If you attend mass at Sainte-Anne Basilica, you’ll see a large silver cross in the mortuary chapel. Cast in Italy, this highly symbolic object is a reproduction of a cross given to Marguerite d’Youville when the Grey Nuns community was founded in 1755.
Why symbolic? It was none other than the King of France himself, Louis XV, who authorized the creation of a new community. To express her gratitude to him, the Blessed Mother had a fleur-de-lys added to the ends of the cross, symbolizing royal power.
And, today, a symbol of a certain flag…