November 24
Vierge Noire, Myans, Montmélian, Chambéry, Savoie, Rhône-Alpes, France
On November 24, 1248, a disastrous avalanche on Mont Granier buried whole towns and killed hundreds in Savoy. When word spread that the cataclysm had stopped short at the small chapel of the Virgin near Myans, its ebony statue of the Virgin and Child from the 1100s became a magnet of devotion. In 1452, Franciscans began building the church they would maintain there for 300 years. In 1792, French revolutionaries attacked the church and badly damaged the Black Virgin. The restored statue, reinstalled in the church crypt in 1855, was canonically crowned 50 years later. Our Lady of Myans is celebrated on September 8, feast of the Nativity of the Virgin. (Information from wikipedia, membres.lycos.fr/stephanerevel/ndmyans.htm, and other sources. Photo by Audrey Kedinger, 2008, picasaweb.google.com.)
Also celebrated this date:
 | Iveron-Montreal Mother of God, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Icon began weeping golden myrrh, 1982. |
| Nostra Signora di Sacro Cuore di Gesù, Bologna, Italy. 1870 painting in Church of Santa Maria Maggiore crowned, 1901. |
| Apo Baket of Namacpacan, Luna, La Union, Ilocos, Philippines. Statue in Santa Catalina de Alejandría Church crowned, 1958. |
| Virgen de la Antigua, Seville, Seville, Andalusia, Spain. Fresco in cathedral crowned, 1929. |