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marian
anniversaries march
 March 12
Notre Dame de Fourvière, Lyon, Rhône, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
On Fourvière hill above Lyon, a chapel was built around
1180, dedicated to St. Thomas à Becket, recently martyred there, and to
Our Lady. On April 29, 1552, Huguenots destroyed the chapel and its Black
Virgin statue. The Catholics of Lyon replaced both soon afterwards. (Image
of the Black Virgin, usually vested, left, posted by Mme Dulac to
"Lyon, Fourvière (69-Rhône)," lieuxsacres.canalblog.com, March
14, 2007). During an outbreak of black plague, on March 12, 1643,
city officials made a vow to the Virgin to erect two statues in her honor
and on September 8, feast of her birth, to make a pilgrimage to her
shrine to hear mass and donate seven pounds of candles and a gold écu.
The epidemic which continued to ravage France ended in Lyon that year, and
pilgrims began flocking to Fourvière. A statue representing Our Lady of
Good Counsel became a second focus of devotion. The September 8 pilgrimage
and offering still takes place. In 1851, church leaders decided to replace
the chapel's dilapidated bell tower with a new one, topped with a statue
of the Virgin overlooking the city. Local sculptor Joseph Fabish, who
later made the Virgin's statue at Lourdes, created the 18' gilt bronze
image. Because his workshop flooded, installation was postponed from
September 8 to December 8, feast of the Immaculate Conception. When stormy
weather that night prevented fireworks, devout citizens put lights in all
their windows in the Virgin's honor. In memory of that event, Lyon
celebrates a Festival of Lights on December 8. In 1870, citizens turned
again to Our Lady for help, against an imminent Prussian invasion. When
their prayers were answered, they decided to build a basilica on the holy
hill. Building started in 1872 and finished in 1884, but the lavish mosaic
decoration took another 80 years to complete. Its dedication anniversary
is celebrated annually on the Saturday after the second Sunday of Easter.
In the Basilica's crypt are images of the Virgin representing the various
ethnic groups of the area. The Portuguese statue of Our Lady of Fatima is
particularly venerated.
Some sources:
 | Basilica's site, www.fourviere.org |
| "Marist Places - Lyon Fourvière," The Marist Brothers - FMS,
www.champagnat.org |
| Diocesan site, "Dédicace de la basilique de Fourvière," Diocèse
de Lyon, lyon.catholique.fr |
| "Chapelles de Notre Dame de Fourvière Lyon 5ème," Guide
Touristique, www.gralon.net |
| "Le renouvellement du Voeu des échevins de 1643,"
www.pointsdactu.org/article.php3?id_article=552,
Sept. 5, 2006 |
| Lyon's site, "8 décembre - Fête des Lumières,"
www.lyon.fr/vdl/sections/fr/tourisme/fete_lumieres |
| fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilique_Notre-Dame_de_Fourvi%C3%A8re |
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Also commemorated this date:
| Lydda Icon of the Mother of God "Not Made by Hands." Russian
Orthodox commemoration (February 25 Julian) of image said to have appeared
miraculously on a column of a church built by the apostles Peter and John in
Lod, Central, Israel. |
| Our Lady of Fatima, Ban Pong Vang, Louangphrabang, Laos. Parish church
consecrated March 12, 2005. |
| Madonna della Fontana, Ascona, Ticino, Switzerland. First stone of church
placed March 12, 1617. Consecrated June 7, 1677. |
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