Notre-Dame de Sion

1. Sion before the Arrival of the Oblates
2. Arrival of the Oblates to Sion
3. Construction Work (1853-1903)
4. From 1903 to 1946: the Return of the Oblates and the Wars
5. The Last Fifty Years

It was in 1850 and in response to a crisis situation that the Oblates arrived in Sion. They stayed there a few months, then returned to stay in 1853. Consequently, this house is one of the oldest in the Congregation and its history is especially rich. First of all, Sion is a Marian shrine whose history dates back more than one thousand years. It is one of the most important shrines in the eastern part of France. Its development owes a lot to the Oblates and they still remain in charge there today. Successively or simultaneously, Sion has also operated as a juniorate, a novitiate, a scholasticate, a house of mission preachers, the provincial house for the province Nord…

The hill of Sion-Vaudémont is located in north-eastern France in Lorraine, some thirty kilometres south of Nancy. This chalky knoll with reaches 545 meters in height stretches out in a semi-circle over almost five kilometres. It rises up abruptly from 200 to 240 meters above the plain which surrounds it on every side. All the more so do its two most salient features draw immediate attention: the Barrès monument and the tower of the Virgin. From the hill, with the naked eye, one can see more than eighty villages.

On the south-west limit, one finds the historic village of Vaudémont where there stood for five or six centuries the fortress of the local counts, the ancestors of the sovereign dukes of Lorraine and, therefore, by virtue of the marriage in 1736 of the empress Marie-Thérèse with Duke François became the ancestors of the imperial family of the Habsburg-Lorraine family. On the north-eastern limit at a height of 495 meters stands the shrine of Notre-Dame de Sion and a few houses that make up the village of Sion. A little lower down, we find the village of Saxon, nestled in the hollow of the hill. These two villages less than a kilometre apart form the little parish of Saxon-Sion (80 residents in 1990).

Historically, Sion belonged to the diocese of Toul which, in virtue of the 1802 concordat, became the diocese of Nancy. Administratively, it is the department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. But Sion is only a few kilometres from the department of Vosges which makes up the diocese of Saint-Dié. This small area of Lorraine bears the name of Saintois or Xaintois; the prominent village of Vézelise is one of the historic centres of the area.

Sion before the Arrival of the Oblates
In the Gallo-Roman times and probably before that, the actual site where the shrine stands was occupied by a pagan shrine dedicated to the Celtic goddess, Rosmerta, the goddess of commerce, as well as to Mercury. A number of ancient remains bear testimony to this. The first Christian remains are a funerary inion which speaks of the resurrection and is dated to the fifth century. From this, we can conclude that, at this time, the pagan shrine had become Christian.

The first mention in writing of Sion dates back to 955 in a document of the bishop of Toul. Sion is mentioned as well in 986. The Bishop Saint Gerard made a gift of the church to the collegial group Saint-Gengoult of Toul and, by so doing, ensured ministerial service there. This was more than one century before the crusades. The name Sion is, therefore, not linked to Sion-Jerusalem, but rather to the pagan pagus seiuntensis, village of Saintois or of Sion, mentioned already by the end of the sixth century. The Ecclesia Seiuntensis is mentioned in an 1106 papal bull of Pascal II.

This small church benefited greatly because of the devotion of the counts of Vaudémont, then of the dukes of Lorraine. Between 1320 and 1330, Count Henri III built what is the actual choir of the basilica. The ancient statue of Our Lady, a Virgin nursing her baby, dates from the fourteenth century as well. Already from this time, Sion was the national shrine of Lorraine which, at the time, was an independent territory. It also attracted popular devotion. Its history tells of many miracles.

Between 1626 and 1629, Duke Francis entrusted the shrine to the Tiercelin religious and built a convent for them, a convent later occupied by the Oblates. Contemporary documents mention “the church of the Immaculate Virgin.” Several confraternities were set up. In 1741, Stanislaus Leszczynski, the former king of Poland who became the Duke of Lorraine, laid the cornerstone of the present basilica. The bishop of Toul consecrated it in 1749. In 1766, Lorraine was annexed to France once again…

The Tiercelins were dispersed by the French Revolution and the statue of Our Lady was destroyed. Public worship was gradually restored. There was a priest providing ministry in the church from 1797 to 1817. Then, it was once again quasi-abandoned, except for a pilgrimage organized in 1825 by Bishop Charles de Forbin-Janson, bishop of Nancy, on the occasion of the great diocesan mission.

