St. Alphonsus Church Remembers Rose Prince, Survivor of Canada’s Indian Residential Schools

In light of the recent discoveries of unmarked graves at sites of Canada’s Indian residential schools, the St. Alphonsus Church community in Edmonton, Alberta continues to pray that God may elevate Rose Prince to the canon of Saints. Rose Prince is a survivor of the Lejac Residential School near Fraser Lake, British Columbia. A Mass celebrated by Father Glenn McDonald, CSB and Father JD Carmichael at St. Alphonsus Church on August 19 marked the 72nd anniversary of her death.

Rose Prince was the third of nine children of Jean-Marie and Agathe Prince. She entered the school at age seven with several of her siblings. Despite the terrible hardships she suffered, Rose Prince became a model of humility, gentleness and prayer. When she was 16, her mother and two youngest sisters died of influenza. Heartbroken, she decided to remain at the school to care for other children. She died on August 19, 1949, at the age of 34, from tuberculosis. Two years after her death, her body was discovered to be uncorrupted — a traditional sign of sanctity. In 1990, a pilgrimage to her grave, which is located on the former site of the Lejac residential school, began.

As part of the Mass, parishioners offered spiritual gifts of prayer and penance in hopes that God will make Rose Prince a saint. The spiritual gifts were taken to the Mission Hill Cemetery in St. Albert, Alberta and placed at the statue of the Little Flower; and right after, a rainbow appeared in the sky.