Our Lady of Laghet

Around 1629, the small chapel in the village of Laghet was renovated and the local people once again came to pray there. A beautiful polychrome wooden statue of the Virgin Mary with the Infant Jesus was placed there and carried in procession by the white penitents of Èze in 1652. That year, Mary manifested her invisible presence through signs of her goodness: several miracles took place. The reputation of this place of worship grew, and today the shrine of Our Lady of Laghet is one of the most visited in France.

View of Notre Dame de Laghet (La Trinité, Alpes Maritimes, France) / © CC BY-SA 3.0 Frantz-Samy

Reasons to believe:

The year 1652 has been called "the year of miracles" because of the many prayers that were answered at Laghet. By way of example, we can mention the first three. Hyacinthe Casanova, a resident of Monaco, who was suffering from leprosy, obtained his cure by asking the Virgin Mary's intercession immediately after mentioning this little chapel.

Gian Gôme, a widow from Monaco, decided to go to Laghet nine days in a row to ask for the release of her only son, who had been kidnapped by barbarian pirates and enslaved in North Africa. On the second day, she learned in a dream that her son was on his way back, and this dream proved to be true.

Marie Aicard, a resident of La Turbie, suffered from epilepsy and was said to be possessed by the devil. Her father Charles begged Don Fighiera to pray for her in Laghet; when the priest did so, she was immediately cured.

Bishop Didier de Palletis of Nice, applying the decisions of the Council of Trent, ordered an investigation into the events at Laghet. A commission made up of the vicar general, religious theologians, a doctor and a notary public examined the accounts of witnesses and the evidence of healings. Twenty-two of the thirty-six miracles claimed in eighteen months were recognised, and the bishop officially approved the cult of Our Lady of Laghet on 26 December 1653.

As word of these prodigies spread, pilgrims flocked not only from the Nice region, but also from all sides of Provence, the Principality of Monaco and Italy. Paintings depicting scenes of illness, shipwrecks and accidents soon began to cover the walls of the chapel, testifying to the devotion and gratitude of the pilgrims for all the prayers answered by Our Lady. Each ex-voto mentions the recipient of the miracle with the abbreviation "VFGA" for the Latin phrase "votum fecit, gratiam accepit", "made a vow, obtained a grace". Today, there are more than 4,000 of them.

Summary:

As soon as the Christian faith appeared in Nice and a diocese was created in the 3rd century, the Church began to multiply the number of canonisations: Saint Reparata, patron saint of the city, Saint Rita, patron saint of desperate causes, martyred saints such as Saint Bassus and Saint Pons, healing saints such as Saint Roch and Saint Blaise; and many others ...

About 10 km outside the city walls, was a place of pilgrimage dear to the people of Nice and dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Laghet. In this place, which very old maps refer to as Lagues or Laguet, stands a castle, the ruins of which still seem to bear witness to its presence today. It takes its name from a spring, 'laghet' being the transcription of 'aiguetta' ('little watering place').

A completely abandoned chapel

As early as the 11th century, a chapel named Notre-Dame de Laghet is mentioned in the property deeds of the Abbey of Saint-Victor in Marseille. This chapel was mainly frequented by sailors and fishermen who came to implore the Virgin's graces for their trips out to sea and success of their catch.

Founded in the 5th century, Saint-Victor's abbey was of considerable importance during the Middle Ages, both in spiritual and cultural terms and in terms of its heritage. One of its abbots, Guillaume de Grimoard, was elected Pope in 1362 under the name of Urban V. In 1045, Raimbaud of Nice, co-lord of Nice, Count of Vence and Cagnes, together with his wife Adelaïde and their children, donated the castle of Lagues to the Abbey of Saint-Victor in Marseille for the redemption of his soul. Following this donation, a chapel dedicated to Our Lady was built by the monks of Saint-Victor, which provided shelter for both men and animals, and was surrounded by a number of houses inhabited by peasants and shepherds.

In 1652, Don Jacques Fighiéra decided to restore it and donated a statue of the Virgin, which is still venerated today. This statue was carried in procession by the white penitents on 24 June 1652. It was then that the Madonna of Laghet began granting numerous miracles, spectacular cures and deliverance of the possessed. The signs multiplied.

