FEBRUARY 8, 2025

Dear reader,

For 20 years, Catholics flocked to the Marian Shrine of Gratitude in a small monastery garden in North York. Worshippers believe the site was touched by God, and they claim praying at its altar has cured all manner of physical and spiritual ailments, including cancer, paralysis and diabetes.

In 2023, after thousands of pilgrimages to the site, a developer purchased the property with plans to build four condos and a rental building—cutting off public access to the shrine in the process. As Nicholas Hune-Brown wrote in his 2024 feature “One Holy Mess,” true believers fought back, triggering a mini suburban religious war.

This week, worshippers took their fight to city council, pleading that the property be designated a heritage site, a status that would restrict changes to existing buildings at 3100 Weston Road and create an opportunity to reinstate the shrine. Call the result what you will—proof of democratic process or divine intervention—they received a unanimous vote in their favour.

For more great long-reads from Toronto Life, subscribe to our print edition here.

—Madi Haslam, digital editor

Over almost two decades, a garden behind a monastery on Weston Road was, according to a cluster of Catholics, the site of multiple miracles. Then, a developer bought the property to build condos. He says he’s addressing the housing crisis. The worshippers say he’s the devil in disguise

BY NICHOLAS HUNE-BROWN | FEBRUARY 26, 2024

In 2004, Father Basil Orestes Cembalista was clearing brush in the terraced backyard garden of his monastery when he felt a piece of debris pierce his right eye. The incident should have caused permanent vision loss. Instead, he cried out a prayer to Mother Mary and was healed. Cembalista set up an altar in the garden at the site of the purported miracle, and Catholics have visited the shrine for healing ever since. Then, in 2023, a developer purchased the site to build 2,000 housing units, cutting off access to the shrine—miracles and worshippers be damned. 

In the latest issue: what it’s like to be Scottie Barnes, the face of the Raptors—and the team’s best chance of salvation. Plus, the scandal that tore the equestrian world apart, the battle over the Bloor Street bike lanes, a ranking of the city’s best new pasta dishes, and more. Still not receiving Toronto Life at home? Subscribe today.

Follow us for the latest from Toronto Life

Copyright ©2024. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part strictly prohibited. Toronto Life is a registered trademark of SJC Media

15 Benton Rd.
Toronto, M6M 3G2

You're receiving this email because you signed up for a Toronto Life newsletter.

Unsubscribe