pilgrimage – Perennial Pyrenees

This month’s extract of ‘Highly Holy’ is also taken from Chapter Three and focusses on the Virgin sites and pilgrimage shrines of the Conflent/Cerdagne region (Pyrenees-Orientales), a borderland area which, although lying inside France, still maintains a sense of Catalan identity. Its geography ranges from mountains to foothills and coastal cliffs; perched and nestled among these are a wide variety of chapels, churches and monasteries which have served the laity for centuries.

Extract II from Chapter Three, Sacred Trails and Marian Tales’

The Abbey of Saint-Martin du Canigou is perched above the village of Casteil in the Canigou Massif and represents one of the first examples of Romanesque architecture in the Roussillon. Built at the request of Count Guifred II in the late tenth century,[1] the initial church was consecrated in 1009 and dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Saint Martin and Saint Michael. The lower church was the first to be consecrated and was dedicated to the Virgin, with the upper church built between 1010 and 1020 and dedicated to Saints Michael and Martin. When the monastery was endowed with the relics of Saint Gaudéric de Viéville a few years later, it was in the upper church that a small side chapel was built to house these relics for veneration and display. The Abbey’s high point was brief, being largely within Count Guifred II’s own lifetime, however the relics of Saint Gaudéric still attracted a sizeable following and donations from locals as well as those pilgrims passing through the Canigou corridor before crossing one of the ports of the Pyrenees. During the twelfth century, it became attached to the nearby Abbey of Lagrasse in the Aude but, due to mismanagement and a papal arbitration, it quickly sank into decline, before being seriously damaged on the 2^nd February 1428 by the ‘Candlemas earthquake’, an event which proved devastating for the abbey as well as much of Catalonia and Roussillon, with aftershocks lasting over a year.[2] Reconstruction of the damaged buildings and bell tower lasted for many decades due to poor funding, with the abbey finally secularised by Louis XVI in 1782. During the French Revolution, the last monks residing in the abbey were expelled and the monastic buildings closed, shortly after being transformed into stone quarries for the locals, with several nearby farmhouses still bearing evidence of using robbed-out stonework from the abbey. The abbey remained dilapidated and unused until the dawn of the twentieth century, when the Bishop of Perpignan, Monseigneur de Carsalade de Pont, commissioned its rebuilding and organised an annual pilgrimage to be held on Saint Martin’s day, the 11^th of November, both as a tribute to the abbey but also as a method of rallying local identity, for in this region the sense of being Catalan rather than French still holds significant sway.

In 1902, this prelate and his ‘faithful’ from all the Catalan country, in Spain as well as France, made the Fête de Saint Martin (11^th November) memorable. To give a poetic and sentimental importance to this occasion the bishop invited the ‘Consistoire’ of the ‘Jeux Floraux’ of Barcelona to hold their forty-fourth celebration here at the same time.

On a golden November sunlit day, amid the ring of mountains all resplendent with a brilliant autumn verdure, this grandest of all Fêtes de St. Martin was held. In the midst of the throne were the Bishop of Perpignan in his pontifical robes, and the mitred Abbé de la Trappe – a venerable old monk with snowy beard and vestments. At the head of the procession floated the reconstituted banner of the Comte Guifred, bearing the inscription ‘Guifre par la gracia de Dieu Comte de Cerdanya y de Conflent’. The local clergy from all over Roussillon and Catalonia were in line, and thousands of lay pilgrims besides. At the church, when the procession finally arrived, was celebrated a Pontifical Mass. At the conclusion of this religious celebration the Catalans of Barcelona took possession of the old basilica and the ‘fête littéraire’ commenced. The emotions throughout both celebrations was profound, and at the end there broke out seemingly interminable applause and shouts of ‘Vive la Catalogne!’, ‘Vive le Roussillon!’, ‘Vive Barcelona!’ and ‘Vive Perpignan!’.[3]

The abbey of Saint-Michel de Cuxa has already been discussed in Chapter One with regard to its architectural importance for the Romanesque in Conflent, and thus only a brief reminder of its history is needed here before passing on to the pilgrim presence. Founded in 840 at the head of the Tet valley, the original monastery was destroyed by flooding in 878 and then re-founded in Cuixa in 879 on the site of a minor community of Cenobites dedicated to Saint Germanus. The abbey was placed under the protection of the Count of Cerdanya and Conflent, with a new church dedicated to Saint Michael built in 940, which was expanded in 956 and then 974. In 978 the then Doge of Venice, Pietro I Orseolo, fled to the abbey under the cover of darkness to become a monk, together with the ascetic wanderer Romuald[4] and his companion Marinus, who founded a hermitage adjacent to the abbey. Despite the Conflent passing between the Crown of Aragon, the County of Barcelona, the Kingdom of Majorca, the Principality of Catalonia, the extended territory of the Iberian Caliphate, Habsburg Spain and the French monarchy, it continued to thrive due to its prodigious amount of parishes under its control. This continued up until the French Revolution when the lands were confiscated and the abbey was nationalised and sold, with the clergy evicted and the buildings falling into disrepair. In 1919, the abbey was re-founded and restored by the Cistercians, and transferred to Benedictine control in 1965.[5]

The abbey’s historical attraction for pilgrims has relied on two factors. The first is its location, being sited near the popular thoroughfares from the coast towards the Pyrenean passes which allowed access into Spain towards Santiago de Compostela. The other aspect was its collection of relics and image of the Virgin. The crypt of the abbey’s church is dedicated to its fourteenth-century Romanesque sculpture of Notre-Dame de la Crèche, while the church possesses a large rotunda of several levels dedicated to the Virgin Mary, ‘possibly in reference to the Rotunda of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’.[6] In terms of relics, prior to their transfer to other, safer locations or looting during the French revolution, the monastery held a number of valuable reliquaries and sarcophagi. These contained the partial or full relics of Saint Orseolo (the former Doge of Venice), Saint Valentine, Saint Nazaire, Saint Gaudéric and an alleged sliver of the Holy Cross. The enlargement of the church’s apses and the nave by Abbot Olba de Besalú in the eleventh century may have been influenced by an increasing circulation by pilgrims who were keen to pay devotions and make donations to these relics, displayed in side chapels, as well as the image of Notre-Dame de la Crèche in the crypt.[7]

