Dozens of people directly or indirectly affected by the tragedy at the Ste-Rose Educational Daycare, in Laval, gathered at a mass in honor of the victims.
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“Even the doggies have sad eyes,” said priest Claude Brissette at the outset during this special celebration held at Sainte-Rose-de-Lima Church on Friday morning.
“The violent death of a child is an absolute evil, an infinite sadness,” he continued.
Many songs accompanied this emotionally charged mass, where the small cries of the few children present mingled with silent tears.
“This tragedy has tested us deeply. […] It is an enormous suffering, an anguish. What happened ? What will happen? wondered the priest Michel Bouchard, who celebrated the mass.
He had placed a small stuffed dog on the altar, accompanied by two large candles in honor of the victims and four small ones for the injured youngsters.
The Church will host in a few days the funeral of little Jacob, four years old, who died Wednesday while he was at daycare, in a few days.
“It will be difficult, especially for the family,” Father Bouchard told the Journal.
Continuing tribute
In the morning, several people continued to bring flowers or stuffed animals to the church square.
This is particularly the case of Jessie Laflamme, a mother of three young boys, one of whom goes to a daycare center not far from the scene of the tragedy.
“We think it could have been us. It is a disaster. Lots of misunderstanding, frustration, anger. We sleep badly, we think of them, ”she says, her five-month-old baby on her arm.
“I currently only feel the heaviness, the loss of words, the incomprehension”, continued, emotional, Marie-Ève Leblanc, who worked for a long time in the early childhood network in Laval.