It was in collaboration with Bishop de Forbin-Janson and his coadjutor, Bishop Menjaud that three brothers who were priests, the Baillard Brothers, took an interest in the shrine. They bought the convent in 1837 and set up a number of ministries on the hill. Notably, Léopold Baillard revived the small teaching congregation, the Brothers of Christian Doctrine and the bishop appointed him as Superior General of the group. But the apostolic enthusiasm of the three brothers, genuine though it was, lead to some foolish expenses which brought them into serious conflict with their bishop. In 1850 the three brothers allied themselves with an apocalyptic visionary from Normandy. They also drew into this sect the religious women who were living with them as well as the people of the village… In the course of the Sunday Mass on September 8, 1850, Léopold announced from the pulpit, the founding of the Work of Mercy whose centre would be Sion. A few days later, the three brothers had their faculties suspended and the bishop then placed them under interdict.

Arrival of the Oblates to Sion
We have to take a step or two backwards. In the fall of 1847, Bishop de Mazenod sent Father Toussaint Dassy to Nancy as the first superior of the house that he had just founded. It was both a house for mission preachers and a novitiate. Rather early in the game, Father Dassy became interested in Sion, stating very clearly his preference for a house in the country (Bishop de Mazenod had written him that we are established for the towns and villages) and even more for a Marian shrine. Labouring under their financial difficulties, the Baillard Brothers had sought to find out if they could sell Sion to the Oblates. Our archives contain many documents and exchanges of letters from this period. It seems that Father Dassy’s enthusiasm was momentarily shared by the community especially by the novices. Bishop de Mazenod gave his consent to move in that direction; then, abruptly, Father Tempier wrote to Father Dassy telling him that any consideration of Sion should be dropped. Hurt, Father Dassy wrote a long letter to justify himself with a sharp edge against Father Tempier… We do not know the deep reasons behind the Founder’s change of mind. It does seem, however, that in addition to the obvious financial problems, members of the community at Nancy had written to Marseilles to put the authorities of the Congregation on guard against the exaggerated enthusiasm of their superior. In Nancy’s Codex Historicus under the date March 17, 1849, Father Dassy wrote: “Our most reverend Superior General decided today the question of Sion in a manner contrary to our plans… Everything is thus finished… God did not want us at Notre-Dame de Sion. May his will be done.”

In the fall of 1850, shortly after the scandal caused by the Baillard Brothers, Bishop Menjaud, the bishop of Nancy, who in January had been Bishop de Mazenod’s guest in Marseilles, appealed directly to Father Dassy and the Oblates to deal with the situation and to take over temporarily ministry in Sion. Father Dassy accepted before being able to consult Bishop de Mazenod. On November 11, 1850, he accompanied young Father Soullier, ordained in May, to Sion. It was foreseen that Fathers Soullier and Jean-Baptiste Conrard, ordained in October, would serve alternately in Sion in periods of from three weeks to a month.
Pastoral life and living conditions in Sion were extremely difficult for the two young priests who were sent there turn by turn. They were faced with problems of finding a place to stay, to deal with the hostility of a segment of the population, to gain possession of the church and the sacristy… The Founder rebuked Father Dassy for his lack of prudence: How could he choose to leave a young priest isolated and in such circumstances? “We were not ten; we were not five; we were one,” Father Conrard used to like to say afterward. But Bishop de Mazenod was swiftly brought to acknowledge the quality of the work done at Sion. Father Dassy and the bishop would have wished that the Oblates could pursue this action. But the Founder’s orders were explicit. When the Oblates withdrew in June of 1851, the sect was disbanding; the great majority of the parish had been reconciled to the Church. Father Soullier and Conrard had perfectly responded to the confidence that had been placed in them.

The parish priests around there were enjoined to follow up on the work that had been begun… But everyone recognized that what was necessary at Sion was a presence that was not just occasional but permanent in nature. We do not know very well under what conditions Bishop de Mazenod accepted that the Oblates return to Sion. In a January 5, 1853 letter to Father Dassy, Bishop de Mazenod wrote: “I have finally consented to settle some of our members at Sion” (Oblate Writings I, vol. 11, no. 1130, p. 113) The bishop had purchased a rectory and had started negotiations to make Sion a parish. On September 25, 1853 Father Eugène Dorey, the superior of Nancy, took possession of the church of Sion and Father Conrard became the first parish priest. The parish of Saxon-Sion was officially established on January 1, 1855.

