North of Glentworth, Gilbert and Pauline Chabot usually live in their farmhouse during the summers, where they take breaks from their home in Lethbridge Alberta.
Gilbert Chabot decided to build a shrine on the property where he once farmed.
Chabot鈥檚 twinned objective in building this shrine involved his desire to spread Christ鈥檚 message of love.
He also wanted to construct a holy edifice to assist the farmers.
鈥淒uring his tenure as pope, St. John Paul II in one of his pastoral exhortations wrote about The New Evangelization and that this evangelization could not be done by the clergy alone. He went on to say that the laity will have and does have a part to play,鈥� Chabot explained.聽
His shrine would also be a powerful symbol meant to support the farmers in the Glentworth locale in prayer during the planting, growing and harvesting seasons from May until September.
Chabot鈥檚 inspiration came from a priest in Ponteix during the 1990s, who wanted assist the farmers by holding times of devotion and prayer.
The pastor in Ponteix invited the community to come to the church every Friday to say the Rosary, even if they were wearing their work clothes.
鈥淚t didn鈥檛 matter how you were dressed, just come for twenty minutes, a half hour, then go back to your fields or work. In the 10 years they did this, it is reported in that dry part of the province, not once did they have a crop failure,鈥� Chabot said.
聽The shrine is also significant for Canada, as St. Joseph is the nation鈥檚 patron saint. Moreover, Pope Pious XXII crowned Our Lady of Guadalupe as the Empress of the Americas in 1945.聽
鈥淲ith that in mind, my wife and I decided to build a shrine in our yard in honour of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, St. Joseph, the patron saint of Canada and the Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of the Americas,鈥� Chabot explained.
The shrine in the corner of their front yard is a remarkable testament of faith and took Chabot two years to construct.
鈥淚t鈥檚 built out of bathtubs,鈥� Chabot said. 鈥淚 salvaged some bathtubs.鈥�
Chabot used recycled lumber to build the shrine鈥檚 base. A friend of his who once taught industrial arts in school helped him to build the roof. The shrine鈥檚 construction also incorporated concrete to give the structure reinforced strength.
The statues for the shrine were purchased in Regina and Calgary.
鈥淭here鈥檚 Mary and Joseph and the Sacred Heart of Jesus is in the middle,鈥� Pauline Chabot said, describing the shrine overlooking the breadth of grasslands and fields surrounding their house.
鈥淗aving completed this project, we have once again been inspired to invite all our friends and neighbours, along any one else of the surrounding communities, to come and pray every Friday at this shrine at 5 p.m. for the fruits of the land,鈥� Chabot said, hoping prayer at the shrine would become a regular fixture during the springs and summers in the future from May until September.
Chabot鈥檚 ultimate purpose is to bring the farmers of the Glentworth region together in prayer, whether they are Catholics or Protestants.
To visit the shrine, enter the RM of Waverley No. 44 on the northwest quarter of section 10 in Township 6, on Range 5, one mile west off Highway 58 on the Glentworth grid and one and a half mile north on Range Road 3053.
Also, there鈥檚 a metallic sign on the road with name Chabot at the lane鈥檚 entrance 鈥� this lane goes past Kuffner鈥檚 farm before ending at Chabot鈥檚 house.
