Our Lady of the Gorge

The origin of Notre-Dame de la Gorge is linked to that of our oldest religious foundations.

Around the year 1090, Aimo n, Count of Genevois, ga Aimon, comte de Genevois Count who donated Chamonix to the Benedictines in 1090. ve Chamo nix to t Chamonix Benedictine priory at the foot of Mont Blanc. he Be nedictines Bénédictins Religious order occupying the monastery of Honnecourt. of Saint-Michel de la Clusaz, who came to found a priory at the foot of the giant of the Alps.

The harshness of the frosts and the roughness of the terrain were the least of the obstacles that the children of Saint Benedict encountered under Mont Blanc; they also had to defend themselves against the fury of wild beasts, which were numerous in this wild country. To place themselves under the best protections, they dedicated the church of Chamonix to Saint Michael, that of Les Houches to Saint John the Baptist, that of Argentière to Saint Peter; and, at the two opposite ends of their valley, where the ferocious beasts seemed to have chosen their favorite retreat, they raised the churches of Vallorcine and Servoz in honor of Our Lady.

Everything suggests that it was the Benedictines of Chamonix who founded the first religious establishments in the Montjoie valley, and it is to one of these religious that the honor of the first foundation of Notre-Dame de la Gorge must be attributed.

It often happened, in those remote times, that monks, in order to devote themselves more easily to the contemplation of divine things, sought solitudes deeper than that of their monastery, and asked to retire to wild mountains or uninhabited valleys. Tradition says that one came to the bottom of the gorge that ends the Montjoie valley, and that he raised a chapel there in honor of Saint Anthony, patron of hermits. Thi s chapel was saint Antoine Patron saint of hermits, first dedicatee of the chapel. later dedicated to the most holy Virgin, though it is not known on what occasion.

On August 5, 1706, the day of the feast of Our Lady of the Snows, a great solemnity took place at La Gorge, and it was the signal of Mary's predilections for her sanctuary. For a long time, no doubt, Our Lady had had her pilgrims there, and a magnificent church had just been built with the offerings of the faithful; but the small parish could no longer support its pastor. The venerable Ross illon de Bernex, Bi Rossillon de Bernex Bishop of Geneva who consecrated the church in 1706. shop of Geneva, performed the dedication of the new church of Our Lady, under the title of the Assumption. « He saw with sorrow the state of this parish, where he foresaw that it would be impossible to maintain good order if the pastor did not find there the means to subsist. He had recourse to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin. The fruit of this prayer was a certain premonition which he shared with the parish priest, assuring him that Providence would soon provide for his needs, and that his church would one day be rich enough to support several ministers ». The holy bishop's prediction was not long in coming true. Immediately the parishioners showed themselves more generous, pious souls made foundations, and « the church of Notre-Dame de la Gorge was served by three priests who administered the sacraments to the neighboring peoples, who were seen flocking there on great solemnities ».

The pomp with which all Christian feasts were celebrated from then on at Notre-Dame de la Gorge was extraordinary; and those of the Virgin, such as the Purification, the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Assumption, the Nativity, and the Conception were privileged. It was not just a solemn Mass and Vespers for each of these feasts; the Te Deum and the Lauds were also sung with organ accompaniment and great liturgical luxury.

On Shrove Tuesday, a solemn Mass was also celebrated at Notre-Dame for the conversion of sinners.

Every day, at the hour when Mary was given to us as a mother on Calvary, six torches were lit at the high altar, and two at each of the side altars, then the litanies of the Virgin were sung. The organ was to unite its melodies with the voices of the priests and clerics.

The majesty of the holy ceremonies, united with the graces that Mary was pleased to bestow upon those who came to invoke her in solitude, soon attracted an immense multitude of the faithful. All the parishes of the Montjoie valley, those of Megève, Sallanches, Chamonix, and others still, came in procession to Notre-Dame de la Gorge. Pilgrims flocked from so far away that it became necessary to found a hospice to receive them. Two pious women, servants of Mary, were given charge of this house and did the honors of it. It is said that, on great feast days, and especially on the day of the Assumption, as the church could not contain the faithful, and the vast space at its entrance was filled by the crowd, the blessing of the Most Blessed Sacrament was given in the open air.

