Our Lady of the Port

Marian title of Clermont-Ferrand (Auvernia-Rhódano-Alpes)

La advocación de Our Lady of the Port (Not- Dame- du- Port) is linked to the ancient parish and district of the Port in Clermont-Ferrandin the present region of Auvernia-Rhódano-Alpes, France, where the famous Roman basilica of Notre-Dame-du-Port, declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO within the set of pilgrimage churches related to the roads of Santiago de Compostela. This church is already documented in the Middle Ages as an important place of Marian devotion and passage of pilgrims.

Main data

Origin and history

La advocación de Our Lady of the Port (Not- Dame- du- Port) is linked to the ancient parish and district of the Port in Clermont-Ferrandin the present region of Auvernia-Rhódano-Alpes, France, where the famous Roman basilica of Notre-Dame-du-Port, declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO within the set of pilgrimage churches related to the roads of Santiago de Compostela. This church is already documented in the Middle Ages as an important place of Marian devotion and passage of pilgrims.

La documented history places the Romanesque configuration of the basilica in the 11th-12th centuries, with successive restorations, especially in the 19th and 20th centuries. The devotion to the Virgin of this sanctuary is in the context of the Black virgins of Auvergne, very venerated since the Middle Ages, although in the specific case of Notre-Dame-du-Port the tradition of "black virgin" lives with several Marian images associated with the temple over time.

As regards tradition and legend, various local devotional sources (not always critical) mention the continuity of a very old Marian cult in the place, related to the passage of pilgrims and with favors attributed to the intercession of the Virgin, but there is no news of apparitions or extraordinary facts clearly documented in medieval times. There is also no universally accepted and well-dated foundational legend; only a stable Marian cult since the Middle Ages can be safely affirmed.

(There is no documentation that bases a location in "Colombia"; the title, as it is historically attested, belongs to Clermont-Ferrand, France.)

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The image and the sanctuary

The devotion is articulated around a image of the Virgin with the Child venerated in the Basilica of Notre-Dame-du-Port, belonging to all the calls Black virgins of Auvergne, that is, Marian images of dark tone, usually sent and with the Child Jesus in the attitude of presenting or blessing. For this specific advocation, the specialized sources point to the existence of a Marian image of a medieval type, but they do not offer with safety detailed and univocal data material, exact dating or authoron these specific aspects no consta a fully secure and homogeneous description.

El sanctuary es la Basilica of Notre-Dame-du-Port (Basilique Notre-Dame-du-Port), former Roman parish church of Clermont-Ferrand. It is a remarkable temple of auvernese Romanesque art, of a basic plant, with a central ship, walking and crypt, and with a rich sculptural decoration in capitals and covers, typical of the great sanctuaries of medieval pilgrimage. The church has been recognized by the Holy See with the title of minor basilica (data collected in the ecclesial documentation and in the general literature on the temple). It is also registered by UNESCO as part of the churches of the "Santiago de Compostela road in France," highlighting its importance as place of historical pilgrimage.

It is not known that the sanctuary has the official title of National sanctuary of France, nor that it is formally presented as the main Marian sanctuary of the diocese, although in fact it plays a strong regional devotional role as one of the great Marian centers of Auvergne.

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Sponsorship and coronation

In the canonical plane, no consta that Our Lady of the Port has been proclaimed head of the French nationor the whole region of Auvergnia-Rhódano-Alpes. Devotion has above all a character local y regional, closely linked to the city of Clermont-Ferrand and its religious history, and is considered one of the significant Marian focal points of the diocese, although it does not always appear as a unique and official patron in the general documentation available.

On the coronationthe historical and devotional sources agree that the image of Our Lady of the Port was in 1881. This coronation is located in the context of the numerous canonical coronations of French Marian images from the 19th and early 20th centuries. However, the easily accessible documentation does not specify with certainty the name of the Pontiff who granted it (although by date it would correspond to the pontificate of Lion XIII) ni el Pontifician delegate which presided over the act; by not clearly stated in the sources consulted, and following the criterion of rigour, it is only indicated:

– Coronación: 1881. – Sobre pontífice y delegado: is not safe in the available documentation.

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Party and devotion

The fiesta principal de Our Lady of the Port se celebra el September 8, traditional date of The birth of the Virgin Marywhich many Marian advocates have adopted as their own holiday. Around this date solemn liturgical celebrations are organized in the basilica, with Eucharistic, processions and Marian devotional acts.

The basilica, being on the historical route of the roads of Santiago, receives a afluencia variada: faithful of the diocese, pilgrims passing to Compostela and visitors attracted by the Romanesque heritage. There are no precise figures for assistance, but recognition as World Heritage and as a minor basilica indicates a stable flow of pilgrims and tourists. The devoción popular is expressed in the burning of candles, personal prayer before the image, participation in novias and, in particular, in the celebration of the September feast, where the Virgin is honored as protector of the city and of the families entrusted to her.

Among the devotional features are the intercession for the daily life of the city, the protection of travellers and pilgrims, and the continuity of a Marian tradition that links the faith of the medieval Auvergne with the present piety. In the consulted sources, very specific unique practices (for example, a specific country pilgrimage or an exclusive rite) are not documented, beyond the ordinary forms of Marian devotion: solemn masses, processions, litany and visit to the sanctuary.

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Link to the Rosary

The available historical documentation does not contain a specific and differentiated relationship of the advocation of Our Lady of the Port with a brotherhood of the Rosary, with apparitions linked to the prayer of the Rosary or with an official title that makes express reference to the Rosary. No data are collected that the basilica has been an eminent center for the dissemination of a Rosary fellowship comparable to other great rosarian shrines.

However, as in almost all the great Marian shrines, the Rosario is part of ordinary devotional life:: personal and community prayer, especially in the area of Marian parties, in the vigil, novena and processions. In a sanctuary that preserves an ancient image of the Virgin with the Child and has welcomed so many pilgrims over the centuries, the Rosary acts as "school of contemplation" of the mysteries of Christ with Mary and as a simple means by which the faithful formulate their pleas and thanksgiving.

In this way, although there is no "own" and unique historical link with the Rosary, the advocation of Our Lady of the Port is fully incorporated in the great Marian tradition of the Church, where the prayer of the Rosary helps the faithful to contemplate, together with Mary, the incarnation, passion and glory of their Son, and to live with filial confidence the pilgrimage of faith.