Construction Work (1853-1903)
The first ten years of the Oblate community were precarious. Sion was a residence dependent on the house in Nancy. With the exception of Father Conrard, it was difficult to find stable personnel. Father Conrard sometimes found himself alone or saw his companions changed one after the other. Their work was not limited to the shrine nor to the parish which, only much later returned to its former serene state. (Léopold Baillard died in Saxon in 1883 reconciled with the Church in articulo mortis [on his death bed] thanks to the patient faithfulness of Father Jean Cléach to bring to an end a thirty year period of confusion.) A report from 1863 indicates that, in Father Conrard’s case, “the pastoral activities were not able to dampen his missionary zeal.” The Oblates of Sion remained itinerant missionaries who also preached in the area.

Notre-Dame de Sion (Bernad).

Bishop de Mazenod’s visit to Sion on July 9, 1856 was a comfort for the Oblates. But the documents we have kept enable us to understand that at various times the superiors wanted to withdraw the Oblates which occasioned protestations on the part of the bishop of Nancy. The canonical visit made by Father Florent Vandenberghe in November of 1863, the paternal visit of Father Fabre, the Superior General, in August 6, 1864, followed by the erection of Sion as a residence independent from Nancy marked the end of hesitations. Father Joseph Zabel became superior in the course of 1867, while the province was contemplating expanding Sion whose community was made up of three priests and two brothers.
What is most striking in this period is the resurgence of pilgrimages. The people of Lorraine, under the guidance of their parish priests, revived the custom of parish pilgrimages. This became easier with the construction of railway lines. Also, for the first time in the history of Sion, the bishops of Nancy (successively Bishop Darboy, future Archbishop of Paris, Bishop Lavigerie, future Archbishop of Algiers, Cardinal and Founder of the White Fathers, and finally, Bishop Foulon) took an interest in Sion and allotted the pilgrimage its place in the pastoral work of the diocese. In 1868, the bishop bought back the convent that, at the time, was standing empty and made a gift of it to the Oblates. This opened up a future rich in possibilities.

Another decisive event was the construction at Sion of the diocesan monument commemorating the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Father Soullier, who had been made superior of Nancy in 1855, proposed the project and it was immediately seconded by Bishop Menjaud. But difficulties, administrative, architectural and financial began to pile up. The construction work dragged on for eighteen years… We have to make special mention here of Father Donat Michaux, the “genuine restorer of all things at Sion,” according to Father Zabel. Thanks to his tireless enthusiasm, sufficient funds were finally collected to allow for an extension of the church and the construction of the monumental tower upon which is set the statue of the Blessed Virgin (a total of 53 meters in height). but the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871 followed by German occupation and the annexation by Germany of an important part of Lorraine upset the new projects.

Finally, on September 10, 1873, with Cardinal Mathieu, Archbishop of Besançon presiding, with ten bishops in attendance, among whom was Bishop Grandin and Father Soullier, who had become assistant general, the entire complex was solemnly inaugurated and the statue of Notre-Dame de Sion was crowned. There is mention of 30,000 pilgrims that day, of whom almost 1500 were priests for a grand total of close to 70,000 pilgrims for the week-long festival. Within the shrine, a small commemorative monument entrusts to Our Lady the suffering of Lorraine which was from then on divided by a border: “Ce n’a me po tojo!” It will not always be so, in Lorraine dialect. All of Lorraine found itself united around Notre-Dame de Sion. This feast was the crowning event for the construction period carried out by the Oblates over a twenty year period. It will remain symbolic of the religious and patriotic character that marks the shrine.

For the Oblates, the thirty years that followed were years of primary importance at Sion. To the work of the shrine was added that of the juniorate, then the novitiate of the brothers as well. Several provincials of province Nord chose Sion for their residence. Among them was Father Achille Rey of whom it was said: “if one opened his heart after his death, one would fine there the image of Notre-Dame de Sion.” As a result, that Oblate community was the most important in the province (between 20 to 30 professed members?) and, if one counted the juniors and the postulants as well, it would often number more than one hundred persons. The financial support of the province, of the provincial and also of the vicariates of the missions allowed the house of formation to deal with its needs. “You could lose yourself in the million details of the various works assembled in that same house,” wrote Father Cassien Augier in 1891, the future Superior General, in the report of his visitation of the house. From 1867 to 1899, the house had only three superiors: Fathers Zabel, Conrard and especially Charles Brulé, who held the position of superior for twenty-one years, from 1878 (already a priest for twenty-five years and a former Oratorian, he made his novitiate in Nancy in 1877-1878 and was appointed superior of Sion six days after his oblation) until his appointment as provincial in 1899. The brothers held an important place in the community, but this was rarely clearly defined.

