Our Lady of Avenieres

Soon a sanctuary rose on the very spot where the image of the Blessed Virgin had manifested itself to the eyes of Guy. In order that the homage rendered to Mary might be more complete, the pious founder resolved to establish at the same time a choir of virgins destined to sing the praises of God and his holy Mother day and night. Guy II had two of his daughters, Agnes and Odeline, also named Hildeburge, who had consecrated themselves to God in the Abbey of Sainte-Marie de la Charité abbaye de Sainte-Marie de la Charité ou du Ronceray, à Angers Abbey in Angers from which the first nuns of Avénières originated. or du Ronceray, in Angers. It was in this great monastery that he went to ask for the colony of nuns he needed to populate the new cloister he wished to found. His wishes were granted, and the pious knight had the happiness of seeing his two daughters charged, with their companions, to pay the tribute of gratitude that he owed to the Queen of Heaven.

The nuns of Avénières showed themselves worthy of the prerogatives that were granted to them, and the Queen of Heaven looked with a favorable eye upon this swarm of fervent virgins who surrounded her altar at all hours with such pure and ardent homage. Through such powerful aid, the community prospered rapidly.

The pilgrimage of Notre-Dame d'Avénières had been frequented for about a century when the decision was made to erect a new church on this site. The number of pilgrims had increased, and the monastery of the nuns had acquired considerable importance. The priory of Avénières raised, to the glory of the august patroness, one of the most remarkable monuments in the province of Maine, and certainly the most beautiful of which the banks of the Mayenne can boast.

The church of Notre-Dame d'Avénières describes a Latin cross. According to the prescriptions of the apostolic age, the choir is turned to the East, the arms extend to the North and South, and the nave ends to the West. The miraculous image of the Blessed Virgin is placed below the high altar. It is a statue about two feet high and entirely of stone except for the head, which is of wood. It represents Mary carrying the divine Child in her arms. Although it is painted, the custom has long been established of dressing it in more or less precious ornaments, according to the solemnities of the liturgical cycle.

The inhabitants of Laval were undoubtedly the first to experience the benefits spread by Our Lady of Avenières. From the beginning, they showed a praiseworthy eagerness to visit the new sanctuary; they went there to pray in all their undertakings, in all their difficulties, and in all their sorrows. Mary, always helpful, was pleased to shower her favors upon them; the faith of the populations welcomed them and made them known far and wide. Soon, pilgrims were seen flocking from distant provinces; Anjou, Brittany, and Normandy, rivaling the fervor of Maine, sent their children to implore Our Lady of Avenières and to present her with ex-votos, which remained hanging on all the walls of the sanctuary. Often the influx was so great that the pious travelers had to camp in the streets, under the awnings of shops, under the market halls, under the porticoes of the priory, and even in the cemeteries.

Although the 18th century was for our country an era of moral and religious ruin, devotion to Our Lady of Avenières lost none of its fervor or its brilliance. But this century, so guilty and so unhappy, opened for Mary's sanctuary with a serious accident. On February 2, 1701, a gust of wind uncovered the nave and carried away sixteen feet of the stone spire. This misfortune was promptly repaired. In 1708, at the request of the inhabitants, a new altar was erected to the Blessed Virgin, backed against the first pillar of the nave, on the Gospel side.

In 1724, the parishes of La Trinité, Saint-Vénérand, Louverné, L'Huisserie, and Argentré, along with the Dominican community of Laval, gave striking proof of the confidence that the populations placed in Our Lady of Avenières; they came in solemn processions to implore through her protection the deliverance from the continuous rains that were ruining the harvests and casting despair into the hearts of the rich as well as the poor. Mary, whom one never implores in vain, heard the groans of her pious clients, and the prompt cessation of the plague rewarded their faith and gave new nourishment to their piety toward Our Lady of Avenières, who covers the entire region of Laval with her aegis. Thus, in 1735 or 1736, the parish of Saint-Vénérand, having new graces to implore from heaven, remembered that our requests are always well received when they are presented by the hands of the Immaculate Virgin, and it made a new solemn pilgrimage, in which the clergy carried on their shoulders the venerated head of the parish's patron.

During the Terror, there was a moment when revolutionary passions seemed to subside after 9 Thermidor, and the sanctuary of Mary regained a few days of peace. Upon the petition of several inhabitants of the parish, the directory of the Mayenne department authorized the reopening of the church of Avénières by two decrees, one on April 28 and the other on May 4, 1795. But the calm lasted little, and the troubles that agitated the country provided a pretext for a resurgence of persecution. However, the Catholic cult, even before the Concordat, reappeared at Avénières. The opening and reconciliation of the church of the Mother of God took place on May 4, 1800, the second Sunday after Easter. One even saw men who had been involved in the horrors of the persecution come to seek at the foot of Mary's altar the peace and security that their conscience no longer knew. How many tasted, near Her who is called by the name Refuge of Sinners, the sweet fruits of reconciliation! How many ulcerated hearts withdrew from the pious sanctuary, healed and renewed! In 1805, Michel-Joseph de Pidoll, Bishop of Le Mans, visited the church of Avén Michel-Joseph de Pidoll, évêque du Mans Bishop of Le Mans who visited the sanctuary in 1805. ières and gave confirmation there to a large crowd. Three years later (August 6, 1808), the Confraternity of the Rosary was established, and a great number of the faithful hastened to join it.

