Corsica pays homage to its patron saint

Every September 8, Corsica celebrates the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. Several processions and masses took place this Thursday on the island. Wednesday evening, the pilgrimage of Lavasina had marked the beginning of the Marian ceremonies.

Patroness of the island of which she was proclaimed queen in 1735, the Virgin Mary is celebrated every September 8, the day of her birth, by island Catholics.

The first processions began this Wednesday evening in Lavasina. In the presence of the Bishop of Corsica, Monsignor Bustillo, who presided over the mass, the torchlight procession to the Notre Dame des Grâces sanctuary brought together some 4,000 people.

After two years of health crisis, the pilgrims were happy to return to Cap Corse and find the ceremony in its usual configuration.

“We believe in it, we have faith, that’s why we are here, explains a resident of Alta Rocca who came especially to Lavasina. We still come from Levie, it’s not next door. It is an important festival for Corsica. Besides, this Wednesday, there is not even school.”

Indeed, since 2014, September 8 is a public holiday for all island students in primary and secondary school.

In Lavasina, the Nativity tradition dates back to the 17th century.

In 1675, a miracle would have happened. Iduring a trip to Genoa, a religious de Bonifacio takes refuge in the small cove of Cap Corse to escape the storm. Suffering from paralysis of her legs, Sister Marie-Agnès takes shelter in the chapel of the Danese family and rubs herself with oil from the lamp Who enlightened the tableau of the Virgin. His pain disappears immediately.

Previously, the work had been given to the Danese, wine merchants, by an insolvent client. In the package, they had miraculously found a sum of money which corresponded exactly to that owed by their debtor. The Danese then placed the famous painting in their chapel at Lavasina.

Under the rule of the bishop of Mariana, Fabrizio Giustiniani, it will become a sanctuary. The first mass was celebrated there on September 8, 1677, the day of the Nativity of the Virgin.

Below, the report by Paul Salort and Christian Giugliano:

This Thursday, the Nativity of the Virgin is celebrated with fervor and devotion all over the island. As in Alesani where every September 8 the original painting of the “Virgin with the cherry” finds its place in the church of the convent. Usually, the work is kept at the Aleria museum and a copy is left at Alesani.

In Pancheraccia, where the Virgin is said to have appeared in the 18th century to a little girl lost in the mountains, the statue of the Madonna is only carried by women.

Below, the report by Sarah Defranchi and Daniel Bansard:

In Casamaccioli, Santa di u Niolu began this morning with a mass presided over by Bishop Bustillo. The brotherhoods then participated in the granitula procession.

An edition of Santa which also marks the return of the fair canceled for the past two years due to the Covid. In the Niolu, the festivities last until Sunday.

In some villages of Pumonti, such as Lopigna in Cinarca, the statue of the Virgin was carried by the faithful during a procession.

In Ciamannacce, homage was also paid to Mary, whose image would once have appeared on a church wall in front of a praying faithful. Traditionally, in the village of Haut-Taravu, the veil of the Virgin is removed after the mass of September 8 during the ceremony of the Scupritura.

In the far south, in Bonifacio, confreres and pilgrims paid homage to the patron saint of the island at the Hermitage of the Trinity. As they do every September 8th.