At the foot of the Madonna of Penhors

My grandmother, a native of Brittany, France, and an oral witness of this story, told it to me many times. It is both simple and striking.

Just above the beach of Penhors in Finistère, is a granite statue of the Madonna that looks at the sea and makes a gesture of blessing the waves. For centuries, a “pardon” procession has taken place every year in September to the chapel that stands a few steps away. And for centuries the locals have paid homage to Our Lady and invoked her protection.

During the war of 1939-45, Brittany was invaded by the Germans. One day a detachment of the Wehrmacht had cut off the head of the statue and thrown it into the sea. The next day, they were stupefied to realize that the sea had brought it back on the sand just in front of the Virgin.

Believing it was a practical joke, the Germans took the head and threw it even farther into the sea. By the second morning the sea had again brought the head to the same place. With exasperation, they went out and threw it even further away. Surely this time they thought it would not come back. But at dawn it was there, deposited in the same spot.

They were so afraid that they immediately repaired the statue. Since then it has never been moved. A slight, discreet crack can still be seen at the base of the head.

Caroline Hardouin

For Mary of Nazareth