Grand Pardon de Notre-Dame de la Tronchaye

Traditional pardon of Notre Dame de la Tronchaye presided over by Monseigneur Michel Dubost, former Bishop of the Armed Forces. 08/14 at 9 p.m.: traditional Marian vigil 08/15: 10 a.m. departure of the procession (sanctuary), 10:30 a.m. pontifical mass, 12:20 p.m. blessing of the sick and families, 12:30 p.m. return procession, 1 p.m. festive meal (fee), 3:30 p.m. prayer of Rosary, 4 p.m. Solemn Vespers, 4:30 p.m. final blessing. History of the church: This building dates from the 12th and 16th centuries and has a flamboyant Gothic style facade and a Romanesque bell tower. It is out of the center of the city and located on sloping ground. Popular tradition tells that in the 10th century, at the time of the Norman (Viking) invasions, a priest hid, in a hollow tree trunk, a wooden statue representing the virgin and her child in order to protect it from pillaging. Two centuries later, a shepherdess would have found this statue in this same trunk. A church was then built, on the very spot where the statue was found. This story even gave it its name, “Notre-Dame de la Tronchaye”.

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