Église Notre-Dame-de-Pitié de La Chapelle-Saint-Laurent

About

The Notre-Dame-de-Pitié Basilica of La Chapelle-Saint-Laurent is a shrine and pilgrimage site located in the commune of La Chapelle-Saint-Laurent, in the Deux-Sèvres department and the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. Built from 1891 on a height overlooking the Bressuirai bocage, it houses a statue of "Our Lady of Mercy" venerated since the 16th century.

History: The origins of the pilgrimage to Notre-Dame-de-Pitié remain relatively obscure and are confused with local legends. Some oral traditions thus evoke the discovery in the 16th century of a statue of the Virgin by a parish farmer. Adventured in some grove in order to rest there for a moment, the latter would have discovered the statue in a niche in a half-ruined wall section, possible vestige of an oratory destroyed during the Franco-English wars. Taking the statue to the parish church in order to secure it, he was amazed to find it at its original location the next day. The phenomenon would have taken place at least three times, which determined the construction of a new chapel on the plateau. A few decades later...