Notre-Dame de Laghet

Notre-Dame de Laghet (French also: Sanctuaire de Laghet ) has been a Roman Catholic pilgrimage site in La Trinité (Alpes-Maritimes) , Diocese of Nice , in France since 1652 . The place was a monastery of the Discalced Carmelites from 1674 to 1903 and has housed a priory of the Benedictine Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Montmartre since 1978 .

history

Beginnings of the Place of Grace

At Laghet, 6 km east of La Trinité, at the upper end of the Vallon de Laghet river valley (with the Paillon de Laghet river ) and a short distance from La Turbie , albeit without road links for a long time , there was a chapel that had stood for a long time, dated 1652 expanded by private donors to a pilgrimage site of Our Lady and quickly became famous through miracle stories. He received support from Christina of France , regent of Savoy . Bishop Didier Palletis (1644–1655) of Nice ordered an investigation, which in 1653 led to ecclesiastical recognition.

The monastery place

A church in the Nisso - Ligurian style was built and consecrated in 1656. At the initiative of Bishop Henri Provana de Leyni (1671-1706), the place was settled by Turin Carmelites in 1674 , who were able to hold out until 1903 (with interruptions 1792-1816), but were then expelled by the Third Republic , which was hostile to the congregation . However, it was possible to buy the monastery building, which it had owned since 1860, from the French state and to reopen the church in 1907. Bishop Henri-Louis Chapon (1896–1925) set up a small seminary in Laghet, which in 1930 was moved to Cannes by Bishop Paul Rémond . Laghet remained a place of pilgrimage and retreat. After restoration of the church (from 1964), Bishop Jean Mouisset (1963–1984) called in 1978 the Benedictine Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Montmartre (founded in 1898 by Adèle Garnier ), who still look after the place today. The diocese's seminary was located here from 2002 to 2013.

The catchment area of the pilgrimage site

Since the place was Savoy-Italian until 1860 , was visited by numerous members of the Savoyard royal family over the centuries and Saint Francesco Maria da Camporosso , who came from Camporosso near Ventimiglia , appealed to Notre-Dame de Laghet for his healing, the place of pilgrimage was until known after Turin and Genoa . Even today there are 100 000 pilgrims many Italians. The place is also of particular importance for the nearby Monaco . In 1952 the celebrations for the 300th anniversary were held in the presence of the apostolic nuncio in France, who later became Pope John XXIII. , held.

Votive pictures. Literary processing

The place is famous for its more than 4000 votive pictures that fill the cloister and a museum. The place of grace is mentioned in Marcel Proust's novel In Search of Lost Time . Swann's lover, Odette de Crécy, always carries a gold medal dedicated to Notre-Dame de Laghet with her because she attributes her former cure from deadly disease in Nice to Our Lady of Laghet. The story “Les pélérins piémontais” by Guillaume Apollinaire takes place in Notre-Dame de Laghet.

literature

Franz Josef Brems: Marian pilgrimage sites in Europe. Cultural history guide to 100 places of worship . Pfeiffer / Wewel, Munich 1994.
Louis Cappatti and Béatrice Elliott: Laghet. Refuge religieux de la Riviera . Librairie du regionalisme, Paris 1939.
Patrizia and Gérard Cletta: Les Cimaises de la grâce. Le sanctuaire de Notre-Dame de Laghet et ses ex-voto . Serre Éditeur, Nice 2009.
Marie-Hélène Froeschlé-Chopard: Itinéraires pèlerins de l'ancienne Provence. La Sainte-Baume, Notre-Dame de Moustiers, Notre-Dame de Laghet, Notre-Dame du Laus . La Thune, Marseille 2002.
Pierre Silvy: Sanctuaire ND de Laghet . Don Bosco, Nice 1976.