The approach to the church on one's knees is known at many shrines, but the Scala Sancta at Beaupre may be less familiar to pilgrims. This is a flight of 28 steps, copied from a set in the chapel of the old Lateran palace, which are thought to be those from Pilate's praetorium, brought to Rome by St. Helena, that indefatigable collector of large-scale relics. Pilgrims ascend the staircase, often on their knees, pausing on each stair to say a prayer. Just in case the pilgrim is not familiar with this devotional practice, little books on sale at the entrance explain the meaning of the stairs and suggest appropriate prayers. Other private devotional practices can be learned simply from observation.
Pilgrims often leave little offerings such as flowers or rosaries on statues.
This is usually accelerated on feast days, when, for example, the marble angels which stand at the foot of the statue of St. Anne in the transept of the church are completely buried in flowers, scarves, jewelry and rosaries. Notes are left, giving thanks for favors or requesting them, as well as holy cards and pictures of loved ones for whom petitions are made. Bottles of medicine are left, although it is difficult to know if these are requests for a cure or in token of one which has taken place, and sometimes crutches or braces. These are later prominently displayed on pillars near the entrance of the church, as evidence of the cures which have taken place there. In some pilgrim groups, the indoctrination is quite formal.