Since King Louis XIII placed France under the protection of the Virgin Mary in 1638, the feast of her Assumption on 15 August has been particularly honoured: processions, with music and hymns to Mary, are organised everywhere.
This is what we experienced on 15 August in Lantic, a small town located some 20 km from Saint-Brieuc, France. There stands a magnificent chapel built in the 15th century, dedicated to ‘Notre Dame de le Cour’ (Our Lady of the Angels). It is here that sailors from the nearby Côte du Goélo* came to ask for the Virgin’s protection before going to fish for cod in Newfoundland.
Faithful to tradition, the natives of this region, who are kept in other parts of France by business or relationships, return home to pray to Mary at the Pardon on 15 August. Locals and neighbours, many of us walked behind crosses and banners, sometimes along forest dirt tracks, sometimes along tarmac roads, under a blazing sun. Invited by an appropriate reading to take the ‘paths of reconciliation,’ our walk, accompanied at one point by the bagad* of Saint Ké, then at another by prayers and songs to Mary, was punctuated by stops conducive to guided reflection. Thus, at one of these stops, we wished ‘the peace of Christ’ to a person we did not know or to whom we had not spoken for a long time… Surprise: a woman approaches me: ‘The peace of Christ,’ she says; she lives in the south of France and knows a Daughter of the Holy Spirit, ‘a kind woman named Marianne.’ We identified her… Reflection, action and testimony thus exhorted us to live as ‘universal brothers and sisters’, excluding no one, regardless of their practice or belief…
Returning to the chapel after an hour and 20 minutes of walking, there was a blessing of the children and a final song to Mary, Our Lady of the Court: “As a final grace, a pledge of eternal peace, grant that in this world where everything passes, our love may never pass! “
May the prayer to Mary, intensified on this 15th of August, obtain from Heaven reconciliation between peoples and a more harmonious life among us.
By Armandine BAGOT, FSE. Published on 19 August 2025
Photos : Jean-Louis KERVIZIC, Associate
* Côte du Goélo: a concentration of Brittany between deep countryside and steep cliffs
* bagad: a Breton musical ensemble