Saint-Sylvestre is a municipality in the Municipalité régionale de comté de Lotbinière

Lotbinière Regional County Municipality, Quebec

Lotbinière is a Regional County Municipality in central Quebec, Canada in the Chaudière-Appalaches region. It is an almost exclusively rural RCM, with no village with a population above 4,000. As of the 2001 Census, the RCM had a population of 26,851, a decrease of 0.3% since 1996. Its seat is in...

 in Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It is part of the Chaudière-Appalaches

Chaudière-Appalaches

Chaudière-Appalaches is an administrative region in Quebec, Canada. It comprises most of what is historically known as the "Beauce" |the electoral district of Beauce]]). It is named for the Chaudière River and the Appalachian Mountains....

 region and the population is 989 as of 2009. It is named after Pope Sylvester I.

The Saint-Sylvestre "Miracles"

In 1948-1949, the Bélanger family of Saint-Sylvestre found fame in performing "healing miracle

Miracle

A miracle often denotes an event attributed to divine intervention. Alternatively, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature. Others suggest that a god may work with the laws...

s." Visitors from Canada and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 came to be cured by one of the four Bélanger children, aged 8 to 12. The children allegedly acquired healing powers after having seen their deceased sisters dressed like angels and escorted by the Holy Virgin

Mary (mother of Jesus)

Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...

.

Visitors would leave money to the children for their curing deeds, and they received the support of Reverend Emile Bourassa, from neighbouring Saint-Patrice-de-Beaurivage

Saint-Patrice-de-Beaurivage, Quebec

Saint-Patrice-de-Beaurivage is a municipality in the Municipalité régionale de comté de Lotbinière in Quebec, Canada. It is part of the Chaudière-Appalaches region and the population is 1,054 as of 2009. It is named after Saint Patrick, as the first settlers were Irish. Beaurivage is associated to...

. The priest of Saint-Sylvestre, Reverend Edmond Pelletier, preached against these "miracles" and in 1949, Archbishop Maurice Roy

Maurice Roy

-External links:***...

, in the name of the Archdiocese of Quebec

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec

The Archdiocese of Québec is the oldest Catholic see in the New World north of Mexico. The archdiocese was founded as the Apostolic Vicariate of New France in 1658 and was elevated to a Diocese in 1674 and an Archdiocese in 1819...

, ruled the affair as a hoax. The Bélanger home was closed to visitors soon after.