Further down the coast towards the border with Catalonia is the coastal port of Coullioure, where the hermitage and chapel of Notre-Dame de Consolation stands on a plateau above the town, looking down onto the cove and out towards the Mediterranean Sea. The area has a multitude of springs, the most famous being the Douy spring (from which the Douy river flows down to Coullioure), and some suggest prompted sailors to erect a temple first to Neptune and then Poseidon on this site. However, archaeological evidence for this theory remains elusive as overlain by the chapel structure. The origins of the chapel are unclear, with some sources claiming it was built in the twelfth century by Dominican monks, however the first mention of a Virgin cult at this location appears in 1496 when ‘Maria de Consolacio’ is mentioned. There does not appear to be a legend attached to the discovery of the Virgin image. In 1549, the chapel is described as a capella heremitana, a ‘hermit chapel’, indicating that some observantines would have resided there from that period and acted as caretakers for the chapel. This is noteworthy as it is in the seventeenth century that hermitages become widely popular, with many chapels across the Pyrenees and Europe in general having annexes built to accommodate resident hermits, thus Notre-Dame de Consolation can be seen as an early adopter of this practise. In Roussillon, hermits were often consulted by local inhabitants on spiritual and moral problems, and the presence of a hermit at the chapel would have increased both visitations and donations to the site. As with so many other chapels and churches, the French Revolution instigated the sale of the site as State property; as to who bought the chapel, the historical record is silent. However, in 1805 the site was reopened and a new hermit took up residence. According to local legend he was a layman and so, rather than wearing a habit as had been customary for the previous generations of hermits, he dressed in traditional lay Catalan clothes, a practise which was continued by each subsequent hermit at the site until 1950 when the practise of resident hermits ended. The sanctuary was restored in 1811 and in 1975. It contains many examples of ex-votos from the seventeenth century as well as two side chapels, one dedicated to Saint Ferréol,[8] and the other to the Crucifix.[9] A pilgrimage takes place on both the 15^th August and on the Nativity of the Virgin, the 8^th September. The traveller Joseph-Antoine Cervini provides an extensive description of the September celebrations in the early nineteenth century.

We were going to enjoy once again the original and charming spectacle of the Catalan dance on the occasion of the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin, celebrated for two days by the inhabitants of the town and the surrounding area, but more particularly unemployed on that day, and made more pompous by the influx of foreigners. It is on the top of one of the longitudinal valleys, which the Albères form as they descend towards the Mediterranean, that the hermitage is situated. The hillside that one climbs to get there is one of the most abundant in this type of vines from which one obtains this wine so hot and so smoky which, stripped by old age, takes on the colour of a golden yellow, and which is so well known to gourmets under the name of ‘rancio du Roussillon’. While we were walking along the path, traced on the eastern slope of the mountain and in the middle of these vineyards whose color tired our eyes by its continuous uniformity, we turned around at every moment, and the vast expanse of the sea, the view of the bell tower of the church of Saint-Vincent, the glance of the houses of Collioure grouped picturesquely in the pyramidal form, and the aspect of the fort which crowns them with its old bastions, made us forget the fatigue of the road and the sad monotony of these evergreen vines. Besides, the moving and animated scenes of the various bands which preceded us, or followed us in a row, could not leave the least room for boredom. They were well-to-do farmers, or rich farmers, who, at the head of their numerous families, advanced accompanied by their servants, laden with provisions: they were fishermen who had rushed from the many bays which cut the coast from Cape Bearn to Cape Pineda in Spain, and who, alert and joyful, rushed with a rapid step, bringing in baskets the food which they were going to put in common and share among themselves: it was the mixture of people of all ages, sexes, and conditions, in a hurry to arrive, in order to secure one of the kitchens which can be hired on the spot, to prepare the meats which they had brought with them in the stew. Several Spaniards were mingled in this crowd of pilgrims and curious people; we recognized them by the large hat which covered their heads, or by the black net which wrapped their hair; They had scarlet cloth jackets lined with black velvet and decorated with the same material at the elbows, forearms, pockets and collar; the rest of their costume was similar to that of the inhabitants of the coast of the department; several of these foreigners were even only noticed by their folded coats and carelessly thrown over their shoulders. A large number of other individuals of the class of the people of the neighbouring communes, formed groups resting along the windings of the path that we followed, and on the banks of the stream maintained by the various trickles of water that flow from the surrounding heights; they were distinguished by their long scarlet caps falling on their shoulders, by the belt of the same colour, the velvet pants and jacket, and by their shoes called in the country espardenyas and which quite resemble the espadrilles of the inhabitants of the central Pyrenees.

Arriving on the terrace from which we suddenly and for the first time see the Hermitage, we find even more numerous groups, seated on the sides and under the beautiful elms which surround it. Several, others scattered above the esplanade, for want of having found space in the surrounding buildings, are busy setting up their kitchen in the open air; by means of a few stones laid in the fields, they form the hearth on which they place their pots. After visiting the church of the Hermitage, very simple in its construction, but whose high altar was quite well decorated, we followed the crowd which rushed hastily and in tumult towards the lower plateau where the juglas or jutglas, that is to say jugglers, began to make heard the sharp and nasal sound of the oboes, and to swell the bagpipe, called the bag of gemechs, that is to say the bag of moans; the piercing flageolet dominated this noisy melody whose movement was marked by the repeated blows of the tambourine. As soon as we arrived on this plateau, we saw the young people come forward and take each other by the hand, to form a sort of chain in a circle broken by the two leaders of the dance who were at the two ends. Obeying a rhythm more serious and severe than the amusement they were about to indulge in seemed to require, these young people performed a sort of monotonous swinging while taking a few steps, sometimes to the right, sometimes to the opposite side; the young girls, as if to attract their attention, came to place themselves in the centre of this circle, and from then on they were invited to the ball which followed this preparatory dance, called the contrapas, and which entirely reminded us of the Romeika of the Greeks. The ball contrasts as much as possible with the heavy and always the same pace of the contrapas; this dance is at the same time more lively, more cheerful and much more expressive; one would say the putting into action of a feeling of mutual intelligence between two hearts well in love; it is love with its phases and in its gradations; it is the painting of its whims, its fights, its deceptive traps. Here is how it is performed:

As soon as the cavalier has led his lady into the circle, he places himself opposite her at a certain distance. Immediately and forming steps and gambols, he advances on his dancer with animated gestures. The woman flees, retreats in a circle without taking a single step, and with her arms crossed on her belt, or her hands in her apron pockets and her head bent, she slides limply on tiptoe. A few sometimes stir, during the short duration of this position. In the middle of the ball some of the dancers alone and with a triple rush remove their dancers; they support them as if seated on the hand but these must second their skill by springing themselves appropriately. To this end, as soon as they have made an effort; at the same moment the dancer leaves the left hand of his dancer, makes a seat for her in the air with his right hand, supports her in front in balance with his left, pirouettes and turns on himself before afterwards they change roles, and it is then the woman who follows the dancer fleeing in turn in front of her; with a hurried step she pursues him and soon catches up with him; but often the cavalier, with a jump passes his right leg over the head of his dancer, avoids her, escapes her and then retraces his steps to begin his pursuit again. This game which lasts for a few moments is interrupted by the alternating change of dancer and dancer, a change which continues until several couples have gathered in a circle, and the ladies resting their hands on the shoulders of the cavaliers who take them under the arms, are by them lifted and supported in the air during the climax of the music which lasts a few seconds. It is a piquant and very pleasant picture that these women thus carried away at the same time, dominating the spectators to whose cheers they take it upon themselves, or else they place them on their shoulders. The young men recognized as strong enough, or rather skilful enough to succeed in this two-step, are generally the favourites and the favourites of the dancers; their left hand on the right of the rider, they stiffen their arm and leaning with the other on the shoulder of the dancer they give themselves momentum, and the latter can then raise them lightly and without putting it on the ground. As soon as the three different airs which compose each ball are played, new groups are formed, replace the first ones, and the dance thus does not suffer any interruption.

