Our Lady of Brebières

Marian Advocation of Albert (Alta France)

La devoción a Our Lady of Brebières is connected to Albertin the department of the Sum (Alta France), where tradition places the finding of an image of the Virgin by a shepherd. This local tradition explains the origin of the sanctuary and the advocation, but does not provide a fully documented chronology in the sources consulted; therefore, the finding must be presented as Pious tradition, as historically closed hecho with certainty.

Main data

Origin and history

La devoción a Our Lady of Brebières is connected to Albertin the department of the Sum (Alta France), where tradition places the finding of an image of the Virgin by a shepherd. This local tradition explains the origin of the sanctuary and the advocation, but does not provide a fully documented chronology in the sources consulted; therefore, the finding must be presented as Pious tradition, as historically closed hecho with certainty.

La documented history of the sanctuary is well witnessed in contemporary times: the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Brebières became a great center of Marian pilgrimage in Albert, and its main image reached great notoriety due to the dramatic inclination of the statue of the dome during the World War I. The image was associated with the city and the war memory of the place, becoming one of the best known signs of local devotion.

The image and the sanctuary

The most famous image is the call "Golden Virgin", a Marian statue placed in the dome of the sanctuary, represented in a royalty attitude and visible from far away by its golden coating or golden appearance, according to the descriptive tradition spread by the sanctuary and local historiography. During World War I, the statue remained tilted over the dome, a fact that fed its fame and its symbolic value.

The temple is the Basílica de Notre-Dame de Brebières, en Albert (Somme, Francia). The sources consulted identify it as the basilica and Marian sanctuary of the city; there is no universal designation of National sanctuary o diocesan in the sources provided, so it is appropriate to stick to the official name and its status as basilica.

Sponsorship and coronation

The invocation is particularly linked to the city of Albert and to its local devotional environment in the corresponding diocese; there is no clearly documented universal or national patronage in the sources consulted for this advocation.

Consta una canonical coronation in 1898 of the venerated image in Notre-Dame de Brebières; however, in the sources available here the pontiff or specific delegate who executed it does not appear with certainty, so only the Year 1898.

Party and devotion

La main party se celebra en September, according to local tradition and the devotional reference spread for this advocation.

The devotion to Our Lady of Brebières has been marked by the Pilgrimage to Albertthe memory of the image bowed during the war and the veneration of the Virgin as the protector of the place. The basilica became a sign of devotional continuity for the faithful of the region, especially around the historical memory of the city and the Marian celebrations of September.

Link to the Rosary

A specific and exclusive historical relationship between Our Lady of Brebières y el prayer of the Rosary. However, as a Marian advocation in a pilgrimage sanctuary, his devotion is naturally inserted into the rosarian spirituality: the Rosary accompanies the contemplation of the mysteries of Christ with Mary and is usually the proper prayer of the sanctuaries dedicated to the Virgin.