Word spread, and pilgrims flocked in droves. People came to pray to the Virgin of the Chapel, from Nice of course, but also from all over Provence and Liguria. Faced with such a huge movement, the Bishop of Nice, Mgr de Palletis, convened a commission of theologians to examine the events at Laghet. On 20 December 1653, this commission concluded that the miracles were genuine.

Since then, thousands of faithful have thanked the Virgin of Laghet for her protection and blessings. And hundreds of ex-voto have been affixed to the walls of the church, as expression of gratitude for the fulfilment of a vow request or in thanksgiving for a grace obtained. Today, there are more than four thousand of them visible in the chapel, including 800 listed as historical monuments.

A shrine steeped in history

In 1654, the people of Nice enlarged the chapel and built a majestic church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. Devotion to Our Lady of Laghet was all the stronger as a result, and her popularity even greater.

From 1676 until 1903, the church was entrusted to a community of Discalced Carmelite monks from Turin, Italy. They built the convent and, in accordance with their vow of poverty, devoted themselves to prayer and work. The Dukes of Savoy, who regularly visited Nice, came here on pilgrimage.

1792 was a memorable year for the shrine: French revolutionary troops crossed the Var bridge, entered the County of Nice and occupied the town. Nobles and religious fled and the Carmelites left France, as the French Revolution abolished all religious congregations in 1790, seizing and selling off all their possessions. The Carmelite fathers left the monastery at Laghet for Turin. The venerable statue was hidden by a shepherd. The buildings were pillaged and all the votive offerings burnt.

It was not until 1802 that the chapel was once again opened for worship. In 1811, a decree from Napoleon I placed it at the disposal of Bishop Colonna d'Istria, who installed secular priests there. The Carmelites returned after the Restoration in 1815, but were expelled after the 1901 law on associations was passed.

The monastery, sold at auction, was bought back in 1907 by the Bishop of Nice, Mgr Chapon, and became the diocese's minor seminary and then, gradually became a spiritual retreat house. In October 1952, major ceremonies commemorated the third centenary of the donation made by Father Fighiéra. They were presided over by the nuncio of France, His Eminence Cardinal Roncalli (future Pope John XXIII), alongside Mgr Rémond, archbishop-bishop of Nice.

Since 1978, the Benedictine nuns of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre, based at the priory of Notre-Dame de Laghet, have been managing the shrine, providing spiritual guidance and accommodation. Since 2002, the Laghet seminary has been training future priests for the dioceses of Nice, Monaco and Ventimiglia.

The ex-votos attract the attention not only of tourists and those who come to pray at the shrine, but also of young French and foreign university students studying the meaning of popular religion. Today, the Notre-Dame de Laghet shrine is one of the most visited in France, with pilgrims from all over the world.

Born and raised in Nice, Richard Pogliano has a degree in economy, and is an amateur historian. He chairs the Circle of Nice and its Bibliothèque des Mémoires. A lecturer and author of numerous books, he also has a YouTube channel.

Going further:

On the Our History with Mary website, see the article "Notre-Dame de Laghet: the spiritual heart of the church in Nice "

More information:

In the Marian encyclopaedia of Mary of Nazareth, the article " Notre-Dame de Laghet".
Charles Astro, "Le sanctuaire de Laghet : le monument et ses œuvres d'art", Nice historique, no. 325, 2001, pp. 136-143.
Henri Costamagna, "Historique du sanctuaire de Notre-Dame de Laghet", Nice-Historique, no. 385, 2001, pp. 59-75.
Yves Delsanti, "Piété populaire hier et aujourd'hui à Notre-Dame de Laghet", Cahiers de la Méditerranée, vol. 27, no. 1, 1983, pp. 45-77.
Véronique Frantz, "Les premiers miracles de Notre-Dame de Laghet", Provence historique, vol. 52, no. 207, 2002, p. 27-42.
Patrizia and Gérard Cletta, Les Cimaises de la grâce : le sanctuaire de Notre-Dame de Laghet et ses ex-voto, Serre Éditeur, 2009.
Luc Thévenon, "L'iconographie de la Vierge de Laghet", Nice historique, no. 532, 2001, pp. 110-129.