This event is held on Friday of Festival weekend at 6 PM at St. Peter’s Church, Larry’s River and at the Parc de Nos Ancêtres across the road from the church. A bilingual liturgical service is conducted in the  beautifully decorated Eglise St. Pierre followed by a flag-raising ceremony accompanied by the singing of the Acadian Anthem, Ave Maris Stella. Our Opening Service is designed to remind us of our strong link to our Catholic Faith and that it was the “rock” of our survival. So important was the Catholic Faith to our Acadian ancestors, that it was one of the reasons they refused to sign the oath of allegiance to the British monarch. Abandoning their religion was not a bargaining point they would entertain, even if it meant deportation. To reflect this, we made our religious bilingual Service central to our 2004 Congrès Mondial celebrations and have continued to make it a focal point of our annual Festival. As a link to our cultural past, we sing our Acadian Anthem, Ave Marie-Stella as a closing musical selection led by St. Peter’s Choir under the direction of Karen Delorey.