ST. ANNE D'AURAY
Not far from the little town of Auray is the magnificent cathedral of
St. Anne D'Auray, to which so many thousands from all over Brittany
come annually to worship at the shrine of St. Anne. From all parts of
the country they arrive--some on foot, others on horseback, or in
strange country carts: marquises in their carriages; peasants plodding
many a weary mile in their wooden sabots. Even old men and women will
walk all through the day and night in order to be in time for the
pardon of St. Anne.
The Breton people firmly believe that their household cannot prosper,
that their cattle and their crops cannot thrive, that their ships are
not safe at sea, unless they have been at least once a year to burn
candles at the shrine. The wealthy bourgeois's daughter, in her new
dress, smart apron, and Paris shoes, kneels side by side with a ragged
beggar; the peasant farmer, with long gray hair, white jacket,
breeches and leather belt, mingles his supplications with those of a
nobleman's son. All are equal here; all have come in the same humble,
repentant spirit; for the time being class distinctions are swept
away. Noble and peasant crave their special boons; each confesses his
sins of the past year; all stand bareheaded in the sunshine, humble
petitioners to St. Anne.
At the time of the pardon, July 25, the ordinarily quiet town is
filled to overflowing. There is a magnificent procession, all green
and gold and crimson, headed by the Bishop of Vannes. A medley of
people come from all parts to pray in the cathedral, and to bathe in
the miraculous well, the water of which will cure any ailment.
It is said that in the seventh century St. Anne appeared to one
Nicolazic, a farmer, and commanded him to dig in a field near by for
her image. This having been found, she bade him erect a chapel on the
spot to her memory. Several chapels were afterwards built, each in its
turn grander and more important, until at last the magnificent church
now standing was erected. On the open place in front is a circle of
small covered-in stalls, where chaplets, statuettes, tall wax
candles, rings, and sacred ornaments of all kinds, are sold.
[Illustration: A BRETON FARMER]
Directly you appear within that circle, long doleful cries are set up
from every vendor, announcing the various wares that he or she has for
sale. You are offered rosaries for sixpence, and for four sous extra
you can have them blessed. A statue of the Virgin can be procured for
fourpence; likewise the image of St. Anne. Wherever you may go in the
circle, you are pestered by these noisy traders. There is something
incongruous in such sacred things being hawked about the streets, and
their various merits shrieked at you as you pass. We went to a shop
near by, where we could look at the objects quietly and at leisure.
The church, built of light-gray stone, is full of the richest
treasures you can imagine--gold, jewels, precious marbles, and
priceless pictures. One feels almost surfeited by so much
magnificence. Every square inch of the walls is covered with slabs of
costly marble, on which are inscribed, in letters of gold, thanks to
St. Anne for benefits bestowed and petitions for blessings.
Although one cannot but be touched by the worship of St. Anne and the
simple belief of the people in her power to cure all, to accomplish
all, one is a little upset by these costly offerings. Nevertheless, it
is a marvellous faith, this Roman Catholic religion: the more you
travel in a country like Brittany, the more you realize it. There must
be a great power in a religion that draws people hundreds of miles on
foot, and enables them, after hours of weary tramping, to spend a day
praying on the hard stones before the statue of a saint.