Cotignac - the only village in the world where the Holy Family has appeared
On August 10, 1519, the Virgin Mary and the baby Jesus appeared to John of La Baume, a craftsman who worked on Mount Verdaille. After the apparition he asked the locals to build a chapel in that same spot, to honour what he had seen. Two years later, the Notre-Dame-de-Graces sanctuary was completed and honoured by Pope Leon X within the Catholic church. The sanctuary became even more famous thanks to an illustrious pilgrim, King Louis XIV of France, who came to give thanks for his birth in 1660, accompanied by his mother Anne of Austria. In the same year, St Joseph appeared to Gaspard Ricard, a thirsty shepherd on Mount Bessillon, and indicated to him a source of water which still flows today. “Lift this rock and you will drink!” He apparently said. Therefore on August 9, 1660, a chapel dedicated to St Joseph was erected at that very spot, and later restored by the architect Fernand Pouillon when the Benedictine sisters settled there in 1977. Officially the only place in the world where the Holy Family has appeared to ordinary folk, Cotignac has become a highly sought-after place of pilgrimage. Every year around 150,000 pilgrims put on their walking shoes to make the trip to the sanctuary, their backpacks filled with hopes and prayers.
Saturday 16th March and Tuesday 19th March, 2024: diocesan pilgrimage and solemnity of Saint Joseph
The festivities of Saint Joseph will take place on Saturday 16th and Tuesday 19th March at the Sanctuaries Notre-Dame de Grâces and Saint Joseph du Bessillon.
Saturday 16th March, 2024:
At the St Joseph Sanctuary:
○ 10:30 am: Solemn mass presided over by Monsignor Dominique Rey
○ 5 p.m.: Solemn Vespers and worship
○ 9:15 p.m.: Compline
At the Notre-Dame-de-Graces sanctuary:
○ 2:15 p.m.: Conference by Mgr Dominique Rey
○ 3.30 p.m.: Procession-chapel service
○ 4:00 p.m.: Solemn Vespers
Sunday 19th March, 2024:
At the Saint Joseph Sanctuary:
○ 10:30 am: Solemn mass presided over by Mgr Juan Miguel Ferrer
○ 5 p.m.: Solemn Vespers and worship
At the Notre-Dame-de-Graces sanctuary:
○ 2:15 p.m.: Conference by Mgr Juan Miguel Ferrer
○ 3.30 p.m.: Procession-chapel service
○ 4:00 p.m.: Solemn Vespers
Photo credit : Guillaume de Germain