These are the principal figures of this dance, such as we have just described them; but it cannot give a just idea of the numerous concourses of persons assembled in the vicinity of the chapel, nor represent the interesting variety of episodes which such a gathering offered all around. First there was the interruption of the dance occasioned by the third and last stroke of the bell which called the pilgrims to mass, then as eager to enter the church as they had been, a few moments before, to run to the ball. The mass was not yet entirely over when with the same ardour some went again towards the place of the dance, while others ran to the tables set for the meal.

What a spectacle at once picturesque and interesting was this numerous assembly in the open air, this family feast and these various scattered groups which the most perfect harmony and the same gaiety seemed to unite! the feeling of pleasure that it made us experience equalled the delight that we had felt at the sight of the dance. This picture, moreover, was entirely new to us; it seemed to us to represent a halt of a nomadic population preparing to draw, from a common meal, the strength necessary to support the fatigues of a long journey. The illusion would have been complete if the extreme difference of the costumes, and the inequality of the good cheer, had not reminded us that those who formed this gathering already knew the social distinctions, and the rank and advantages that wealth and the favours of fortune dispense with. The tables covered with numerous dishes, containing all sorts of dishes, pastries and fruits, awaited the rich farmers, who on this occasion display the greatest luxury, and seek by profusion, rather than by delicacy, to surpass one another. The simple tablecloth spread in the shade of the neighbouring elm tree was surrounded by the craftsman’s family, who were content with their modest stew and household jam. As for the fishermen and the common people accustomed to braving the heat of the southern sun, they took shelter at the first available place, and on the ground or lawn that served as a table and seat, they appeased their appetite, either with charcuterie or with sardines salted on the coast. The wine flows everywhere; a bulb with a wide belly and a narrow neck from which a thin, long and curved pipe detaches, passes and repasses ceaselessly from hand to hand; soon emptied it is soon filled again in the immense demijohn which is always nearby, but which is placed as much as possible out of the sun. It is curious to see the manner and skill with which the villagers of Roussillon, and of several other parts of the Pyrenees, use this ampoule, by making the liquor gush from afar into their half-open mouths, which falls in a thin stream, and of which they do not lose a single drop. This way of drinking at the regale is not unpleasant either for the guests or for the spectators, and in this it far surpasses the use of pewter beer pots by the English and the Dutch; drinking cups or glasses are almost unknown among the lower class and the inhabitants of the mountains. Independently of the attraction added to the Hermitage of Consolation by the prodigious crowds brought there by the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin, this place has a charm of its own, and which is guaranteed forever by the magic of its situation, the limpidity of its waters, and particularly the rustic amenity of the esplanade in the middle of which one discovers it. Whatever the time of year when the traveller finds himself in the region, like us he will applaud himself for having visited it, like us he will feel the regret of leaving it. It was only after having spent the greater part of the day there that we went down to Collioure.[10]

Further inland, close to Cuxa, the hermitage of Notre-Dame in Font-Romeu (Cerdagne) has been a popular place of pilgrimage since the twelfth century and possibly earlier. Within the chapel, a painting is dated to 1113, however there are numerous springs in the area which have a long-standing reputation for healing. A legend which is not unfamiliar surrounds the discovery of the Virgin image which stands within the chapel. A herd of oxen used to graze on the rugged mountain of Odeilló, where only barns of sheds offered any shelter, and they would often drink from the spring on which the chapel’s altar now stands. One day, the herdsman saw that his bull took more interest than usual in the spring, trampling and sniffing at the source. The herder brought the unruly bull back to the herd several times but each time the animal would return to paw the earth where the spring emerged from the ground. Eventually the impatient oxherd was about to beat the animal when he saw that, where the bull had been sniffing and pawing with its hooves, a cleft in the rock could be seen and, within that cleft, the head of a wooden statue was just visible. The oxherd dropped his stick and reproached himself for being about to inflict violence upon the innocent animal. Removing the statue, for it was a wooden image of the Virgin, he carried the Madonna to the side of the spring and rushed down to the parish of Odeilló, to spread the news. A procession was hastily organised by the village priest and all the villagers accompanied the oxherd back to the spring, where the bull was standing guard over the figurine. The villagers of Odeilló hastily built an oratory to house the image on the spot where the spring came out of the earth, located where the high altar stands today, and subsequently they raised funds for a more substantial chapel. Early on, the image was removed to the church of Saint Martin, down in Odeilló, and taken back to the chapel in a great procession on Trinity Sunday, where she remained until the Nativity of the Virgin (September 8^th), before being taken back down the mountain to Odeilló. This tradition has continued to today, with the Virgin never being allowed to ‘spend winter on the mountain’ and also, more practically, coinciding with the timing of transhumance, when the livestock are brought up to the high pastures for the Summer and then brought down to the lower pastures before Autumn begins. There is a popular local legend which ties the name ‘Font Romeu’ to this event, with Font being the Catalan word for ‘fountain’ and Romeu referring to the name of the oxherd, however it is also suggested that Romeu was a term used to refer to pilgrims making their way to Rome, which then became extended to encompass any pilgrim, thus ‘Font-Romeu’ could be ‘the fountain of the pilgrims’.[11]

The twelfth-century chapel was entirely remodelled in 1686, being enlarged and extended to feature a courtyard and a larger chapel, in which a ‘camaril’houses the statue of the Virgin.[12] The statue itself is twelfth-century, made of gilded wood and represents the Virgin seated, holding a bouquet in her right hand and the infant Jesus on her knees. Her back is hollow, and it is thought that this was done to make her lighter and thus easier to carry during the processions. In the eighteenth century, a pool was built around the fountain, which funnels the spring water from its source under the high altar to the courtyard, and a great number of ex-votos can be seen in the chapel and around the fountain. After circulating the fountain and pool three times whilst reciting the rosary, pilgrims can immerse themselves in the waters, which have a reputation for general healing, and some are recorded as immersing themselves nine times in order to receive the maximum effect, as well as taking bottles of the water home with them.[13] A number of miracles have been associated with the site, including the curing of three brothers from Prades of measles in 1642, the restoration of health to a cripple in 1646 by bathing nine times in the fountain’s waters, the lifting of paralysis from a lady from Chalabre (Mirepoix) in 1740, the relief of a Dominican prior who fell from a window in 1807, the saving of Odeilló from ‘a contagious breeze’ (possibly cholera) in 1818, the saving of a woman from drowning in 1819 and the lifting of blindness from a child in 1824.[14] A Calvary was also constructed in 1852, three hundred metres from the chapel complex, with the stations placed at intervals at the edge of a grassy path which winds up the hill overlooking the chapel. Some pilgrims process up this path on their knees and at the top stands a small oratory with a statue of the Virgin behind a grill., from which a large panorama of the Cerdagne can be seen. A report by Monsieur Tolra de Bordas describes the scene of the September celebration at the chapel in 1855:

Arriving at the hermitage, the traveller does not fail to enter the chapel and to pay a short visit to the Guardian of these places. Before the morning services, which do not begin until ten o’clock, there is time to take a rest or walk around the chapel. Thus, one can, by leaving the church by the back door and turning right, walk along green platforms, where the pilgrim devoted to Mary regrets seeing frivolous amusements associated with the religious festival; one arrives there slowly by breaking through the crowd of joyful strollers who also circulate on this side, and by walking between two lines of peddlers; this time, it is no longer toys or ribbons, but edibles of all kinds, so that the traveller who goes to Font-Romeu can, without imposing on himself the hassle of transporting food, feed himself properly.

The office of the high mass, we have said, begins at ten o’clock on the day of the great feast of Our Lady of Font-Romeu. An hour in advance, the church is almost entirely filled with women of the country, most of whom keep their places by remaining seated or rather crouching on their heels. During the divine service, the observer placed outside is touched to see this immense crowd that the church cannot contain, unite in intention with those which fills the nave, and imitate, in a profound meditation, all the movements it sees being made, getting up when the inner crowd gets up, kneeling when they kneel, prostrating themselves or beating their chest, and so on. After the Gospel, the priest serving the parish of Odeilló usually goes up to the pulpit, where, after a touching instruction, he cannot neglect to stimulate the generosity of the assistants, whose ranks he does not delay in going along to collect their offerings.

[…] No one will want to leave Font-Romeu without taking with them a joyous souvenir of the church, you will find objects of piety of all kinds which the priest keeps at the disposal of pilgrims. These are blessed rosaries of Saint Bridget, medals (in copper or silver) of Our Lady of Font-Romeu, presenting on their reverse the figure of Saint John the Baptist; small crosses, images, scapulars with the image of the same Virgin; Catalan or Goig[15] hymns which are sung in Her honour;[16] a translation into French verse of the same hymn; ribbons or mides[17] of green, red or blue which can be used to pass around the neck of medals or reliquaries etc. With the high mass over, noon warns this multitude that it is time to open the baskets of provisions, and in the blink of an eye, thousands of place settings are spread out on the grass, in the shade of the mountain pines.[18]

As an aside it is also worth mentioning that just a stone’s throw from Font-Romeu lies the church of Notre-Dame de la Merci in Planès, whose foundation is attached to a very similar legend of discovery, in which a bull was seen to be scratching a patch of land in the mountainous pastures. Upon inspecting the spot which intrigued the bull, villagers discovered a statue of the Virgin Mary buried in the earth for safe-keeping. The church is dated to the eleventh century and is locally known as a Mesquita, or ‘mosque’ in Catalan, allegedly being the location of the tomb of Munuza, a Berber chief. According to an anonymous eighth-century chronicler from Cordoba, Munuza married Lampégie, the daughter of Duke Eudes of Aquitaine at the time when the Cerdagne was under Muslim control. This is almost certainly a flight of fancy on behalf of the chronicler, particularly the detail that, after being widowed, Lampégie was sent to a harem in the East. However, the story gained popularity with Romantic historians of the nineteenth-century as an explanation for the church being locally known as a ‘Mesquita’, the real reasons for which doubtless lie within the turbulent period of Muslim occupation and the Reconquista. Another curious detail is the church’s layout, which is broadly triangular, each side having a semi-circular apse, vaulted in a cul-de-four with an ovoid dome covering the church’s central space. It is thought that the triangular arrangement is a reference to the Trinity, with the circular form of the floor beneath the dome symbolising the Virgin. The statue itself is similar in style to Notre-Dame de Font-Romeu, being thirteenth-century and carved from wood. A local pilgrimage takes place on the 8^th September every year.[19]

On Bell-lloc hill, overlooking the current border between the French Cerdagne and the Catalan Cerdanya, the isolated thirteenth-century church of Nostre Senyora de Bell-lloc hosts a Virgin statue which was once regarded as ‘patron and protectress of both Cerdanyas’, a title which waned as a proliferation of more localised sites emerged in the French Cerdagne.[20] The church is first mentioned in a document dating to 1260, which references the restoration of a field to the priest of ‘Santa Maria Bell-lloc’, and in 1265 the will of Bernat de Rigosa stipulates that a farm from the village of Dorres (below the Bell-lloc hill) should be donated as freehold to the church of Bell-lloc in perpetuity. There is some contention as to whether or not the church had a domus hospitalis attached to it before the sixteenth-century, with some arguing that the level and frequency of donations indicates that some manner of hospital is almost certain, making comparisons with other similar examples in the region, whilst others contend that the geographical situation of the church would make it unsuitable for such a purpose. What is certain, however, is that in 1579 a convent of Servite nuns was established next to the church, which was then destroyed during the French Revolution and whose remains can be seen today adjacent to the church.[21]

The church itself shows several phases of reform, especially in the roof of the nave, where the original Romanesque barrel vault was replaced by wooden truces and the apse covered with a quarter-sphere vault. In 1792, the wooden statue of Bell-lloc’s Virgin was transferred to the parish church of Sant Joan de Dorres in order to spare it from Revolutionary destruction. The statue is unusual in that it sits on a seat made from a sheet of wood fixed to a perpendicular panel which acts as a backrest; this arrangement has no parallel in the Cerdanya. She also wears a tunic but no mantle, and there is evidence of a canopy which once possessed an ornate border of painted stones imitating the work of a goldsmith. The Virgin’s head is covered by a veil, her face is elongated and darkened (as is that of the Infant Jesus on her lap) and her extended right hand is disproportionately large. Another remarkable detail about this carving is the tunic, which gives the impression of transparency, making it possible to guess the outline of the Virgin’s legs from the knees down. It is an exotic statue, quite unlike anything else in the region, and it leaves the viewer with a sense of strangeness. The dating on the statue is unsure, with estimates ranging from the tenth to the early twelfth century and there is no surviving legend attached to its discovery or creation. From the village of Dorres below, a street transforms into an unpaved track which leads to the sanctuary. Along this route, a pilgrimage is conducted on the 8^th September each year to the hilltop and the chapel.[22]

[1] Count Guifred II of Ceragne (born 970, died 1049) was responsible for the consecration of several churches and monasteries in the region and, after retiring to Saint-Martin du Canigou in 1035 to become a monk, was buried in the Abbey upon his death. He inherited the county of Cerdagne from his father Count Oliba II in 988 after the latter took monastic vows at Monte Cassino (Lazio, Italy), as well as the county of Berga from his brother Oliva when Oliva also became a monk.

[2] See: Banda, E., Correig, A. M., ‘The Catalan Earthquake of February 2, 1428’, Engineering Geology, No. 20, 1984, p. 89 – 97.

[3] Miltoun, Francis, Castles and Chateaux of Old Navarre and the Basque Provinces Including Also Foix, Roussillon and Béarn (Boston: L. C. Page & Company, 1907), pp. 134 – 135.

[4] Romuald (born c. 951, died c. 1025), was the founder of the Camaldolese order and an important figure in the eleventh-century movement of ‘Eremitical Asceticism’. Born in Ravenna, he entered the monastery of Sant Apollinare in Classe after being the second to his father during a duel, however he found the monastic life there to be too lax. He then went to Venice where he studied under the hermit Marinus. It was Romuald who persuaded the Doge of Venice to leave for Cuxa, as the former was suffering remorse for murdering his predecessor. Marinus and Romuald left with him, founding a small hermitage next to the abbey where Romuald lived for a decade, making use of Cuxa’s library. He then spent thirty years wandering Italy, reforming monasteries and hermitages, taking and then giving up the position of Abbot back at Sant Apollinare and eventually founding five hermit cells at Camaldoli. This ssy became the monastery of Fontebuono, the mother-house of the Camaldolese Order. Romuald’s feast day was added to the Tridentine calendar in 1594 on the 19^th June, but then changed the following year to the 7^th February, the date on which his relics were transferred to Fariano in 1481. In 1969, his feast day was moved back to the day of his death, the 19^th June. See: Butler, Alban, The Lives of the Saints: Volume II February (Dublin: James Duffy, 1866).

[5] Kibler, William & Zinn, Grover, (Eds.), Routledge Revivals: Medieval France (1965): An Encyclopedia (London: Taylor & Francis, 2017), p. 844.

[6] Santoro, 2011, p. 202.

[7] Mallet, Géraldine, Églises Romanes Oubliées du Roussillon (Barcelona: Les Presses du Languedoc, 2003) p. 193 – 202.

[8] Saint Ferréol (birth date unknown, died c.303) is a martyr saint, killed by Roman soldiers in the early fourth century. His hagiography alleges that Vienne (as he was originally known) was forcibly enlisted into the Roman army and tried to protect Saint Julien de Brioude, another soldier who converted to Christianity and was killed in 304. For this Vienne was imprisoned and, after successfully escaping and being pursued across the Rhone, he was slaughtered on the banks of the Gier river. Dedications to Saint Ferréol take place across France, with a particular concentration around the Rhone and the South-West of the country. See: Dory, Franck, ‘Saint Ferréol Martyr, de Vienne au Pays Catalan’, Archéo66, Bulletin de l’AAPO, Perpignan, Vol. 27, 2012, p. 81 – 84.

[9] Zantedeschi, Francesca, The Antiquarians of the Nation: Monuments and Language in Nineteenth-Century Roussillon (Leiden: Brill, 2019), pp. 96 – 109.

[10] Cervini, Joseph-Antoine, Voyage Pittoresque dans les Pyrénées Françaises et les Départements Adjacents (Paris: Truettel et Wurtz, 1830), pp. 158 – 160. Translated by the author.

[11] Tolra de Bordas, M., Pèlerinage a Notre-Dame de Font-Romeu (Perpignan: J. B. Alzine, 1855), pp. 36 – 46.

[12] A camaril or a cambril is the Catalan term for a small elevated chamber behind an altar, where an image of special veneration is housed. In the Cerdagne, a great many Catalan terms are still used and the language is frequently still spoken, despite being technically a French territory. Tolra de Bordas’ describes the camaril as being ’16 metres square’ and ‘a magnificent oratory where one feels instinctively drawn to prayer and meditation. There, the Christian, prostrate before the Cross, illuminated only by the glow of a crystal lamp suspended from the vault, and also weakly by the daylight that penetrates through the niche of the Virgin’. Ibid., p 54. Translated by the author.

[13] Ibid., p. 59.

[14] Ibid., pp. 64 – 67.

[15] Goig is a Catalan term for verses made in praise of the Virgin Mary or a saint after the Latin Gaudete meaning ‘joy’.

[16] The goig is provided at the end of Tolra de Borda’s book.

O patrona y advocada (O patron and advocate

De tot lo poble de Deu! Of all the people of God!

Ohiunos, Verge sagrada, Ohiunos, sacred Virgin,

Maria de Font-Romeu. Mary of Font-Romeu.

En una freda montanya In a cold mountain

Del terme de Odeilló, The region of Odeilló,

En la terra de Cerdanya, In the land of Cerdanya,

Als confins de Rosselló The confines of Rosselló

Vos de tots sou venerada You are revered by all

Com digna Mare de Deu; Worthy Mother of God.

Ohiunos, Verge sagrada, Ohiunos, sacred Virgin

Maria de Font-Romeu. Mary of Font-Romeu.)

Ibid., pp. 84. Translated from Catalan by the author. I am unable to find a translation for ‘Ohiunos’ however it occurs in multiple goigs from the Cerdagne/Cerdanya devoted to the Virgin Mary and may therefore be a localised honorific title, glorification, or contraction.

[17] Mides is the plural of mida, a Catalan term for a measure or measurement.

[18]Ibid., pp. 30 – 32. Translated from French by the author.

[19] Langlet, Léon, L’Église Ésotérique de Planès (Pyrénées-Orientales) (Perpignan: Imp. du Midi, 1966).

[20] Sahlins, Peter, Boundaries: The Making of France and Spain in the Pyrenees (Berkley, CA: University of California Press, 2023), p. 260.

[21] The Servite Order, otherwise known as the Order of Servants of Mary (Ordo Servorum Beatae Mariae Virginis) was created in Florence in 1233 as one of the original five mendicant orders of the Roman Catholic Church, later comprising of several branches of friars, nuns, religious sisters and lay groups. Its devotion to the Virgin Mary led the Order to focus on the values of hospitality and compassion, leading it to be in charge of countless hospitals during the Medieval period. In the wake of the Protestant Reformation, many houses were destroyed in Germany but the Order found a great reception in southern France.

[22] Mallet, Géraldine & Roura, André, Eglises Romanes Oubliées du Roussillon (Montpellier: Presses du Languedoc, 2003), p. 245.

The following extract is taken from the third chapter of ‘Highly Holy’, in which both the phenomenon of pilgrimage and its relationship to various Marian shrines from across the Pyrenees is discussed. Another extract from this chapter will be given next month, focussing on lesser-known examples, however below is presented a brief analysis of the premier Marian site in the region, that of Lourdes, whose comparatively late origins in the nineteenth-century are belied by its rapid and enduring popularity.

Extract from Chapter Three, ‘Sacred Trails and Marian Tales’.

In the Winter of 1867, Irish author Denys Shyne Lawlor embarked on a tour of several pilgrimage sites within Landes, the Central and Western Pyrenees, recording her observations in 1870.[1] Whilst Lourdes was clearly the focus of her attention, a great many other shrines devoted to ‘Our Lady’ make an appearance, as well as sites devoted to Saint Savin, Saint Aventin d’Aquitaine, Saint Bertrand de Comminges and Saint Vincent de Paul; the majority holding foundational dates from the late Medieval to Early Modern period and host a steady flow of pilgrims from the local region and across France. Marian shrines appear to be the most popular form of pilgrimage site in the Central Pyrenees (as is generally the case in Western Europe) and the restoration of Catholicism across the Pyrenees in the seventeenth century (following the decline of the Huguenots) helps to explain the remarkable renaissance of Marian shrines in this area dating from this period.[2] In using Lawlor as the foundation for an analysis of many of these sites,[3] it is possible to present both first-hand accounts of pilgrim activity towards the latter half of the nineteenth century, thus presenting a living rather than merely an archaeologically extant tradition, and also information drawn from those priests and villagers who were involved in the direct care of these shrines at the time of Lawlor’s writing.

Having already addressed the phenomenon of Roncesvalles, the Marian site of Lourdes deserves close attention due to its rapid ascent as the premier Pyrenean pilgrimage site over the past century and a half, illustrating the fervour, faith and pageantry more typically associated with Medieval shrines in their heyday.[4] The details of the young shepherdess Bernadette Soubirous’ 1858 Virgin visions in the grotto of Massabielle are already briefly discussed in Chapter Two but can be summarised thus. Between the 11^th February and the 16^th July 1858 Bernadette saw the same vision eighteen times in the Grotto of Massabielle, a small cave which then lay outside of Lourdes on common ground, on the left bank of the Gave de Pau river. She would see a ‘lady’ standing on a rose bush in a niche above the cave’s opening. The ‘lady’ would command Bernadette to drink and wash herself in the water which flowed from a spring inside the grotto, and also to command the local priests to build a shrine within the grotto. The ‘lady’ eventually introduced herself as being the Immaculate Conception, which convinced one local priest named Dominique Peyramale that Bernadette’s visions were real; he bought the land (with the help of the local bishop) in 1861 and set about making the area accommodating to pilgrims.

With the growth of the communication network in the nineteenth century, news of Bernadette’s visions travelled far and wide across France, resulting in many visitors (both devout pilgrims and the curious) making their way to Lourdes in August 1858 ‘from as far away as Paris to see the peasant girl who was said to be in mysterious contact with the Blessed Virgin. Many came to pray and atone for their sins or to seek out the healing powers of a spring that Bernadette had discovered during one of her visionary encounters.’ [5] [6] At this point the visions had not been officially authorised by the Catholic Church, nor was a shrine built. Thus, the first Lourdes pilgrims were flocking to look upon and pray with the young girl to whom the Virgin Mary had apparently appeared no less than eighteen times between February and July that same year. This intensely direct encounter with a human intermediary between us and the divine is difficult for many to comprehend in the secular age, and it carries something from a far earlier and more miracle-imbued era, which no doubt played a role in the Church’s speedy recognition of Bernadette’s visions in their eagerness to capitalise on Lourdes’ sudden fame in the wake of France’s then-contemporary Catholic revival. By 1862 number of gathering crowds in Lourdes forced the hand of the local bishop to proclaim the apparitions authentic, and a mere decade later the Paris-based ‘Augustinian Fathers of the Assumption’ made Lourdes the site of their national pilgrimage, a move which was greatly aided by improvements in railway networks and the Catholic popular press. This transformed Lourdes into a site of mass pilgrimage and by the early years of the twentieth-century, nearly half a million pilgrims were making their way to Lourdes on church-sponsored pilgrimages, the bulk of which were made up of women from rural France. Very quickly the simple grotto shrine was transformed into something far more monumental which offered highly orchestrated rituals, and the sleepy town of Lourdes itself quickly became developed into a tourist city which offered every religious souvenir and service imaginable. Unlike many other pilgrimage sites referred to in this chapter, Lourdes does not reflect locally based devotional practises which gather and accrue fame, gradually responding to increased attention in their infrastructure and architecture; Lourdes was swiftly transformed by industrial ecclesiastical development from a place of localised religious interest into one of organised mass spectacle, aided not only by evolving transport networks but also by the Church’s use of contemporary advertising in the popular press. This makes it something of an anomaly in the story of Pyrenean pilgrimage, but by far its most successful example and reflective of the newly emerging commercial society of the late-nineteenth century.[7]

At the time of Lawlor’s visit in 1867, Lourdes had been a site of national religious interest for less than a decade and had yet to be recognised by the Augustinian Fathers as their pilgrimage site of choice. Thus it is an early Lourdes that we find in her writing and one in which Bernadette had, at that point, been absent from for only a year, having joined the Sisters of Charity of Nevers at their Saint Gildard Convent in Nevers.[8] [9]Interestingly, it would appear that Lourdes, whilst having remained relatively unremarkable in its civic status prior to Bernadette’s visions, possessed a culture of piety unequalled in the surrounding region. Lawlor quotes (and translates) a section of de Lagrèze’s 1866 ‘Chronique de la Ville et du Château de Lourdes’, in which it is reported that:

Almost the entire population [of Lourdes] belongs to some pious confraternity. The workmen, united under the name of brothers, place their trade under the Divine protection, and reciprocate Christian relief and temporal assistance. A common box receives a weekly offering from each workman, while in health, to be repaid when he is in sickness or poverty, or at his death, when his funeral expenses are discharged, and his remains conveyed by the confrères to their last home. Each confraternity has a chapel of its own in the church, from which it takes its name, and which it supports by a small collection on Sundays. The confraternity of Notre-Dame des Grâces is composed of labourers; that of Notre-Dame du Mont Carmel of slaters; that of Notre-Dame de Monserrat of masons; that of St. Anne the joiners; that of St. Lucy of dressmakers; that of the Ascension of stone-cutters; that of the Blessed Sacrament of the church-wardens; those of St. John and St. James of all those who have received those names in baptism […] This book has shown how numerous are her [the Virgin Mary] sanctuaries from Sarrance to Garaison; and at Lourdes, in the old parish church, all the altars are dedicated to the Virgin.[10]

It should be noted that the parish church referred to in this extract is that of St Pierre, which was located on the town’s market square (now called the Place Peyramale) but destroyed by fire in 1904. Thanks to the economic boost provided by pilgrimages a new parish church was already under construction in 1875 and was completed in 1903, housing Bernadette’s baptismal font and after the loss of the old parish church it immediately became the primary parish church in Lourdes.

To return to the first pilgrim building within the vision site, the original chapel sanctuary (which was located directly above the actual grotto itself and completed in 1866, later known as ‘the crypt’), soon became unable to deal with the sheer volume of pilgrims which flocked to Lourdes. In response to the ever-growing number of visitors, this first church at Massabielle had a Basilica built atop it between 1862 and 1871, being consecrated in 1876 and devoted to the Immaculate Conception. Lawlor provides us with a first-hand description of the Basilica during its construction and of crypt, the latter being (at the time) close to completion and already in use:

One enters [the basilica] by two large long vaulted galleries. The first impression is one of astonishment: a forest of pillars and arches, crossing each other at every point, supports a low ceiling. Through these multiplied archings the various altars are half seen, whilst the light of day streams dimly through the narrow windows. The effect is bewildering, until the eye gradually becomes accustomed to it, and then one discovers the most admirable harmony in all that apparent confusion. A line of confessionals is placed along the wall at the western extremity; and as these are generally surrounded by groups of penitents, words are not needed to impress upon the visitor the obligations and privileges of the place. The plan of the chapel is of that peculiar type of which the Cathedral of Alby is the best known example: a nave flanked by ten lateral chapels in place of aisles, and terminating in a chevet, with five polygonal chapels. Two sacristies are substituted for the chapels of the first or parallel bay of the choir, which is wider than the bays of the nave. The crypt, occupying the width of the nave above, is divided into a nave and aisles by fourteen pairs of coupled marble columns, with stone base and capital common to each pair. […] The architecture of the crypt is not overloaded with ornament. All is simple, grand and solid, such as befits a structure whose strength has been multiplied to sustain the immense weight overhead. The general character of the crypt is solemn and severe, producing upon the mind a profoundly religious impression. I know few places in which recollection and prayer seem to be more spontaneous and congenial.[11]

