Mary of Canada: The Virgin Mary in Canadian Culture, Spirituality, History, and Geography

Susan McKnight is an administrator of the Courts Technology Integrated Justice Project at the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General.

In Mary of Canada, Joan Skogan takes the reader on a pilgrimage all over
Canada, discovering vestiges of the Virgin Mary in some usual and some
very unusual places. It is a wonderful adventure filled with surprises
and humour and, above all, reverence. Skogan traces the presence of Mary
as a real woman, as a myth, as a folk heroine, and as a religious
icon—all with the same level of importance. The “Mary of Canada”
has developed from a combination of beliefs brought to this country by
emigrants from different countries and the Aboriginal foundation already
present. Canada’s Mary has a clearly defined affinity with the natural
world. The book’s eight chapters cover Skogan’s ramblings in
different regions in Canada and her various discoveries, ranging from
religious shrines to a fairly sacrilegious poster for a performance at
the Vancouver East Cultural Centre.

Skogan writes in an easy style that carries the reader along with her
on her travels. The book is beautifully designed with many illustrations
and photographs of the shrines and items relating to Mary in Canada. The
outside margin of each page is filled with quotations, recipes, biblical
passages, and poetry relating to the life and times of Mary. There are
endnotes for each chapter and a full listing of “Other Sources.”

Best known as a journalist, Skogan has published poetry, short stories,
and children’s stories.