Last Sunday in August
Notre Dame de Boulogne, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas-de-Calais, France
The story goes that in 633 (or thereabouts) a mysterious unmanned boat drifted into the port of Boulogne on the English Channel, bearing a radiant statue of a crowned Mother and Child. This became the nucleus of a pilgrimage site on the hill above. In 1060, Ida of Lorraine began building a great Romanesque church there, remodeled in the Gothic style two hundred years later. The statue survived being kidnapped by troops of Henry VIII of England and thrown on a dungheap by Huguenots, but was destroyed during the French Revolution, except for two fingers of the Virgin's right hand, now kept in a gold heart-shaped reliquary. The cathedral was also destroyed. A new one, modeled after St. Peter's in Rome and St. Paul's in London, was consecrated in 1866. A replica (right) of the old statue, completed in 1875, was crowned in 1885. Also on view in the cathedral, designated a papal Basilica in 1879, is an earlier replica of the Virgin and Child standing in a boat, carved in 1803, and a more recent image in unpainted marble, showing them seated in the boat. A similar, polychrome statue processes through the streets of the city on the last Sunday in August.
Sources include:
 | "Notre-Dame de Boulogne," Eglise Saint-Louis, www.saintlouisboulogne.com. Picture from old postcard. |
| "Basilique Notre-Dame-de-l'Immaculée-Conception de Boulogne-sur-Mer," Wikipédia, fr.wikipedia.org |
Also commemorated this date:
| Notre-Dame de Rome, Châtelet, Hainaut, Wallonia, Belgium |
| Notre-Dame-de-Penmern, Baden, Morbihan, Brittany, France |
| Notre-Dame de Lourdes, Chavagnes-en-Paillers, Vendée, Pays de la Loire, France |
| Notre-Dame du Morvan, Mhère, Nièvre, Burgundy, France. Chapelle du Banquet. |
| Notre Dame d'Auteyrac, Vissac-Auteyrac, Haute-Loire, Auvergne, France |
| Madonna del Pero, Quarna Sopra, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Piedmont, Italy (Madonna of the Pear Tree) |
| Madonna della Rocca, Alessandria, Piedmont, Italy |
| Madonna della Consolazione, Nomi, Trento, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy |
| Madonna di Brasa, Castel d'Aiano, Bologna, Emilia Romagna, Italy |
| Madonna di Serra, Borgo a Mozzano, Lucca, Tuscany, Italy |
| Madonna del Buon Gesù, Carassai, Ascoli Piceno, Marche, Italy |
| Madonna della Quercia, Petrella Salto, Rieti, Latium, Italy |
| Madonna di Mentorella, Capranica Prenestina, Roma, Latium, Italy |
| Madonna del Divino Amore, Sora, Frosinone, Latium, Italy |
| Madonna del Piano, Castro dei Volsci, Frosinone, Latium, Italy |
| Madonna del Carmine, Orune, Nuria, Sardinia, Italy |
| Maria Santissima Assunta, Messina, Messina, Italy |
| Madonna del Buon Viaggio, Messina, Sicily, Italy, Ringo district |
| Madonna Annunziata, Bronte, Catania, Sicily, Italy. Festa: mass with bishop, vespers, procession with relic of Mary's hair. |
| Madonna di Valverde, Valverde, Catania, Sicily, Italy |
| Santa Maria delle Grazie, Mirabella Imbaccari, Catania, Sicily, Italy |
| Maria Santissima delle Grazie, Bompietro, Palermo, Sicily, Italy |
| Madonna del Bosco, Buscemi, Siracusa, Sicily, Italy |
| Madonna del Carmine, Bagaladi, Reggio Calabria, Calabria, Italy |
| Madonna Annunziata, Brancaleone, Reggio Calabria, Calabria, Italy |
| Madonna della Montagna, Canolo, Reggio Calabria, Calabria, Italy |
| Madonna della Lettera, Palmi, Reggio Calabria, Calabria, Italy |
| Madonna della Salute, Delianuova, Reggio Calabria, Calabria, Italy |
| Maria Santissima della Sanità, Badolato, Catanzaro, Calabria, Italy |
| Madonna della Luce, Palermiti, Catanzaro, Calabria, Italy |
| Madonna del Pozzo, Capurso, Bari, Puglia, Italy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Madonna della Palma, Palmariggi, Lecce, Apulia, Italy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Marija
Reġina, Marsa, Malta
| Matka
Boża Pocieszenia, Szamotuły, Szamotuły, Greater Poland,
Poland (Consoling Mother of God) | Nossa Senhora do Loreto, Idanha-a-Nova, Castelo Branco, Centro,
Portugal, Alcafozes district | Nossa Senhora da Atalaia, Montijo, Alcochete, Lisbon, Portugal | Senhora de Orada, Sousel, Portalegre, Alentejo, Portugal | Nossa Senhora do Amparo, Ponta do Pargo, Calheta, Madeira, Algarve,
Portugal | Nossa Senhora da Piedade, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal | Virgen de la Cuesta, Gallinero de Cameros, La Rioja, Spain | Virxe do Camiño, Muros, A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. Romería. | Nosa Señora da Lanzada, Sanxenxo, Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain | Nuestra Señora de La Ríegala, Cadavedo, Asturias, Spain | Virgen del Salido, Carrizosa, Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha, Spain | Virgen de los Alvares, Nuévalos, Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain | Santa María de la Nava, Montemolín, Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain.
Fiesta. | Nuestra Señora del Amparo, Burguillos del Cerro, Badajoz,
Extremadura, Spain (Our Lady of Protection). Fiesta. | Virgen de Castro, Peñalba de Castro, Huerta del Rey, Burgos,
Castilla y León, Spain | Nuestra Señora del Rosario, Cuéllar, Segovia, Castile and Léon,
Spain. Fiesta with running of bulls. | Virgen de los Remedios, Colmenar Viejo, Madrid, Spain | Virgen de la Aurora, Carcabuey, Córdoba, Andalucía, Spain | Virgen de los Remedios, Villafranca de Córdoba, Córdoba,
Andalucía, Spain | Virgen de Gracia, Patrona de Gelves, Sevilla, Andalucia, Spain | Virgen del Rosario, Guillena, Sevilla, Andalucia, Spain | Virgen de los Remedios, Cárcheles, Jaén, Andalucia, Spain | Virgen de Flores, Álora, Málaga, Andalucia, Spain | Nuestra Señora de la Salceda, Torres de Cotillas, Murcia, Spain
(Our Lady of the Willow Grove) | Virgen de los Dolores, Lodero, Villa de Mazo, La Palma, Santa Cruz
de Tenerife, Canary
Islands, Spain (Virgin of Sorrows) | Our Lady of Grace, Columbia, New Hampshire, USA | |