the belief it’s an apparition of the Virgin Mary.
John Paquette saw the frosty outline on his living room window in the remote far northern community of Fond du Lac for several days but didn’t mention it to anyone, his brother Napoleon Paquette said Tuesday.
But when his daughter saw the image on Friday, word spread and dozens of people in the isolated reserve flocked to see it, where they gathered Tuesday to pray and sing hymns in Dene.
The metre-tall image is on the inner pane and can be seen only from inside the house, where it looks like an outline of a full-body statue of the Virgin Mary, said Napoleon’s wife, Rose Paquette.
“She’s telling us to pray for peace in the world,” Rose said.
The image does not have clearly distinguishable face and hands but Rose said a veil and long gown were clearly visible.
Trucks and all terrain vehicles were lined up on the road.
It’s the second image believed to be the mother of Jesus Christ to have appeared in northern Saskatchewan.
An image that has appeared repeatedly since September on a greenhouse at Ile a la Crosse continues to draw visitors, said Clinton Bouvier, 19, who lives with his grandparents at the house just outside the town.
About 20 people, mostly locals, still come every day to see the image, but there have been thousands in the past two months, some who came from as far away as Alaska, Bouvier said.
Ile-a-la-Crosse is 520 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon.