Marian pilgrimage traces a big "M" over France

On France’s traditional national feast day–not the revolutionary July 14th Bastille Day but the Catholic feast of the Assumption of Our Lady on August 15th–a remarkable 1,243-mile Marian pilgrimage made a stop at the Sacred Heart Basilica of Montmartre in Paris, where Archbishop Michel Aupetit celebrated Mass and consecrated France to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

The dramatic fire of Notre Dame of Paris last year led to the impossibility of holding the national procession in Paris in 2019. So it was decided to have two statues of Our Lady of France (“Notre Dame de France”) pulled along country roads by two horse-drawn carriages on two symmetrical routes: a western route coming from Lourdes at the foot of the Pyrenees to Pontmain in Normandy, and then south-eastward to Pellevoisin, and an eastern route from La Salette in the Alps to the Rue du Bac in Paris and then to the southwest, also to reach Pellevoisin.

The “M for Mary” pilgrimage was to have started at the beginning of May, the month of Mary. Because COVID-19 restrictions on public worship were only lifted on May 25th, the launching of the long road trips was postponed until June 1st–which happened to be the 40th anniversary of Saint John Paul II’s famous challenge from the forecourt of Reims Cathedral: “France, eldest daughter of the Church, are you faithful to the promises of your baptism? Are you faithful to the Alliance with eternal Wisdom?” It was also the first day that the Lourdes Shrine was reopened to the public.

Starting on June 1st, the two horse-drawn carriages slowly followed the M-shaped itinerary planned by the organizers, followed by many pilgrims on foot for one or several days and stopping in local parishes and shrines where festivities welcoming the statue of Our Lady, processions, vespers, masses, and night-long Eucharistic adorations took place. Supported by some 30 bishops and with the help of hundreds of volunteers the pilgrimage attracted thousands of followers on the ground, and many others joined virtually via Internet.

While the eastern statue of Our Lady of France reached the Paris region on August 11th, the western part of the pilgrimage stopped in Pontmain with special prayers for the “conversion of France.” The voyage continued, lasting 104 days before reaching Pellevoisin on September 12th, on the feast of the Holy Name of Mary.

Adapted from Life Site News