The idea of a juniorate at Sion appeared for the first time in the 1867 Chapter. The purchase of the convent and the armistice of 1871 allowed a timid opening of the juniorate on November 13, 1871. For some thirty years, it would remain one of the major works of Sion. The grave crisis of the 1880 laws hostile to religious congregations had as consequence the closure of the novitiate at Nancy, the brief attempt of setting up a juniorate at Schönau in Switzerland, then the foundations in Holland. Sion made its contribution to these foundations, but weathered this first storm. The documents stress the family character of life in the juniorate, but the competence of Father Brulé, the superior, as well. Several professors of Sion pursued their studies at the University of Ottawa or they received an obedience for the missions. The juniors, whose numbers could have attained some 70 or 80, came from every part of France. Many were from the Lorraine that was annexed as well as from Alsace. It is striking also to call attention to the importance the foreign missions held in the lives of the juniors (visits from missionaries, bishops included, plays staged about the missions, missionary museums, departures for the missions…). In my opinion, a study of the role, the major role, that the juniorate of Sion played in the history of the Oblate missions still remains to be written. Many missionaries from Canada, Ceylon, South Africa, Basutoland, even the founders of what would later be Namibia received their formation there.

The novitiate for the brothers seems to have had a history more difficult to trace. Documents about it are less plentiful. It seems that the province (the Congregation?) did not have, at the time, a thought out program of formation for the brothers. The masters of novices who were often the local treasurers changed often. Some of them held office for only a few months. A lot of reliance was placed on the older brothers to train in professional skills the younger brothers. Founded in 1874, the novitiate would hit its stride some ten years later. But when we read the obituaries of the brothers, those who went to the missions as well as those who worked in Europe, for example, in the houses of formation, we notice that a good number of these hidden apostles are from Lorraine or the Alsace. They made their novitiate at Sion and subsequently led a missionary religious life that was outstanding, though hidden. Here, too, a study remains to be done.

The number of pilgrims grew considerably all during this period. Attendance at the shrine was relaunched by the festivities of 1873. Each year in September they were commemorated by a Marian novena and it was rare that an Oblate missionary bishop was not in attendance. There was an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 pilgrims in attendance for the novena of 1889, almost 15,000 for the celebration of the 25th anniversary in 1898… But the year also saw other great days of pilgrimage. The custom developed that the children solemnly receiving communion would come to Sion with their parents the day after their feast to consecrate themselves to Mary. On the initiative of the bishop of Nancy on June 23, 1901, Sion received 15,000 men from the diocese for a day led by Father Jean-Baptiste Lemius, who was superior of Montmartre at the time. We should not forget that the community was always ready to host the priests of the area, even if Sion could only on rare occasions provide preachers and missionaries for the parishes.
From this period date a number of renovations often carried out by the brothers with the help of the juniors. Mention can be made here of the Calvary and its Jerusalem Cross, the monument to Saint Joseph, the lodgings for the pilgrims, the religious goods shop, the museum which had as its theme the missionary vocation of the Oblates (former missionaries of Sion provided it with exotic objects…) When one reads the documentation, one is left with the impression that, in spite of its complexity, thanks to the talents of the superiors and the support from the province, the community of Sion succeeded well enough in maintaining order in its different missions and especially a very strong link with the foreign missions.

It was the laws hostile to religious congregations that were to put an end to this flourishing period of Sion’s history. Father Jules Fahler was the superior at the time. Because of the looming threats, the juniors were sent to Holland and to Belgium and the community was progressively diminished. Several times the people of the area gathered to offer the Oblates their support and resisted the forces of the law. But on August 13, 1903, Father Fahler and Brother Auguste Jacquet were expelled by the police. The house was shut and sealed.

From 1903 to 1946: the Return of the Oblates and the Wars
The bishop chose an ex-Oblate, originally from the diocese of Nancy Father Charles Vigneron to take over the day after the Oblates were forced out. It was possible to purchase the convent in the neme of a civil organization and it was kept in the service of the shrine. In 1907 and 1908, it housed the minor seminary of the diocese that had been forced out of Pont-à-Mousson. But everybody missed the Oblates. So it was that in June of 1904, on the occasion of the episcopal ordination of the vicar apostolic of Natal, Bishop Henri Delalle at Nancy which was his native city, both the Bishop of Nancy and the Superior General, Father Cassien Augier, declared they were sure they saw better days in the offing. In 1908, Father Edmond Thiriet was invited to preach the novena; he was the first Oblate to set foot again on the hill. In October of 1908, Father Marie-Joseph Bazin, an Oblate, became parish priest of Sion in the guise of being a diocesan priest. In 1910, Abbé Paul Huriet, an Oblate as well, came to join him. The fact that they were Oblates was not advertised publicly. Officially, they were members of the clergy of the diocese. But it was with the set purpose of reintroducing the Oblates to Sion that the bishop chose them for this mission. “These two chaplains, zealous, dedicated men, working hand in hand, complement each other. Very well accepted by the clergy and very well known to the faithful, they were as good as a whole community and, under their inspired leadership, the pilgrimage grew even more,” wrote Martin, the historian of Sion, a person who knew them well. It seems that they were soon joined by some brothers.