In 1899, the ‘Rosary Basilica’ or ‘Lower Basilica’ was completed in the Byzantine style, capable of holding up to one and a half thousand worshippers at any one time. This not only eased the strain on the ‘Upper Basilica’ but also goes some way to demonstrate the numbers of pilgrims which could be found circulating around the growing Lourdes pilgrim complex. The centenary celebrations of Lourdes in 1958 also saw the completion of the ‘Basilica of St. Pius X’, otherwise known as the ‘Underground Basilica’, which was constructed partly in expectation of the crowds drawn to the pilgrimage site during this anniversary event. In contrast to the delicate Neo-Gothic and Byzantine forms of the other two basilicas, this new largely subterranean basilica was constructed entirely out of concrete and is capable of hosting up to twenty-five thousand people.

The grotto itself bears some evidence of enlargement, primarily in terms of masonry cuts along the walls and presumably to deal with pilgrim crowds, however all evidence points towards its essential form having been preserved since Bernadette’s visions. Lawlor provides another first-hand account of the grotto’s simple alterations in 1867:

By degrees the land about the grotto was made level and laid out with suitable taste: an esplanade created in front by the sand that was taken from the bed of the river was covered with green sods, and rendered an agreeable place of repose for the visitors; a large iron grating was placed before the grotto, and a handsome marble basin erected for the fountain, into which it now pours itself through three distinct spouts or tubes, pouring forth no less than 122,000 litres in the course of the day.[12]

Whilst the primary object of these waters to be drunk and ‘bathed in’ (i.e. rubbed on the appropriate body part), many litres would be carried away by pilgrims, initially in their own containers but it would not take long for Lourdes to being selling ‘pilgrim flasks’ designed and decorated specifically for this purpose. Today these range from sculpted glass flasks to simple plastic containers, the latter of which can carry anything up to five litres.[13] The spring itself is located at the rear end of the cave and above the entrance a statue of the Virgin Mary (in the form now known as ‘Our Lady of Lourdes’) stands in a niche where Bernadette claimed to have seen the ‘lady’. Originally, the wild rose bush which featured in her visions grew there. However, much like in early days of popular pilgrimage discussed above, it was quickly destroyed by the first Lourdes pilgrims, many of whom wanted a souvenir from grotto in the form of a thorny branch or blossom. A new bush was subsequently planted but this marked the beginning of the formalised and commercial pilgrim souvenir trade which now dominates Lourdes.[14] From the start, the grotto’s spring waters became subject to claims of curative properties, ranging from reversing the effects of blindness and badly reset joints after dislocation, unidentified illnesses in infants, sores, dyspepsia, cholera, swellings in the throat which prohibited swallowing and many other ailments. At that time, many of those who were cured were assessed by professional doctors who claimed to be both convinced of and baffled by the efficacy of the waters, which led to the grotto’s growing reputation as a site of divine healing.[15]

As can be seen, in one hundred years Lourdes had been transformed from a worshipful cavern outside of the town itself to a large pilgrim complex corresponding to its status as a site of national pilgrimage. Perhaps the greatest draw towards Lourdes lay in its allegedly curative waters, most particularly the baths, into which part of the Grotto’s spring was diverted, as well as to standpipes and fountains for drinking and for filling containers. Of all the ailments which were said to be cured by the Lourdes waters, those relating to eyes appear to be the most common, and an interesting linguistic suggestion has been put forward to explain this ocular preference:

The Pyrenean word for fountain or spring, hount,[16] also means an eye and there was a widespread folk belief that such places provided a window into the underworld. When a spring dried up, it was often said that the eye of the fairy had closed. The development of Lourdes as a healing shrine tapped into this rich local tradition that mixed pagan animism and Christian devotion.[17]

The first baths were built on the western side of the grotto in 1862; by 1880 a wooden bathhouse was in existence housing fourteen baths which serviced an almost continuous line of pilgrims. In a report which echoes something of the horror with which Erasmus’ Gratian encountered one of the relics of Saint Thomas Beckett in Canterbury many centuries earlier.[18] The author Emile Zola wrote in his 1893 novel ‘Lourdes’ that: ‘As some hundred patients passed through the same water, you can imagine what a horrible slop it was at the end. There was everything in it: threads of blood, sloughed-off skin, scabs, bits of cloth and bandage, an abominable soup of ills.’[19] This dubious level of hygiene did nothing to deter the faithful, who queued every morning and afternoon to enter the baths, which were renovated and extended in 1891, 1955, 1972 and 1980. Currently, there are seventeen separate bathing cubicles. Interestingly, the aforementioned tendency towards female pilgrims continues to this day, particularly with regard to bathing:

Pilgrims continue to queue every morning and afternoon at the bathhouses beyond the Lourdes grotto. Around 400,000 a year brave the cold waters, with female bathers greatly outnumbering men. After a long wait, they undress in a small changing area and then go behind the curtain into one of the small individual marble baths. Wrapped in a cold towel and prayed over, each bather is then guided down into the water by two or three helpers and, if able to do so, sits down in the bath. Many more pilgrims fill up containers at a row of standpipes beneath the basilica to which water from the grotto is piped. [20]

Lastly, it is worth briefly examining the element of spectacle at Lourdes, something which larger pilgrimage sites make full use of and which dramatically amplifies the experience for visitors in terms of elevating the sensation of being in the presence of the sacred. Direct interaction via the daily Mass as well as the very physical contact with Bernadette’s legacy through bathing form an important part of Lourdes’ attraction, however another form of ritual which constitutes a key aspect of sacrality is found in the twice-daily processions.[21] The first of these takes place at five o’clock in the afternoon with the Procession of the Blessed Sacrament, which begins in the meadow across the river from the grotto and is led by ailing pilgrims who are followed by a priest carrying the monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament. Around the Sacrament the pilgrims carry candles and censors, whilst behind others carry the banners of their various dioceses, and at the back of the procession are doctors. The entire procession crosses the river and parades down the wide avenue (or ‘esplanade’) towards the Basilica of St. Pius X, during which prayers, hymns and chants take place in several different languages. Once everyone has assembled within the Basilica the Adoration of the Eucharist is followed by the Blessing of the Sick by the priest. The first recorded instance of this procession took place in 1874.[22]

The Marian Procession or ‘Torchlight Procession’ first took place in 1872,[23] and due to its visual effect has become the more famous of the two daily events. Every evening at nine o’clock crowds of pilgrims gather outside of the grotto, each carrying a candle contained within a paper wind protector, on which the ‘Immaculate Mary’, the traditional song of Lourdes, is printed.[24] At the head of the procession a statue of the Virgin Mary is carried while behind the crowds of pilgrims walk in groups behind their pilgrimage banners. The rosary is recited throughout in a number of languages and all sing the ‘Immaculate Mary’ hymn, with intercessions and the Laudate Mariam periodically invoked. This takes place while the procession makes its way from the grotto to the square in front of the Rosary Basilica, where a Latin blessing is given by the priest and all exchange the sign of peace.[25]

