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Marian Feast Of November 23
Our Lady of the Vault, Italy

The Abbot Orsini wrote: “Our Lady of the Vault, near the town of Saint Anastasia, in the environs of Florence.”

There is no longer any town named Saint Anastasia or Santa Anastasia near Florence, Italy, and I can find no reference to a church or icon known as Our Lady of the Vault.

There is a church in Florence that this feast might perhaps be referring to – The Duomo, Florence’s Cathedral of Saint Mary, or Santa Maria del Fiore. The dome is said to be the largest free-standing dome since ancient times, and is 348 feet high. It provides for a wonderful view of the city of Florence, and is a true triumph of 15th century engineering. The problem was that the dome was also expected to be 150 feet wide, and even those building the cathedral had no idea how they would go about spanning the space when they got to it, for it was far larger than any attempted since the days of antiquity with the great Roman engineers. The problem was put off for a later generation.

Our Lady of the Vault

It’s hard to believe that such a design problem was left to the last minute, but fortunately, there was one man capable of the job. His name was Filippo Brunelleschi, and his work became the future emblem of the city of Florence.

Consider that the builders did not even have the money to afford the massive supports and scaffolding that was thought to be necessary to even begin work on the dome. One suggested solution was a proposal to fill in the space with dirt, and then pile it up in the shape of a dome which they could build around. To save the expense of removing the dirt after the dome was built, coins could be placed here and there in the dirt pile, and the poor invited in to look for the money, if they were also willing to take out the dirt they had dug through.

But Brunelleschi understood the secret of Rome’s Pantheon. He began by building the outer ribs to support and distribute the weight, and instead of heavy stone, used interlocking bricks, which were lighter and more solid. No scaffolding was required, as the builders used chains attached to the dome they were building to suspend themselves in place to work. Even so, it took sixteen years to complete, but it was a huge advance in engineering for that time.

The city of Florence recognized the genius of Brunelleschi, for after his death he was buried directly beneath the dome he had created. He remains the only person ever buried in the vaulted cathedral dome.

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Marian Feast Of October 14
Our Lady of La Rochelle, (La Rochette) France (7th Century)

The Abbot Orsini wrote: “Our Lady of La Rochette near Geneva. A shepherd coming up to a bush, where he heard a plaintive voice, found there an image of the Blessed Virgin, which led to a church being built there.”

The Marian Calendar I used listed this date as Our Lady of La Rochelle, and further investigation revealed it actually refers to Our Lady of La Rochette, as stated by the good abbot.

La Rochette, France, is a difficult town to locate. The Abbot Orsini wrote that it was near Geneva, and there is a town, La Croix-de-la-Rochette, just south of Geneva along the lake Saint Clair in France. It is near the cities of Savoie, Isere, Haute-Savoie and Lyon in the Savoie department in the Rhone-Alps. The population is quite small, having only 248 inhabitants at the last census. A tourist guide makes mention of an early church which is listed as a sight-seeing destination only. I can find no mention of a miraculous image of the Blessed Virgin still at this site.

Our Lady of La Rochette

“The impetuous floods of the Divinity met in this holy City of the sanctified soul of Mary. It took its origin from the foundation of his Wisdom and Goodness, by which and whence He had resolved to deposit within this heavenly Lady the greatest graces and virtues ever to be given to any other creature for all eternity.”

“And when the hour had arrived for giving them into her possession, namely the very moment of her coming into natural life, the Almighty fulfilled according to his pleasure and full satisfaction the desire, which He had held suspended from all eternity until the time for gratifying this wish should arrive. The most faithful Lord executed his design, showering down all His graces and gifts in the most holy soul of Mary at the time of her Conception in such an overpowering measure as no other saint, nor all of them combined, can ever reach, nor ever human tongue can manifest.”

“Although She was adorned as the Bride, descending from heaven, endowed with all perfections and with the whole range of infused virtues, it was not necessary that She should exercise all of them at once, it being sufficient that She exercise those, which were befitting her state in the womb of her mother.”

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Marian Feast Of October 1
Foundation of the Abbey de la Couronne in Angouleme (1122)

The Abbot Orsini writes: “Foundation of the Abbey de la Couronne, of the order of Saint Augustin, in the diocese of Angouleme, under the title of Our Lady, by Lambert, who was its first abbot, in the year 1122.”

La Couronne, or “the Crown,” is a town in France located to the south-west of Angouleme. The Abbey of Our Lady of La Couronne is nothing more now than a pile of ruins that remain from what was once a Benedictine monastery. The first high abbey dates from the 12th century, when on May 12, 1118, Lambert and his religious brothers laid the cornerstone of the Church of the Crown.

On March 12th, on Passion Sunday in the year 1122, the religious made their entry into the primitive church of the Crown in the presence of Bishop William of Perigueux and Bishop Gerard of Angouleme, as well as the Papal Legate Wulgrin II, the count of Angouleme. Lambert was elected to be the first abbot, and was consecrated on Easter Sunday.

The first Abbey Church was replaced by a second, and larger, church, which was necessitated by the spiritual renewal that took place at the end of the 12th century due to the Gregorian reform. It was consecrated in the year 1201 while Junius was abbot.

Abbey de la Couronne

The abbey suffered heavy damage from fire and pillaging during the Hundred Years War, although the two western bays of the nave and the façade were subsequently rebuilt in the Gothic style. The church was then again damaged during the French wars of religion. Seized as a national asset during the French Revolution, the grounds were used as a quarry until it the property became an historical Monument in 1903. Even so, the plundering of some of the buildings continued for nearly another century until all of the ruins became protected in the year 1999.

There are now tours where families spend a few moments casually strolling through the empty and lifeless ruins where once hundreds of prayerful monks spent their entire lives in solitude and service to God.

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