Our Lady of Virtues

Unfortunately, we do not know the time when this pilgrimage began, and we only know through oral tradition the event that gave rise to it. Here is the account. Let no one be astonished by the simplicity of the things we have to relate; most pilgrimages, even the most illustrious ones, did not begin otherwise:

A poor shepherdess, leading her master's sheep into the most fertile part of this valley, noticed that they preferred to go near a thick thicket, which did not seem likely to provide them with the necessary food; despite her efforts, they constantly returned to this place chosen by them. Weary of her efforts, she let them go freely as they pleased, especially since these animals did not wither in the least; on the contrary, they looked very healthy. The master of the flock had blamed the child several times for not leading the sheep to a better pasture, and despite her explanations, he did not cease to reproach her. He eventually sent her away from his house, saying that he wanted a shepherdess more obedient to his orders. She was therefore replaced by another girl who faithfully executed the orders received: but what happened? The sheep, which were previously beautiful and fat, soon became thin and sickly. The astonished master did not know how to explain what he was seeing; he thought he could do no better than to recall his first shepherdess, entrusting his flock to her absolutely, without any observation. She did indeed return and led the sheep, as before, where they wanted to go, without constraining them in any way: they returned toward this thicket of brambles and bushes, and in a few days they were fat and beautiful as the first time.

There was obviously something astonishing and wonderful there. They wanted to know what it was; they examined the place, cleared away the brambles to look more closely at the herbs, and it was then that they discover ed a small statue of Our La petite statue de Notre-Dame Central figure of the pilgrimage, represented by a statue of the Pietà. dy. This stone statue represented the Blessed Virgin seated and holding the inanimate body of her Son on her lap. It is the one we still possess. The news soon spread in the surroundings; the whole neighborhood arrived to contemplate this image, which was recognized as that of the Mother of God, and it was immediately carried in triumph to the nei ghboring church of Sanilha église voisine de Sanilhac Neighboring parish where the statue was initially transported. c.

The miraculous discovery of the statue of Mary was not the only prodigy that occurred in this circumstance. Tradition, in fact, reports to us that this statue, carried triumphantly into the church of Sanilhac, did not remain there long; for, the next day, the people, curious to see the precious image again, returned in crowds to the holy place; but the image had disappeared and returned to its first place in the middle of the bush that hid it. It was carried back again to the parish church, but as the same event kept recurring, it was easy to understand that it was Mary's will to be honored elsewhere than in the church where the people were accustomed to gather. They wanted, however, to try another expedient, and they transported the statue to the church of the neighboring parish of Saint-Pierre-è église de la paroisse voisine de Saint-Pierre-ès-Liens Former neighboring parish that disappeared in favor of the sanctuary. s-Liens, which was on the opposite side to Sanilhac, coming towards Périgueux. The miraculous image returned to the place where it had been found; the bush miraculously reclaimed its treasure once more, and it was demonstrated to the eyes of all that the Mother of God wanted to be honored in this place that she had chosen herself. They hastened to build a small chapel there to preserve the divine image, so that the populations could prostrate themselves and bring their homage to where Mary had stopped: Adorabimus in loco ubi steterunt pedes ejus.

This first chapel no longer exists; it has been replaced for two centuries by a large church, and while the parishes of Sanilhac and Saint-Pierre-ès-Liens have disappeared, Notre-Dame des Vertus remains all alone, having inherited the parochial title which it had not yet held. The two old churches are in ruins; one can barely discover a trace of them; the new one succeeds them gloriously.

We must now ask ourselves to what probable era the events we have recounted date back. Unfortunately, we are reduced to making conjectures. The first chapel was rebuilt and enlarged in the middle of the 17th century; we know this, not only from the appearance of the monument before our eyes, but from a written tradition that is incontestable. If this reconstruction was necessitated by the poor condition and near ruin of the first chapel, it must be concluded that this pilgrimage is very ancient, and dates back at least to the Romanesque period; for the churches of that time were beginning to deteriorate and age two centuries ago, and they are today just about the oldest monuments we possess.

The statue of Our Lady of Virtues bears the marks of grea t antiquity: its severe charact statue de Notre-Dame des Vertus Stone statue depicting the Virgin Mary holding the body of her Son. er, its somewhat stiff contours, its clothing without richness or grace, date it back to the time that preceded Gothic art, and one can without difficulty attribute a few more centuries to it. We only offer conjectures. In all probability, the first chapel must have existed for three or four centuries; we would thus arrive at the 13th century and perhaps the 12th. Nothing authorizes us to think that there have been more than two monuments built in this place.

It has therefore been six or seven centuries that Our Lady of Virtues has been honored among the people of Périgord. Several generations have come to kneel before the miraculous image of Mary; they arrived there, led by fear, repentance, or hope; and this small place, chosen among so many others, has been the meeting point for the entire region. These pious souls came to invoke the Mother of God, and they were happy to pour out their prayers before her along with their tears.

Small children have been particularly the object of the favors of Our Lady of Virtues; they are consecrated to Mary before her altar when they are sick, by having the Gospel of the Mass of the Blessed Virgin read over them. Parents place them on the altar itself; there, they clothe them in new garments and abandon the old ones, as a sure testimony that the ailment will have disappeared. Rickets-stricken children and those who are not growing well or who are suddenly wasting away are preferably brought there. How many afflicted mothers have returned home happy to have invoked Mary here, and have seen their prayers answered!

Pilgrims to Our Lady of Virtues mainly show their devotion by burning candles before the statue of Mary. This wax consumed by the flame is an image of the Christian heart, which also burns and is consumed with love. At the September feasts, the church is often completely filled with these candles; the faithful hold them in their hands, place them on candlesticks, or set them on the flagstones. Generally, these candles are small and often renewed; they are also the offering of the poor and like their mite.

The custom has been established of writing letters that are placed at the foot of the image of Mary. These letters express the graces that one asks of God through the intercession of his Mother.

Flowers, vases, crowns, hearts of gold and silver, and other objects are also offered at the altar of Mary; the Madonna is dressed in beautiful garments given by grateful pilgrims and worked by pious hands. When the crowd is considerable, the divine image is brought down from the elevated place where it is located, its silk and gold garments are removed, and it is placed on a small throne within reach of the faithful, so that they may satisfy their devotion by kissing the body of the Son and the garments of the Mother. One notices some places where the stone is worn by the lips of the pilgrims. This testimony of popular piety is very frequent; everyone wants to take their turn to look attentively at the sweet image, kiss it, and then make their offering. Finally, one does not fail to have the Madonna touch objects of piety that are kept with care.

The pilgrimage of Our Lady of Virtues never ceased to be frequented; but popular devotion, once so general, had greatly diminished, and the number of pilgrims was noticeably decreasing. The ecclesiastical authority was moved by this and thought seriously about restoring the ancient traditions. In 1853, Bishop George had a retreat preached at Notre-Dame to renew the feelings of the populations toward this sanctuary, and expressed the desire to restore the pilgrimage; but he did not have the time to carry out his plans. Providence reserved this new glory for Bishop Dabert. In 1866, he sent Father Van Hesteren, a former mi ssionary, to Notre-Dam M. l'abbé Van Hesteren Former missionary tasked with reviving the pilgrimage in 1866. e, and entrusted to his intelligent zeal the task of reviving the ancient Périgord pilgrimage. This tireless priest immediately set to work; he instituted an Association, established daily prayers in the sanctuary, sought aid, and after various works and several journeys, he realized a portion of the projects he was contemplating. A very beautiful house, admirably situated, was built next to the church; it is intended to receive ladies who come to make their pilgrimage or who would like to make a retreat there for a few days.

Excerpt from the Pilgrimage of Our Lady of Virtues, by the Rev. Fr. Carles, of T R. P. Carles, de Toulouse Author of the biographical notice. oulouse.