Saint-Paxent church in Cluis and the pretty virgin of Notre-Dame-de-la-Trinité

The church and its 14th c Virgin

Did you know Paxent? He was a disciple of saint Denis, martyrized in the Ist century in Gaul.

The church dates back to the 13th century: his vaulted nave is made of 3 chapels (15th c).

In one of those chapels… Look! We notice old capitals at the entrance of the lateral northern chapel: very rough ones, probably made for the primitive church in the beginning of the 12th c.

But the real treasure is in a little niche… this Virgin Mary statue, Our-Lady-of-the-Holy-Trinity (Notre-Dame-de-la-Trinité in French)!

Franciscan monks (from monastery of Mouhers) founded a pilgrimage for her.

Oh, she’s so pretty! Made of marble from Paros, in the 14th century, this little Mary holds a book in her right hand and baby Jesus in her left arm.

Jesus holds tight something on his heart… a bird? A dove?

The pilgrimage

This pilgrimage takes place near Cluis, in Cluis-Dessous: here, we can find the small chapel of Our-Lady-of-the-Holy-Trinity (11th c., re-raised in the 15th and 17th c by lady of Cluis, the Grande Mademoiselle, Louis XIV’s cousin).

The 8 kilometres procession starts from this chapel on August 15th and on Trinity Sunday, every year.

Pilgrims walk in groups of 3 (the Trinity), bareheaded.

Of course, after the Mass, the little Virgin statue is taking around in the city, all day long.

Inhabitants of Cluis loved this statue: they saved her several time, from wars of Religion in 1569, to the French Revolution in 1793…