At this period, Fathers Thiriet and Huriet took the initiative in organizing closed retreats at Sion; they were hosted by the Sisters of the Cenacle. We have to mention as well the appearance in 1913 of the novel La Colline inspirée by Maurice Barrès which made a major contribution to making Sion known through the very romanticized narration of the adventures of the Baillard brothers. The novel opened with the unforgettable lines: “There are some places where the spirit breathes…”

The 1914-1918 war left deep scars on Sion, as it scarred the whole region. The Franco-German front line was about thirty kilometers from the hill from whence one could hear the canon fire and see the muzzle flashes. Father Huriet was called up for service, but, in as much as his circumstances allowed, he remained alert to render service to Sion where Father Bazin remained often alone to cope with the multiple demands. The pilgrims, often soldiers who were stationed in the area (there were 700 of them one day in September of 1916), came to put themselves and their dear ones under the protection of Our Lady. The convent sheltered orphans and the aged evacuated from Nancy. We quote here Mangenot: “During the terrible 1914-1918 war, the pilgrimage of Sion was an oasis of consolation and strength for all those who went there to ask Our Lady with confidence for these favour s. It was also a source of patriotic courage.”

Victory brought the reunification of Lorraine and the return of Alsace to France. In 1873, the crowning of Our Lady had been celebrated in an atmosphere of the sorrow of separation. It was fitting that Sion should celebrate the new-found reunion of the country and thank Our Lady for it. In 1919, the black mourning bands were removed from the banners of Strasbourg and of Metz. But the grand feast took place on June 24, 1920, with the participation of six bishops which included the bishop of Strasbourg as well as many famous individuals and about 25,000 pilgrims from Alsace and Lorraine. The bishop of Strasbourg hailed Mary as the immortal Queen of France, thanking her for what she had done for the region of Lorraine; whereas the bishop of Nancy thanked the Lord of Hosts for having granted victory.

It was a great day of sacred union. Martin added: “For the second time on the hill of Saintois there throbbed the heart of the mighty homeland. Sion was the sacred shrine of the French nation…”

This feast had been prepared by the appearance a few months before of a critical historical work on Sion and its almost two-thousand-year old history. The author, Eugène Mangenot is especially known as the co-founder of the Dictionnaire de théologie catholique. his work on Sion is still unsurpassed today.

Under the direction of Father Huriet, the influence of Sion spread even further. It is estimated that almost 50,000 pilgrims came for the celebration of September 1923 which marked the fiftieth anniversary of the crowning of the Blessed Virgin. From March to October, pilgrimages from parishes, groups, families came in succession to Sion. The availability of automobiles, then of buses made travelling considerably easier. For the novena which soon became a fifteen day prayer, special trains brought pilgrims to the foot of the hill… Sion also continued to offer every year a program of retreats.

To Father Huriet is due the interest for a more specialized pastoral approach, paving the way for what would become Catholic Action. As vicar in Nancy right after the expulsions, he had made a strong contribution to setting up a Catholic union of the railway workers. He remained active in a regional capacity and then in a national capacity up until his death. Each year, the pilgrimage at Sion of this union with its flags and its banners left its stamp upon the life of the shrine, as did the pilgrimage of the Catholic union of metal-workers. Sion also became the rallying point for the Catholic union of Saintois for rural France. Three or four times a year, between one hundred and two hundred farmers would gather to attend a lecture on the problems of agriculture, to reflect on their lives in the light of the Gospel, often with the help of the superior, and to take part in the pilgrim Mass. These groups gave the Church a high profile, a Church where the laity was starting to take its place. The Marian groups of young girls of the area also gathered several times in Sion. On September 27, 1925, more than 700 youth,, members of the CYAF (Catholic Youth Association of France) from the four departments of Lorraine came together under the presidency of Robert Schuman, the future president of the association.

