Pilgrimage in France : Sainte Anne d'Auray in July
Posted by LN, Wednesday 30 June 2010 at 21:20 - Discover Brittany - Tags
If you're on your pilgrim's way... stop at Sainte Anne d'Auray...
It was a crowdy place before and even now... For several centuries Sainte Anne has been and still is a great place of Christian pilgrimage. A bit like Lourdes.
The basilica was built in the 19C, when pilgrims were too numerous to fit in the small chapel of Yves Nicolazic. Around 800,000 visitors travel here every year (it is the third place of pilgrimage in France after Lourdes and Lisieux).
You'll be amazed by the number of hotels in this small town of 2,000 inhabitants. Sainte Anne d'Auray will be the best accomodation when nearby on the Morbihan coast all the B&B are sold out (the weekends of spring when the cottages and other accommodations are full ... I survived in Sainte Anne d'Auray).
Let's go back to the place of worship. It began in 1622 when, in the hamlet of Ker Anna, a farmer, Yves Nicolazic had "visions" ... Only a year later, in the night of July 25 to 26... Sainte Anne, the grandmother of Jesus will introduce herself ... And later still, when the mother of Mary led the farmer with some other believers to the statue of St. Anne … hidden in the place where once stood a chapel. Anne asked them to rebuild it... 924 years later.
This is the beginning of the legend ... Sainte Anne (St. Anne), mother of the Virgin Mary and grandmother of Jesus choosed Yves Nicolazic.The miracles continued and popular enthusiasm began: the farmer married for many years but with no children, will soon get 4. Pierre Keriolet, a contemporary of Nicolazic, native son, highwayman, rogue of the worst kind and libertine will convert too ... The catholic pilgrimage began...
If the place was venerated already during the 5th C, at the beginning of the evangelization of Britain, the chapel was ruined for many centuries. And the building to replace it soon became too small for pilgrims. A chapel, a cloister, a Scala Sancta and a miraculous fountain were added.
The chapel of the 17th C will be replaced in 1865 by the present church. It still hosts thousands of pilgrims during the feast of Anne (25 and 26 July).
You can see the Scala Sancta in some movies where the pilgrims were climbing. Breton women in knee cap in reciting prayers roamed the stairs ... Another world ...
Near the basilica, a place dedicated to John Paul II, only pope to have come to Britain. More than 150,000 people came to see him in 1996.
You can also visit the house of Yves Nicolazic, which is located near the Basilica (free admission). And every year, at Saint Anne d'Auray, and for those who have not obtained the favors of Saint Guirec, the singles can meet, during a weekend held in May and find true love!
Read this article in French : Pélerinage à Sainte Anne d Auray : le pardon de juillet
It was a crowdy place before and even now... For several centuries Sainte Anne has been and still is a great place of Christian pilgrimage. A bit like Lourdes.
The basilica was built in the 19C, when pilgrims were too numerous to fit in the small chapel of Yves Nicolazic. Around 800,000 visitors travel here every year (it is the third place of pilgrimage in France after Lourdes and Lisieux).
You'll be amazed by the number of hotels in this small town of 2,000 inhabitants. Sainte Anne d'Auray will be the best accomodation when nearby on the Morbihan coast all the B&B are sold out (the weekends of spring when the cottages and other accommodations are full ... I survived in Sainte Anne d'Auray).
Let's go back to the place of worship. It began in 1622 when, in the hamlet of Ker Anna, a farmer, Yves Nicolazic had "visions" ... Only a year later, in the night of July 25 to 26... Sainte Anne, the grandmother of Jesus will introduce herself ... And later still, when the mother of Mary led the farmer with some other believers to the statue of St. Anne … hidden in the place where once stood a chapel. Anne asked them to rebuild it... 924 years later.
This is the beginning of the legend ... Sainte Anne (St. Anne), mother of the Virgin Mary and grandmother of Jesus choosed Yves Nicolazic.The miracles continued and popular enthusiasm began: the farmer married for many years but with no children, will soon get 4. Pierre Keriolet, a contemporary of Nicolazic, native son, highwayman, rogue of the worst kind and libertine will convert too ... The catholic pilgrimage began...
If the place was venerated already during the 5th C, at the beginning of the evangelization of Britain, the chapel was ruined for many centuries. And the building to replace it soon became too small for pilgrims. A chapel, a cloister, a Scala Sancta and a miraculous fountain were added.
The chapel of the 17th C will be replaced in 1865 by the present church. It still hosts thousands of pilgrims during the feast of Anne (25 and 26 July).
You can see the Scala Sancta in some movies where the pilgrims were climbing. Breton women in knee cap in reciting prayers roamed the stairs ... Another world ...
Near the basilica, a place dedicated to John Paul II, only pope to have come to Britain. More than 150,000 people came to see him in 1996.
You can also visit the house of Yves Nicolazic, which is located near the Basilica (free admission). And every year, at Saint Anne d'Auray, and for those who have not obtained the favors of Saint Guirec, the singles can meet, during a weekend held in May and find true love!
Read this article in French : Pélerinage à Sainte Anne d Auray : le pardon de juillet
French