Description
Traditional pardon of Our Lady of La Tronchaye in Rochefort-en-Terre.
Worshippers, pilgrims, locals, and visitors are expected from early morning in the cobbled streets of Rochefort-en-Terre to celebrate Our Lady of La Tronchaye. Friday, August 14: Vigil at 9:00 p.m. by candlelight. Marian vigil with songs and prayers in Breton and French. Saturday, August 15: Pardon to Our Lady of La Tronchaye. Program: - 10:00 a.m. departure of the procession (from the sanctuary) towards the Saint-Michel chapel. Grand procession through the flower-adorned streets of the town, with banners and the statue carried by the members of the confraternity. - 10:30 am Pontifical Mass, presided over by Father Yann Lamouroux - 12:00 pm Blessing of the sick and families - 12:15 pm Return procession and veneration of the statue - 12:40 pm Lunch: bring your own - 3:00 pm Rosary (in the sanctuary) - 4:00 pm Solemn Vespers - 4:20 pm Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and final blessing. As every year, a preparatory novena is celebrated in the days preceding the Pardon, with rosaries, Eucharistic adoration, confessions, and daily Masses in the sanctuary. History of the church: This building dates from the 12th and 16th centuries and has a Flamboyant Gothic facade and a Romanesque bell tower. It is located away from the center of the town and situated on a slope. Popular tradition tells that in the 10th century, during the Norman (Viking) invasions, a priest hid a wooden statue of the Virgin and Child inside a hollow tree trunk to protect it from looting. Two centuries later, a shepherdess is said to have found the statue in the same trunk. A church was then built on the very spot where the statue was discovered. This story even gave the church its name, “Notre-Dame de la Tronchaye” (Our Lady of La Tronchaye). See the video below.