At the time of the French Revolution, the three priests who served the sanctuary of Notre-Dame had to flee and seek asylum in the mountains. The church was devastated and its revenues squandered. But as soon as better days arrived, the altars of the Mother of God were restored, her cherished image was returned to the veneration of the faithful, and the former pilgrims came once again to implore Her whose power and goodness they knew. The church of Notre-Dame de la Gorge was united with the church of Les Contamines and served initially by the parish priest of that parish. In 1833, Bishop Rey, Bi shop of Mgr Rey Bishop of Annecy, restorer of the pilgrimage in 1833. Annecy, came on a pilgrimage to Notre-Dame de la Gorge and completed its restoration. "On the day of the Assumption, the patronal feast of the place, he arrived at the head of the parish of Les Contamines at Notre-Dame de la Gorge, in the midst of a prodigious crowd, where one could count foreigners from all parts of Europe, some having come from Saint-Gervais, others from Chamonix, to enjoy this religious solemnity. The prelate had wished to be assisted by a numerous clergy and to display for the occasion, in the pontifical office, all the pomp of religion." From that day on, the pilgrimage of Notre-Dame de la Gorge was restored to honor. The faithful present at the ceremony took away the assurance from the bishop's own mouth that henceforth they would find the benefits of religion in this place. Indeed, that very day, he had decided to acquire the old presbytery with the lands surrounding it, in order to place and maintain a few priests there. The difficulties encountered in this acquisition were smoothed over by the zeal of Mr. Mermoud, syndic of Les Contamines, and Mr. Millet, parish priest of that parish; and, before the end of that year, Bishop Rey was in possession of this gorge and of the places sanctified by the blessings of the Mother of God.

At the solicitation of Bishop Rey, the Sovereign Pon tiff Gregory Grégoire XVI Pope who established the liturgical feast of the blessed. XVI granted, in perpetuity, a plenary indulgence, to be gained on any day of the year by those who visit the church of Notre-Dame de la Gorge.

There is not a day, in the beautiful season, that does not bring some pilgrim to the alpine gorge, consecrated to Mary for so many centuries. They come from all the provinces of Savoy, and even from abroad: from Faucigny, Tarentaise, Upper Savoy, Savoy-Proper, Maurienne, Aosta, and Valais. They are especially numerous every Sunday of the month of May, on the feasts of Mary, and mainly on the day of the Assumption and the day of the Nativity, when they are counted by the thousands. Sometimes, towards evening, one sees fifteen people coming with slow steps and reciting the rosary, honoring in their number the principal mysteries of the life of Mary. They are, usually, from the Montjoie valley, and thus go together to ask for the relief of a sick person or the conversion of a sinner.

We would be omitting one of the most interesting episodes in the history of Notre-Dame de la Gorge if we said nothing of the Holy Chapel which, although separated from the church of Notre-Dame, is united to it by its memories and merges with it in the same devotion.

We know of nothing as rustic and as striking at the same time as the Holy Chapel of the Gorge. It is five minutes from the church. One arrives there by a picturesque path, through the fir trees and green shade. It is a small building, or rather a small hut, at the foot of a rock into which it is set. A torrent descending from the mountain breaks at its base, and it is only with the help of a plank that one can reach its enclosure. One experiences, before entering, a certain religious awe. Once inside, one finds oneself in a narrow and dark grotto, and before one is a stone altar, surmounted by the image of Mary holding the child Jesus in her arms. Daylight only penetrates this pious asylum through a narrow window, similar to that of a poor cottage.

Near the altar, drop by drop, flows into a small reservoir a clear water which is blessed by its very source. The pilgrim wets his finger with it to make the sign of the cross, and many drink it out of devotion; for it is attributed with beneficial virtues.

At the roar of the torrent breaking against this humble sanctuary, at the tumult of the foaming waves that one hears bellowing, it seems that one is about to be carried away; but one remembers that one is under the gaze of Mary, and one happily greets the Star of the Sea.

This oratory was, it is said, an ex-voto for a miraculous protection granted to a traveler. He had taken the road that leads to the Col du Bonhomme, and he had arrived at the point of this road which is today above the Holy Chapel, when he made a false step and fell into the precipice. He made a vow that, if he could be delivered, he would place, at the very spot of his fall, a statue of the Mother of God. Having happily escaped the danger, he hastened to raise the monument of his gratitude.

It is only since 1850 that mass can be celebrated at the Holy Chapel, and Mgr Rendu, Bishop of Annecy, granted forty days of indulgences to all those who attend. There is much talk, in the Haut-Faucigny, of the miraculous graces of which the Virgin shows herself to be prodigal in the solitudes of the Gorge.

Numerous ex-votos decorate the sanctuary of Notre-Dame de la Gorge. One of them dates back to the deliverance of Vienna by the great Sobiesk grand Sobieski King of Poland and liberator of Vienna during the siege of 1683. i. It was on the occasion of this deliverance that Pop e Innocent Innocent XI Pope who authorized the office of Saint Hedwig on October 17. XI ordered, in 1683, the celebration throughout the Church of the feast of the Holy Name of Mary, on the Sunday within the octave of the Nativity, to thank the Mother of God for the assistance she had provided to the Christian armies.

Excerpt from Notre-Dame de Savoie, by Abbé Grobel.