FRENCH CELEBRATION

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 July 1938, Page 8

FRENCH CELEBRATION

CONSECRATION TO THE VIRGIN MARY. Boulogne is taking part in the celebrations for the commemoration of the third centenary of the vow of Louis XIII., in 1638, when he placed France under the protection of the Virgin Mary. A grand congress will be held there from July 17 to 24. Thursday, July 21, will be a children’s day, when a procession composed entirely of children will pass through the town. On Saturday, July 23, there will be a special service at the cathedral of Notre Dame, and in the afternoon a “fete de la mer” will symbolise the miraculous arrival at Boulogne of the statue of the Virgin drifting in a boat without sails or oars. This year is the thirteenth centenary of this event. On the Sunday, the closing day, there will be pontifical mass conducted by the Cardinal legate in the open air. and Mgr Cardinal Gerlier, Archbishop of Lyons, will speak. In the afternoon there will be a historical procession representing Boulogne through history. To accompany the statue of the Virgin of the Sea there will- be statues carried of saints venerated in the region Saint Omer, Saint Eloy, Saint Lugle, Staint Yor, Saint Ida, and others, while famous pilgrims will be represented in the procession, King Philippe Auguste, the Dukes of Burgandy, Louis XL. Louis XII., Henri 11., Louis XIII., and Louis XIV.