Another initiative launched by Father Huriet was destined to endure. In 1922, as a preparation for celebrating the fiftieth anniversary, he launched a monthly newsletter concerning Notre-Dame de Sion. The newsletter maintained the link between the pilgrims scattered throughout the parishes and the shrine and maintained devotion to Our Lady. A month by month report kept them abreast of pilgrimage activities. The newsletter would subsequently become a quarterly. The January 2000 issue bears the number 457.

Unfortunately, information is lacking on the life of the community during this period. The community had been reconstituted, but it was not wise to advertise themselves as such. Public documents speak of chaplains of Sion and the brothers are referred to as collaborators with the chaplains, but the word “Oblate” is never mentioned. The laws hostile to religious were always in effect.

In 1925, for reasons that remain unclear (we think that, from the provincial’s point of view, Sion had become too much the personal affair of Father Huriet to the point where the people of the village had made him their mayor) the superior received an obedience sending him to Paris and Father Édouard Thiriet was appointed as his successor. It seems that Father Thiriet continued to show a great deal of interest in the endeavours in which he had previously been engaged, notably his monthly review, La Bonne Nouvelle. He wanted to establish in Sion a formation centre for future brothers, which, it seems, did not have many candidates. His death in 1927, less than two years after his arrival on the hill, abruptly put an end to his term as superior.

Father Aimé Schauffler was then appointed superior. He would remain for six years as superior and director of the pilgrimage. He continued for six more years as pilgrimage director under the superiorship of Father Auguste Guiteau. From reading the newsletter and the other rare sources, one gets the impression that Father Schauffler took a leaf out of Father Huriet’s book of charismatic leadership. More solemn pilgrim celebrations were held, notably, the Two Week celebration. Ordinary life went on as well as the hosting of groups, parish sponsored or private groups. Retreats continued regularly as well. The Two Week celebration was reorganized in such a way that the different parish groups: Nancy, Lunéville, Toul, Saint-Nicolas de Port, Saintois, etc., but also the dioceses of Saint-Dié, Verdun and Metz each had their own day. The flow of pilgrims retained its important place and even more so on Sundays. According to established custom, the diocesan bishops were present every year… In 1929, a small group of 80 Polish immigrants is mentioned for the first time in Sion. In 1937, they numbered 150. The first pilgrimage of Italian immigrants dates from 1935. More than his predecessors Father Schauffler stressed the Marian character of the pilgrimage. He is the one who came up with the idea of the “Doves of Our Lady,” which were a kind of confraternity for children. Many parents inscribed their children among the Doves. The members were issued a diploma and soon given a badge. Father Schauffler was also the founder of the museum or rather the Marian gallery which set our for visitors a collection of statues and pictures of Our Lady from all over France and other countries as well.

Father Schauffler was a member of the Committee of Marian Congresses of France. He organized a congress at Sion from June 29 to July 2, 1933. That four day span saw some 70,000 people gather, 40,000 of them were present at Sunday Mass presided by the Apostolic Nuncio, Bishop Maglione. At the celebration, the bishop of Nancy made public Pius XI’s June 25, 1933, apostolic letter bestowing on the church of Sion the title of minor basilica.

About 1929-1930, two hotels on the hill were put up for sale. This enabled the Oblates to purchase them in order to administer them in a way that was more in conformity with the goal of the spiritual pilgrimage and to put them more at the disposition of the pilgrims. The purchase was made partly through a family from Vézlise, friends of Father Edmond Dubois, the General Treasurer at the time. The French laws did not allow straightforward transactions when it was a case of the property of religious congregations and our archives, wanting in completeness, shows signs of the misunderstandings that arose between the different levels of decision-making, for example, when the provincial was sometimes confronted with a fait accompli. The repair work proved more costly than foreseen… But from this time on, the hotels would host congresses, retreats, pilgrims… In 1939, the Sisters of Mary Immaculate, founded in Marseilles by Father Dassy were to take over the administration of the hotels.

As a result, it became easier to host groups at Sion. Among those who attended regularly, we must note the young farmers of Lorraine which formed the first teams of CYA (Catholic Youth Association) as well as the Sowers of Lorraine, the forerunners of CYAF (Catholic Youth Association of France). Sion also hosted for one day the national congress of the CYAF in 1929, that of the National Federation of Catholic Students in 1931, groups of Scouts, Patriotic League Youth… In this way, Sion made its contribution to the organization of the Christian laity.

