In 1435, a shepherd discovered a miraculous statue of the Virgin on the mountain of Étang after observing the devout behavior of one of his oxen. Despite an attempt to transfer it to Dijon, the image returned to the mountain on its own, leading to the construction of a sanctuary. The statue is famous for numerous healings, notably that of a blind child from Urcy.
Guided reading
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NOTRE-DAME D'ÉTANG, IN THE DIOCESE OF DIJON
The discovery of the statue
A shepherd from Velars discovers a statue of the Virgin and Child buried on the mountain of Étang after observing the unusual behavior of one of his oxen.
In the year 4335, a shepherd from Velars, who usually led his flock on the mountain of Étang, noticed that one of his oxen would go each time to the steep ridge, on the side of Dijon, and there would kneel to graze on a tuft of grass that was always green and which, by the next day, grew taller and more beautiful. He informed other shepherds and resolved with them to probe the earth in that spot: it was the second day of July, the feast of the Visitation. While digging, they discovered, at a depth of three or four feet, a small stone statu e representing the Blessed Virgin seated and holding the petite statue de pierre qui représentait la sainte Vierge Miraculous statue of the Virgin Mary discovered on the mountain of Étang. child Jesus on her lap; they revered it devoutly and brought it, while singing hymns, to the village of Velars, to the home of the master butcher to whom the ox belonged.
First miracles at Velars
The statue, placed in the home of a butcher in Velars, performs miraculous healings, notably on a possessed man and a blind child from Urcy.
The Blessed Virgin accepted the homage paid to her in this house; she delivered a possessed man there, healed several sick people, and gave sight to a twelve-year-old child, born blind in the Urcy Village of origin of a blind child healed by the statue. village of Urcy.
Translation to Dijon and miraculous return
The Abbot of Saint-Bénigne transfers the statue to Dijon, but it miraculously returns to its place of discovery, prompting the construction of a first sanctuary.
The news spread quickly; the Abbot of Saint-Bénigne, Étienne de La Feuillette, hastened to claim the treasure found on his lands and had it brought with great pomp to the abbey church, where all of Dijon flocked to see it; but, while the city rejoiced, the image disappeared from Saint-Bénigne and returned of its own accord to the mountain of Étang. At the sight of montagne d'Étang Location of the statue's discovery and site of the sanctuary. this new miracle, the pious abbot humbled himself for having thwarted the designs of heaven and had a small chapel built on the peak of the mountain, at the spot where the miraculous statue had been discovered, with a cell for a hermit charged with taking care of it and satisfying the devotion of the faithful by allowing them to venerate the holy image. As this chapel was difficult to access, the monks of Saint-Bénigne built another on the esplanade that widens two-thirds of the way up the mountain, before the path becomes too steep as it enters the rocks, and, on March 25, 1526, they transported the miraculous statue there in the presence of an innumerable crowd that had flocked from the surrounding villages. Three years later, this chapel was consecrated under the title of the Assumption by Philibert de Beaujeu, Bishop Philibert de Beaujeu Bishop of Bethlehem who consecrated the chapel in 1529. of Bethlehem, the see of Langres being va siège de Langres Diocese upon which the region depended, vacant at the time of the consecration. cant.
Establishment of the sanctuary and consecration
A second chapel was built in 1526 to facilitate access for pilgrims and consecrated in 1529 by the Bishop of Bethlehem.
Our Lady, Notre-Dame Miraculous statue of the Virgin Mary discovered on the mountain of Étang. honored in this new sanctuary with admirable eagerness, lavished her richest favors there. The cult of Mary took flight...
Annexes & related entities
Structured data for exploration: events, miracles, quotes, places, attributes, patronages, and important entities cited in the text.
Key Events
- Discovery of the statue by a shepherd from Velars on July 2, 1435
- Initial transfer to Velars then to the Abbey of Saint-Bénigne
- Miraculous return of the statue to the mountain of Étang
- Construction of a first chapel and a hermit's cell by Abbot Étienne de La Feuillette
- Transfer of the statue to a new chapel on the esplanade on March 25, 1526
- Consecration of the chapel under the title of the Assumption in 1529
Miracles
- Ox kneeling before a patch of grass that remains forever green
- Deliverance of a possessed person in Velars
- Healing of a child born blind in the village of Urcy
- Miraculous return of the Dijon statue to the mountain of Étang