The strange adventure of Yves Nicolazic

Synthèse :

One night in August 1623, at a place called Keranna ("Anne's domain") in Pluneret, near Auray, Yves Nicolazic, a relatively well-off peasant, was roused from his sleep by an intense light, coming from "a very large candle held by a hand". He couldn't understand where the light was coming from and couldn't see the person holding it. Yves was very pious and was frightened by the possibility of devilry. He began to pray, but the light did not disappear, proving that it was not from the evil one. The phenomenon lasted "just long enough to recite two Our Fathers and two Hail Marys" and then the candle disappeared.

Nicolazic saw the same candle again six weeks later, when he was working at dusk in his field in Bocenno. According to an ancient oral tradition, a chapel dedicated to Anne once existed on the Bocenno plot of land, although people at the time didn't know if this "Anna" was the Virgin Mary's mother or the Celtic goddess Anna, mother of gods and men, who reigned over the underworld. In fact, the stones of the collapsed building, buried under a thin layer of earth, were still visible in places, making it difficult to cultivate the land. Yves's family salvaged enough to build a barn. The name of the place where Nicolazic lived, Keranna, was a reminder of this ancient shrine.

The phenomenon recurred every evening for eighteen months, and Yves became accustomed to the mysterious light shining on him as he walked home after dark. His brother-in-law also witnessed the phenomenon. In July 1624, as they fed their oxen at the nearby fountain, the candle appeared, but held by a mysterious hand, that of a woman. Frightened, the two men fled. Then, thinking it might be Yves's late mother who had come to ask for prayers, they returned: the woman was no longer there.

On 24 July, on his way home from Auray, Nicolazic heard a woman's voice calling him; it was the apparition from the other day, but it wasn't his mother. Disturbed, on his return home, he retired to the barn, built with stones salvaged from the Bocenno field, from an old building buried underground. He knelt down to say his rosary. Suddenly, the lady was there and says to him in Vannetais, the only language he understood: "Don't be afraid, Yves. I am Anne, the mother of Mary. Go and tell your rector that in the piece of land called Bocenno, before the village existed, there was a chapel dedicated to me, the first built in my honour by the Bretons. It has been in ruins for nine hundred and twenty-five years and six months[this date refers to a Frankish raid on the region to crush Brittany's attempt for independence].I want it to be rebuilt as soon as possible and for you to take care of it: God wants me to be honoured there."

Nicolazik, who knew the harsh temperament of the rector, Dom Sylvestre Rodué, refrained from telling him about the affair, convinced that he would not be well received. Saint Anne reappeared: "Don't be afraid and don't worry so much. Say in confession what you have seen and heard and do not delay in obeying me. Discuss it with a few good men to find out how to proceed." This request alone proves that the apparitions were not demonic - the devil would not tolerate his tricks being discovered under the protection of the sacrament. Even though he knew this, the priest still refused to accept Nicolazic's request. Saint Anne came back a third time: "Do not worry about what men will say. Do what I have told you and, for the rest, rely on me."

For seven weeks, Nicolazik did not act on it. So Saint Anne came back again: "Take heart, for the hour will come when all I have said to you will be fulfilled." This time, Nicolazik dared to retort: "You know, my good mistress, the difficulties our rector is having and his reproaches when I speak to him on your behalf. I don't have enough money to build you a chapel; yet I would have been happy to give you all my property for that. - Don't worry, I'll give you enough to start the work and nothing will ever be lacking to complete it [...]. Don't delay in starting. Your powerlessness will not prevent my plans [...]. The miracles in my power will make the most unbelieving confess that you are my instrument [...]. Don't bother to tell me about your poverty, I know enough about it, but all the treasures of Heaven are in my hands."

Nicolazic did not flinch, even though the phenomena were multiplying at Bocenno, as seen by the neighbours: candles, pillars of fire, showers of shooting stars... On 3 March 1625, he found himself miraculously transported to Bocenno, where he heard the angels escorting Saint Anne singing. She asked him to inform the rector and his friends, so that they could witness the revelation of the exact spot where the chapel was to be rebuilt, where her "ancient image".

When consulted, the rector shouted that there were already too many chapels in the country; the Capuchins of Auray also expressed their misgivings. Nicolazic asked for a sign. In his bedroom, he discovered the exact sum he urgently needed.

On the night of 7 to 8 March, Saint Anne asked him to wake his neighbours and go with them to Bocenno, taking a spade with them. The candle guided them, then rose and fell three times above a spot where, after digging, they discovered a three-foot-high statue of a woman, made of olive wood, old, "badly mutilated and spoilt", showing traces of white and blue polychromy. Although the clergy were suspicious - was the image of a saint or a goddess? - crowds flocked to the site of the discovery. The following Sunday, Nicolazic's barn went up in flames, returning the stolen stones to their rightful owner.

The Bishop of Vannes, Mgr de Rosmadec, took up the case and began to seriously investigate the story of the apparitions. The conclusions of the long and thorough investigation recognised the supernatural nature of the events. At the end of the year, the Bishop of Quimper also gave his approval and work began. In the meantime, two children were born to the Nicolazic family, who had been married for fifteen years and had previously been infertile. The sanctuary was built and crowds flocked to it.

Nicolazic died there on 12 May 1645, murmuring: "God wills it". Right up to the end, the priests present tried to get him to admit that he had been deceived. But to no avail. Suddenly, when he was in great pain, he looked up and exclaimed, transfigured: "I see the Blessed Virgin and Saint Anne, my good mistress!" Then he gave up the ghost, as he had wished, "happy to die at the feet of Saint Anne".

Au-delà des raisons d'y croire :

Even though it was not until the year 2000 that, at the request of John Paul II, who came to Auray in 1996, the cause for Nicolazic's beatification was opened, his reputation for holiness had been established since his death, since the prior of the Carmelites of Auray, Father Hugues, did not hesitate to say that he believed him to be "a blessed soul in Heaven". The delay in opening the cause was due to the customs of the time, not to any misgivings about it. Similarly, it is unlikely that the slowness of the Roman procedure, which was commonplace, was due to secret documents that would discredit the seer. In such a case, Rome would announce the closure of the case, although it would not be obliged to explain why. We can therefore rule out the hypothesis that the phrase "unworthy priest", which Father Sylvestre Nicolazic belatedly added to his signature, was linked to the discovery of his father's "lie". It is simply the humility of a pious priest who is aware of the gulf separating him from the sanctity that should accompany the priesthood; this mention is found in many other documents of the time, sometimes signed by canonised saints.

Aller plus loin :

Saint Anne's Hidden Treasure: The true story of Saint Anne's apparitions to a young Breton farmer by Krys Latham (Kindle Edition), October 18, 2021

En savoir plus :

• J. Buléon and E. Le Garrec, Yves Nicolazic, le voyant de Sainte-Anne, Imprimerie Lescuyer, 1952.
• Sanctuaire de Sainte-Anne d'Auray, Yves Nicolazic, le paysan, le voyant, le bâtisseur, Éditions Charles Paillart, 1930.
• Père Charland, La Bonne Sainte ou l'histoire de la dévotion à sainte Anne, Montreal, 1904.
• On the Sainte-Anne d'Auray shrine website: a chronology and account of the apparitions, as well as meditations based on messages from Saint Anne to Yves Nicolazic.
• Arnaud Dumouch's video: " Le vénérable Yves Nicolazic et sainte Anne d'Auray († 1645)".