From the point of view of the community, the important thing was the presence at Sion from 1929 to 1937 of the scholasticate for the philosophy students of the province Nord. Their number varied from twenty-five to forty. It seems that at Liège several scholastic brothers suffered serious health problems (several even died of tuberculosis). Sion offered them healthier living conditions. But the information we have on the life of the scholastics is very spotty, if we ignore the part they played in occasionally helping out with the pilgrimage. From 1937 to 1939, the novitiate of province Nord was to be situated there with Father Alexandre Audo as their novice master. Twenty-one novices made their perpetual vows in 1939. The presence of the scholastics is tied to the memory of visits they used to receive from Field-Marshal Lyautey up until his death in 1934. He lived in retirement in a neighbouring village. He used to come rather regularly to the pilgrimage, taking part in the processions… We remember the words he addressed to the young Oblates, his little monks, as he used to call them: “Without people like you, people like myself would no longer exist.”

Subsequently, the community regained importance. In 1934, Sion had ten priests, among them were professors and parish mission preachers as well. Bishop Cénez, former vicar apostolic of Basutoland also was a member of the community. He remained in residence at Sion until his death in 1944. There were nine brothers in vows. Among them we can point out the aged Brother Félix Viossat, renowned for his work at Sacred Heart in Montmartre ‑ he was endowed with the gift of stimulating financial contributions for the Paris basilica ‑ and he died on September 7, 1935, at 96 years of age.

The declaration of war in September of 1939, the commandeering of house by the military authorities and the conion of the master of novices compelled the novices to leave Sion. From that time on, Sion no longer hosted any institution of formation.

Father Jean Champion was appointed superior of Sion in 1939. He remained at this post up until 1948, that is, for the entire duration of the war, the German occupation, the liberation and the immediate post-war period. The community shared in the worries and difficulties of the general population. Life at the shrine suffered the consequences. The Fifteen Days of 1939 had to be cancelled. As for that of 1940, a facility for bicycles was set up. The participants were obviously diminished in number. The newsletter appeared sporadically. During the last years, it was replaced by the summary pages of Sion communique and by the almanac Ta Montagne. It was a time for prayer. The superior portrayed Sion as “the supreme battlefield of prayer for Lorraine.” An attempt was also made to organize a day of prayer for men from Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon with a prolonged time of adoration during the night…

Like his predecessor, Father Champion stressed popular marian devotion. In April 1942, the parish of Housséville, at the foot of the hill, solemnly welcomed the statue of Notre-Dame de Sion for the closing of the mission and organized a procession to return the statue the next day. That same year, Father Champion took the initiative of going to get from the abbey of Igny near Rheims the statue of Our Lady of Boulogne which was getting ready to take the road for the itinerary, the Grand-Homecoming. From June 22 to June 28, it was welcomed in the fourteen parishes surrounding Sion. From April until June of 1944, it was “Christ and Our Lady of Sion who set out on the road and who, on foot and not in any vehicle, carried on the shoulders of men and the youth” visited 160 parishes in the area. Some Oblates from Sion “preached the word of God at all the ceremonies, directed the singing and led the prayers. While one Oblate was in the pulpit, the other was in the confessional…” From August 5 to August 12, 1945, the statue of Our Lady was welcomed in turn in triumph in several cities of the Lorraine which had been liberated: Metz, Sarrebourg, Phalsbourg…

The major feast of Sion in the immediate post-war period was that of September 8, 1946 which was presented as the Day for French unity. It is stated that 80,000 people, among whom were General de Lattre de Tassigny, a minister of the state, several bishops, gathered at Sion “to celebrate Our Lady and to thank her for the restoration of the Alsace and Lorraine to France.” The celebration of July 28, 1946 was more personal to the Oblates, the departure of twelve missionaries, the first Oblate team for Cameroon-Tchad. Father Yves Plumey, a member of the Sion community as a parish mission preacher, headed up the group. He felt it was important that the meeting and retreat preparatory for departure, led by Father Albert Perbal, would be under the auspices of Our Lady of Sion. So it happened that the bonds linking Sion to the foreign missions were renewed.

The Last Fifty Years
This article on Sion must of necessity be brief with regard to the last fifty years. Sion remains above all and essentially the shrine of Our Lady with its own rhythm from season to season, from one year to the next. In those fifty years, the Fifteen Days drew impressive crowds of pilgrims, in certain years they numbered 50,000. For a few years now, the numbers have markedly decreased. There are many reasons for this: less group pilgrimages, more individual or family pilgrimages. The school year has been modified. The traditional Catholics who made up the core of the pilgrim body for the Fifteen Days have grown older or have even died off. Devotion to Our Lady had taken on other forms…

Already in 1970, the leadership team, led at the time by Father Louis Henry was seeking to take a reading on “the pilgrimage in the context of missionary work today” and his reflections have been published in Missions. From this period have emerged the penitential services which inaugurate the days of pilgrimage, especially during the Fifteen Days. They united collective celebration and individual confessions. As a result, the Oblates are also seeking the collaboration of the laity, notably through the Association of the Friends of Sion.