Before leaving Lourdes for its Marian sanctuaries in the immediately surrounding area, it is worth quoting a lengthy and romantic description by Lawlor which sums up the large numbers of devout pilgrims that flocked to this town even in its infancy as a pilgrimage site:

The long days of the year are days of pilgrimages.[26] Then the winding road from the town resembles the course of a river, rolling along its waves of pilgrims. Never is the grotto left for an hour without a votary; the succession of the faithful makes prayer and thanksgiving, as it were, permanent. The edification among these diversified visitors is reciprocal. The greater part of them are on their knees, their eyes fixed on the statue of the Immaculate; others, who have finished their devotions, are seated by the banks of the Gave, recounting their pious impressions, while they admire the mysterious rock and the lovely landscape. All approach the fountain in their turn, drink its miraculous waters, or bathe in them their suffering limbs. Others, again, are scattered along the greensward, or repose under the flowering shrubs, while they partake, in picnic fashion, of the refreshments which they have brought with them from a distance. Differences of rank and condition disappear in this community of faith and piety. The countenances and attitude of all exhibit the same respect and confidence; all hearts seem inspired with the same sentiment – the Virgin was there! It would seem as if they never could grow weary of praying; and it rarely happens that the summer tourist, be he even sceptical and indifferent, visits the grotto and witnesses this spectacle without carrying away a salutary impression, and perhaps renewing the long-forgotten prayers which he had learned and lisped in innocent childhood.[27]

[1] Lawlor, Danys, Pilgrimages in the Pyrenees and Landes (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1870).

[2] Reinburg, Virginia, Storied Places: Pilgrim Shrines, Nature, and History in Early Modern France (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019), p. 57.

[3] In conjunction with archaeological and historical studies which provide both broader contexts and very particular details.

[4] It is worth noting that Lawlor visits Lourdes last in her tour of the Marian sites in the surrounding area of the Béarn, mentioning that she had followed ‘the penitential footsteps of many a former wayfarer’ and ‘mingled our orisons in loving supplication at many a sacred shrine with those of the pilgrim brothers who have preceded us’. This may indicate a tradition among the more devoted pilgrims, or at least those who travel from afar to Lourdes, to take in many of the smaller Marian shrines (discussed below) prior to their journey culminating at Lourdes itself. Lawlor, 1870, p. 295.

[5] Here again we see the popular link between springs or water sources and divine appearances.

[6] Kaufman, Suzanne, Consuming Visions: Mass Culture and the Lourdes Shrine (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2005), p. 2.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Bernadette Soubirous (born 1844, died 1879) would live the rest of her life at this convent, a span of time which was sadly very short. She died at the age of thirty-five, having contracted a sever bout of cholera as a child which left her with chronic asthma and later provoked attacks of tuberculosis in both her lungs and bones. She died whilst praying the rosary and was interred in the St Joseph Chapel within the grounds of the convent. She was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1921 and granted a feast day on the 16^th April in the Catholic liturgical calendar. For a comprehensive biography of Bernadette, see: Taylor, Thérèse, Bernadette of Lourdes: Her Life, Death and Visions (New York, NY: Burns & Oates, 2003).

[9] Various accounts of Bernadette’s time in Lourdes prior to her leaving for the convent, including the flocks of pilgrims which came to visit her and watch her pray within the grotto (thus inadvertently leading to her decision to leave Lourdes for the quiet of the cloister) can be found in Lawlor, 1870, pp. 352 – 373.

[10] Lawlor, 1870, pp. 299 – 300.

[11] Ibid., pp. 423 – 424.

[12] Ibid. p. 418.

[13] The town of Lourdes is filled with shops which sell a variety of traditional and very modern pilgrim souvenirs. These range from the more typical array of medals, incense, candles, water flasks, Marian statues (of varying sizes) and religious jewelry to hologrammatic posters of Jesus, the Virgin Mary etc., portable shrines illuminated by built-in by LED lights, keychains, t-shirts and more.

[14] Todd, Oliver, The Lourdes Pilgrim (London: Matthew James Publishing, 2003), p. 41.

[15] For the details of several of these curative accounts, see: Lawlor, 1870, pp. 377 – 402.

[16] By this the author is likely referring to a word in the Gascon variant of Occitan.

[17] Bradley, Ian, Water: A Spiritual History (London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012), p. 182 – 183.

[18] ‘Some torn fragments of linen; and most of them retaining marks of dirt. With these, as they told us, the holy man used to wipe the perspiration from his face or neck, the runnings of his nose, or other such superfluities, from which the human frame is not free. There my friend Gratian ran into not the best favour. To him, who was at once an Englishman, a person well known, and of no small consequence, the Prior graciously offered to present one of the pieces of linen, imagining that he was making a present that would be most highly acceptable. But Gratian, not sufficiently grateful, drew it together with his fingers, and not without some intimation of disgust, and disdainfully replaced it.’ Erasmus, Desiderius, Pilgrimages to Saint Mary of Walsingham and Saint Thomas of Canterbury, John Gough Nichols (Trans.)(London: John Bowyer Nichols & Son, 1849), pp. 57 – 58. The identity of ‘Gratian’ has been linked with Erasmus’ friend Dr John Colet (born 1467, died 1519), an English scholar, Catholic priest, Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral in London and Renaissance humanist.

[19] Zola, Emile, Lourdes, 1894, quoted in Bradley, 2012, p. 183.

[20] Ibid., p. 184.

[21] The feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes falls on the 11^th of February, commemorating the first day of Bernadette’s visions, during which the regular daily offices are said and processions are made with even greater numbers of pilgrims.

[22] Todd, 2003, p. 151.

[23] This is known locally as the ‘Procession aux Flambeaux’.

[24] This hymn, known in French as ‘Ô Vierge Marie’ was first written in 1873 by Father Jean Gaignet specifically for pilgrims to sing during their visits to Lourdes. Originally Father Gaignet composed eight verses, however he felt moved to expand this number to one hundred and twenty verses later in his life. Needless to say, the earlier, shorter version is more commonly encountered at Lourdes. The hymn has been translated into many languages and each version contains a slightly different aspect in an effort to render the emphasis meaningful in each linguistic culture. Miles, Margaret, Maiden ad Mother: Prayers, Hymns, Devotions, and Songs to the Beloved Virgin Mary Throughout the Year (London: Burns & Oates, 2001), p. 60.

[25] Todd, 2003, p. 155.

[26] Here we see that, even in the nineteenth century, Summer retained its primary position as the season of favour for pilgrim travel.

[27] Lawlor, 1870, p. 427.

Perennial Pyrenees

Posts tagged with pilgrimage

Extract (#2) from Chapter Three of ‘Highly Holy’

Extract (#1) from Chapter Three of ‘Highly Holy’.