Saint Anne's Catholic Church on Mackinac Island Coffee Mug

Saint Anne's Catholic Church, Mackinac Island From the Ste. Anne's website: "Roman Catholicism came to the Straits of Mackinac through the self-sacrificing efforts of Jesuit Missionaries. The early history of the entire Great Lakes region echoes with the names of Jesuit priests and brothers who travelled side-by-side, and sometimes ahead of, the first explorers and traders. With an unrelenting zeal to take the word of God to all people, men such as Jean de Brebeuf, Isaac Jogues, Charles Raymbault, Claude Allouez, Gabriel Druilletes, Rene Goupil and Claude Dablon journeyed to the far reaches of the Great Lakes and to the Straits of Mackinac in 1670. In that year, Father Jacques Marquette brought his refugee band of Huron Indians to the secluded safety of Mackinac Island. The Jesuits soon found themselves ministering to both their Ottawa converts in the mission and the growing French-Canadian population in the adjacent community of Michilimackinac. Fulfilling their dual responsibility became more challenging for the Jesuits after 1741 when the Ottawa moved 20 miles south along the Lake Michigan shore to L’Arbre Croche where they established new crop fields. The Jesuits transferred their mission to L’Arbre Croche while continuing to serve the small but active Michilimackinac congregation. Now separated from the mission, the Michilimackinac congregation built a new church a few years later and named it “Ste. Anne’s,” in honour of the mother of the Virgin Mary. The residents of Michilimackinac had a special devotion to Ste. Anne, as she was the patron saint of voyageurs."