The sanctuary of Our Lady of Avénières was among the first to feel the fruits of the graces that the erection of an episcopal see in Laval was to produce throughout the Bas-Maine. One of the first cares of the vigilant prelate to whom the new church had been entrusted was to prepare for the solemn publication of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, so dear to piety. It was, moreover, under the patronage of the Immaculate Conception that the Holy Fat her had placed t diocèse de Laval City possessing an important church dedicated to Saint Venerand. he diocese of Laval, and it was to be expected that the feast would be solemn. It was indeed; the entire population, in an outburst of joy, faith, and gratitude, took part in this beautiful manifestation. The city and the whole diocese testified to the religious sentiments that animated them. But the central place and, as it were, the heart of this feast was the sanctuary of Our Lady of Avénières. There, the entire episcopal city pressed in the footsteps of its pastor. The ancient church heard the promulgation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, to whom it is dedicated; and the pious Pontiff consecrated his person and his dioc ese to Pie IX Pope who canonized Josaphat in 1867. Mary there.

Soon the Sovereign Pontiff Pius IX added new spiritual graces to those enjoyed by the church of Our Lady of Avénières.

In a brief dated August 22, 1857, the Sovereign Pontiff Pius IX, moved by the desire to increase the religion of the faithful and to procure the salvation of souls, declared that he was opening the heavenly treasures of the Church in favor of all those who would visit the sanctuary of Our Lady of Avénières. The Holy Father made it known that to enjoy these favors, one must have confessed one's sins, be truly repentant for them, have received Holy Communion, piously visit the sanctuary, and pray there for the maintenance of peace between Christian princes, the extirpation of heresy, and the exaltation of our Mother the Holy Church. The indulgences thus granted are:

1st Plenary indulgence on the day of the Assumption or one of the days of the octave;

2nd Plenary indulgence on the six other principal feasts of the Most Holy Virgin (the Immaculate Conception, the Purification, the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity, and the Presentation);

3rd Indulgence of seven years and seven quarantines every Friday of the year, for those who visit the church of Avénières with a contrite heart and pray there for the intentions of the Sovereign Pontiff.

At the beginning of 1859, the Bishop of Laval, having completed the *ad limina Apostolorum* visit, obtained even greater favors for the pilgrimage. The Holy Father was pleased to affiliate the sanctuary of Avénières to that of Loreto, to the Holy House in which the mystery of the Incarnation was accomplished, and which the angels, at the end of the 13th century, transported from Nazareth to Dalmatia, then to the States of the Church, to Loreto, where it has become the goal of a pilgrimage that the Catholic world knows and venerates. The concession of the Holy Father is dated March 15, 1859.

This affiliation gives the pilgrim of Avénières the right to the same graces and spiritual favors that he could acquire by visiting with piety and in the proper dispositions the very sanctuary where the Word was made flesh. To share in these graces, one must also fulfill the ordinary conditions that we have made known above. Here now are the particular favors that the brief of March 15, 1859, ensures for the church of Avénières:

1st Plenary indulgence, applicable to the souls in purgatory, for the feasts of Christmas, the Immaculate Conception, the Nativity, the Annunciation, and the Translation of the Holy House of Loreto;

2nd Indulgence of seven years and seven quarantines for the other feasts of Our Lord and Our Lady, for that of Saint Josep h, and Pie IX Pope who canonized Josaphat in 1867. for that of Saint Anne.

Three days later, on March 18, 1859, Pius IX issued a decree by which he authorized the Bishop of Laval to crown the statue of Our Lady of Avénières in his name. This new favor from the Sovereign Pontiff was welcomed with enthusiasm by all classes of society in the diocese of Laval. The solemnity of the Coronation took place on May 9, 1860. What was most touching in this great manifestation of faith was the recollection, the piety, and the sincerity of the sentiments imprinted on all faces. The crowd, having arrived the day before from all sides, crowded all the streets of the city in an attitude of respect and prayer.

The octave continued, with less pomp perhaps, but with the same energy of faith. Each day saw entire parishes coming from three or four leagues away, and even from further still, whose pious inhabitants tore themselves away from their field work to go and pay their tribute to the Queen who protected both their lives and their harvests. Most carried ex-votos; all sang the praises of Mary while parading along the streets of the city. The entire country was moved. This great solemnity has left memories in the Bas-Maine that will not fade for a long time.

The parish of Bonchamp, paroisse de Bonchamp Parish that makes an annual pilgrimage to Avénières. ever faithful to the excellent spirit that animates it, performs the pilgrimage to Notre-Dame d'Avenières annually with particular pomp: it travels in procession to the sanctuary of the Mother of God, singing her praises and invoking her aid; and they do not depart until after having attended the holy mysteries.

The number of other pilgrims who visit this blessed sanctuary annually or even several times a year is very considerable; there are always more on the Friday of each week; and many inhabitants of Laval have the praiseworthy custom of making this journey every Friday of the year.

Excerpt from The Pilgrimage of Notre-Dame d'Avenières, by the Rev. Fr. Dont l'oïn.