The Annals of Saint Anne - Summary
March-April 2026
Editor's desk François-Marie Héraud
Believe
For Saint John of the Cross, faith is not an intellectual adherence to dogmas, but rather an attitude of the whole being who accepts to walk in darkness to reach what surpasses all knowledge. He expresses it in these remarkable words: “To come to the knowledge you have not, you must go by a way in which you know not.”
Here, Mary leads the way. God desired her. His gaze rested upon her, and He chose her to “safeguard” the mystery of the Incarnation. In this way, God calls, and Mary responds, allowing herself to question, then offering her “Yes” and becoming the one through whom the divine plan is fulfilled.
Elizabeth, her cousin, speaks of Mary with profound insight: “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” (Luke 1:45)
This is what it means to believe. Mary steps forward relying on the certainty that God will be true to His word; He will be faithful and never forsake her. In every circumstance, she stands steadfast and comes to witness the fulfillment of the promise that she treasures in her heart.
Mary knows she is genuinely loved by God. Time and again, she has received signs of this love. She remains discreet, humble and silent; for it is from God that she receives everything. Her life embodies humility, that gentle strength rooted within her.
“Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
(Luke 1:45)
Mary watches her Son grow and accompanies Him. As a witness, she is present to the end, even to the Crucifixion. She does not flee, withdraw or revolt, but remains at His side so that He does not bear the burden of loneliness alone. With Him, she shares in the suffering; she keeps vigil through the night, waiting until all is fulfilled and for the sun to rise on Easter morning.
Mary remains faithful to the Word given by God, to the promise entrusted to her. Day by day, she holds fast to hope and draws unwavering strength from her faith that guides her journey from Nazareth to Golgotha.
Today, where are you, Mary? Let us dare to take time to listen to her, to ponder her life anew. Then, we shall discover that she walks beside us in times of distress, suffering and illness. She, who is Full of Grace, remains very near to us, standing by our side. Her presence prompts us to welcome her Son in faith. As at Cana, Mary invites us to do whatever He tells us, to believe as she believed.
May Mary, our Mother, comfort us and bring us peace!
May Christ walk before us, that we may know where to place our next step!
Happy Easter to you and your loved ones!
United in prayer.
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Charles Duval, C.Ss.R., – Archbishop of Grouard-McLennan
Believing What is True
At times, it seems to me that our world has lost its sense of truth. As Pilate asked Jesus on the day of the crucifixion, “What is truth?” Even if a certain head of state dares to speak of “alternative truths,” there can only really be one truth. It may be hard to discover or to prove, but what truly happened remains.
You have probably heard someone say something like this, “You believe one thing, I believe something else, and that’s fine.” It seems that some people think that believing something to be true automatically makes it true.
Personally, I am not interested in a truth, but in the Truth. Why hold on to ideas if they are not true? Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6). But believing this requires faith in Him and in that truth.
What does it really mean to believe? After the Resurrection, Jesus said to Thomas, who wanted to touch the nail marks in His hands, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” (John 20:29) For Jesus, believing means affirming that something is true without having seen it. But how, then, can we be sure that it is true?
“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
(John 20:29)
Did you know that many people still believe the earth is flat? They claim that photographs taken by astronauts and their testimonies are merely fabrications. This shows that seeing, in itself, can be misleading, a reality that we experience more and more today with images and videos generated by artificial intelligence (AI).
I was born into a deeply scientific family. I was taught to think and to discover the world through the scientific method: observation, questioning, hypothesis, and experimentation. We observe a phenomenon, ask questions to understand it, propose a hypothesis, and test it through experiment. If the experiment confirms the hypothesis, it then becomes an explanation (a scientific law); if not, we return to observation and begin again.
I naturally apply this same approach to my faith. We cannot explain God through science, but neither does He want us to believe without giving us signs of who He is and that He exists. When we begin to sincerely seek Him, He provides enough evidence to leave very little doubt that He truly exists.
Sherlock Holmes famously said, “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth” (Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of the Four). With God, this principle is more complicated, since He often works through what humans consider impossible; still, Holmes points us towards a path that allows us to discover God’s truth.
A Christian does not believe merely for the sake of believing, but seeks the truth of a God who has made Himself so present to us that we can no longer deny that He exists, that He loves us (John 3:16), and that He desires to be close to humanity, to each and every one of His sons and daughters.
