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Burning their Boats: Monaco's traditional holiday begins
2011-01-21 19:11
What: Feast-Day of Sainte Dévote
Where: Place Ste Dévote and Monaco Cathedral
When: 26 Jan and 27 Jan 2010
Programme of events
Wednesday 26 Jan
9.30am Traditional Mass in l'Eglise Sainte Devote.
6.30pm the barque arrives at Port Hercule followed by a procession on Avenue President J F Kennedy.
7.00pm Parvis de Ste Devote: the boat is burnt in the presence of the royal family
7.45pm Fireworks
Thursday 27 Jan
9.45am. Welcoming of the saint's relics by the clergy of Monaco Cathedral and the Venerable Archiconfrérie de la Miséricorde.
10am Pontifical Mass and a procession through the streets of Monaco Town
Who was Sainte Devote?
Visitors arriving at Monaco Train Station and taking the lift down to the port emerge into a gorge at the bottom of which is a small church facing the harbour. It is dedicated to Sainte Dévote, and it is the scene of an annual boat-burning ceremony attended by the Royal family. But who was the saint, and what was her connection with Monaco?
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A native of Corsica, Sainte Dévote had challenged the authority of the cruel governor Barbarus, who had her put to death on the rack. But at the moment of her greatest suffering, a dove flew from her mouth and a voice spoke from heaven: 'My servant, your prayer has been answered. What you have asked for or wished for, you will obtain'
Witnesses to her cruel death had her body embalmed and transferred in secret by boat, but poor weather and a leaking vessel caused the ship to run aground where Port Hercule now is, on 27 January 312 AD. Within a short space of time, she had been declared the patron saint of Monaco, and to commemorate the event, every year a fishing vessel is set on fire, from which rises a white dove symbolising the spirit of the young martyr.
© JIlly Bennett / Monte Carlo Daily Photo