Noiretable, France: Our Lady of the Hermitage (Notre Dame de L’Hermitage)

 

About Our Lady of the Hermitage:

Notre Dame de L’Hermitage stands on the heights of Noirétable at 1100 meters altitude. It all began in 450 AD, in the heart of a tiny chapel in front of which flows a spring. In the twelfth century, the Virgin Mary appeared to a criminal, saying: “Go to confession to the Prior of Noirétable and come back do penance. ” Soon, many pilgrims came to this remote place to pray at the miraculous spring. A small church was built not far from the spring, but it was in 1669 that the first monastery was built in front of the huge rock.

A larger church was built around 1740 and The Hermitage became the novitiate formation house for royal missionaries. The French revolution saw the decline of the Hermitage until, in 1889, it was placed under the care of the Congrégration Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette.

In 1951, a fire destroyed the main building, leaving only the walls. The other buildings were then taken over by the Sisters of La Salette at the Hermitage in 2000.

Traveling to Noirtable:

The Sisters welcome pilgrims (nights and meals) every day, year ’round, except during the month of November.

Two major pilgrimages take place each year, with a procession to the spring, ending in Mass: August 15th and September 8th.

Address: 42440 Noiretable, France

GPS coordinates: 45° 47′ 30.1200” N, 3° 43′ 3.2268” E

Tel: +33 04 77 96 2030 Fax: 04 77 96 2034

e-mail: ndh42@wanadoo.fr

There is train service from Lyon, you take the train as far as Clermont-Ferrand or Saint-Etienne-Châteaucreux, then transfer to a bus (your train ticket serves as your bus ticket).  Get plane, train & bus schedules, see fares & buy tickets here.

Click here for the official Diocesan website of the Hermitage at Noiretable (in French).

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