Marian devotion
Where is he?
The shrine of Our Lady of Graces is located in Cotignac, department of the Var, region of Provence-Alpes- Costa Azul, France. The point of the map corresponds to the chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Grâces cartographed by OpenStreetMap in the Esplanade. It is not intended to place with that point every episode of tradition, but the building and sanctuary that conserves devotion.
Documented history
The diocese of Fréjus- Toulon presents Cotignac as a place of Marian pilgrimage and as one of the sanctuaries of the Holy Family in France. His institutional page transmits the tradition according to which on August 10, 1519 Jean de la Baume had seen the Virgin Mary accompanied by Michael and Bernardo in Mont Verdaille. The story says that Mary asked that a church be built there under the title of Notre- Dame de Grâces.
The diocesan source also relates Cotignac to the tradition of the apparition of St. Joseph in the Bessillon on June 7, 1660 to Gaspard Ricard. This place is different from the Marian chapel, although both today form a set of pilgrimage. The fact sheet mentions it to explain the context of Cotignac, without confusing the Marian tradition of 1519 with the later account of St. Joseph.
The sanctuary received pilgrims over the centuries. The diocese recalls the visit of Louis XIV to give thanks for his birth and describes the current activity of the Community of San Juan, which has served the place since 1981. Masses, prayer, worship, confessions, retreats and pilgrimages are held today, especially for families and couples.
Tradition
The tradition of Cotignac tells that Jean de la Baume was commissioned to communicate to the clergy and the community the will to raise a church in the Mont Verdaille. The reception of veneration, the construction of the sanctuary and the influx of pilgrims belong to the devotional history documented by the diocese. The claim that there was a supernatural apparition is preserved here as an attributed account and is distinguished from the historical existence of the sanctuary.
Legend
The details of the light, of the heavenly companions and of the promised graces belong to the account transmitted by the sanctuary. The diocesan source consulted is not, on the page used, a formal decree approving the supernatural. For this reason, each narrative element is not presented as a proven historical fact, nor is an ecclesial state that is not expressly established.
Ecclesial State
It consists of a diocesan Catholic sanctuary, public veneration and pastoral care of the diocese of Fréjus- Toulon. The institutional source speaks of the apparitions and the history of the place, but does not provide on this page a formal independent decree that allows the Marian apparition to be classified with a more precise degree. It is, therefore, recorded as a permitted Catholic cult and tradition of apparition, without affirming undocumented formal approval.
Anecdotes and stories
Cotignac retains a memory especially linked to families. The visit of Louis XIV is integrated into the history of the French monarchy and Marian devotion; the contemporary pilgrimages show another stage, focused on prayer, reconciliation and family life. The community that attends the sanctuary also offers spaces of retreat and spiritual accompaniment.
Prayer
St. Mary of Graces, intercede to Jesus Christ for families, for those who desire a son, for marriages and for those who seek reconciliation. Teach us to receive grace with humility and to put all hope in God. Amen.
Sources
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