The Sunday celebrations during the year and the feast days when the Oblates try to offer a well prepared liturgy fill up the basilica on a regular basis, whether is a matter of a Mass at eleven o’clock in the morning or six o’clock at night. From now on, the car gives ample occasion for individual or family initiatives. In addition, the recurring theme, be it tourist or pilgrim, deserves sustained reflection. A great many people visit the Hill, enter the basilica, light a candle, say a short prayer to the Blessed Virgin, each one in his or her own manner…

The great feasts deserve a special mention. On July 10, 1966, a European Day marked the two hundredth anniversary of the re-annexation of Lorraine to France. Cardinal Tisserant presided at the concelebration assisted by fifteen bishops from the various neighbouring countries. For the hundredth anniversary of the crowning of the Blessed Virgin, the choice was made to have three major celebrations, each one focussing on one of the themes of the year. August 15 is Mary’s feast. September 7, the celebration is for Mary, Queen of Peace with the inauguration of the monument of peace at the entrance of the shrine grounds. Delegations from Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg joined the delegations from France… The word reconciliation was at the heart of the Day. Finally, with the participation of the Bishop of Nancy, of Bishop Plumey and of the Superior General, Sunday, October 7, was the day for missions.

We must also point out the importance that specialized pilgrimages have acquired. The Italian pilgrimage lasted for a few years; the Polish pilgrimage (3,000 pilgrims in 1951, between 5,000 and 6,000 in 1962) has maintained its annual momentum, supported by the Oblates of the vice-province of France-Benelux. For some twenty years now, the Portuguese (10,000 in 1981) have been assembling annually in pilgrimage to Sion. It is the same with the gypsies. To these more specific groups, we have to add the annual pilgrimage of the former prisoners of war during the period of the Fifteen Days.

Often enough, the diocese of Nancy chose Sion for meetings of all kinds, whether it was a case of student pilgrimages organized in the style of the Chartres pilgrimage (700 students in 1960), priests’ retreats, days for Catholic Action, pilgrimages of Faith and Light (mentally handicapped), of the Fraternity of the Sick, of the Golden Age (the movement of people of the third age), jubilees of priesthood… A CPM (Centre for Preparation for Marriage) has been functioning at Sion for many years.

Is there need for some anecdotal input as well? Lets mention a few guests of renown. People are fond of recalling that on July 11, 1949, the day after the Eucharistic Congress of Nancy, the Apostolic Nuncio, Bishop Roncalli at the time, the future John XXIII, came to visit Sion accompanied by Cardinal Tisserant. On May 19, 1980, the dining room of the hotel hosted a banquet organized by Giscard d’Estaing, the President of the Republic, who had invited to join him and his wife all the villagers of Saxon-Sion and of Vaudémont. A never-to-be forgotten failure of the electricity, caused by protesting farmers, cast turmoil into the security arrangements and gave Brother Marcel Guillaume the opportunity to go get some candles and subsequently to enlighten the most highly placed dignitaries of our Republic…

Various fields of endeavour have produced fruit. Three superiors of Sion call for special mention: Fathers Louis Devineau, Émile Brief and Michel Berche. The restoration of the basilica was the object of several waves of work. Initially, there was the reorganization of the sanctuary: the reconstruction of the main altar, incorporating an ancient stone altar table discovered on the spot and repositioning of the altar to permit celebrating Mass facing the people, stripping of the sanctuary to reveal the XIV century construction, a more prominent displaying of the statue of Our Lady in the apse, stripped of its dated decor, then a renewal of the roofing, the paintings and electric lighting. One room of the convent near the basilica was renovated as the Chapel of Pardon which is used for smaller gatherings, especially on ordinary days. The building of the Chapel of Lights between the basilica and the convent achieved a worthy and practical solution to the problems posed by devotional candles. The works were able to be carried out thanks to the support of the parish (since the basilica is considered the parish church, it is considered to be a building of the civil parish), but also thanks to the annual collections to which many friends of Sion contributed.

In the 1930’s, the Oblates had chosen to purchase the hotels in order to dedicate their services entirely to the pilgrimage. For about fifteen years, right up until 1955, the Sisters of Mary Immaculate administered the hotels. For three years, the Sisters of Providence of Portieux rendered the same service. Then, from 1959, a small team of Oblate Sisters of Mary Immaculate took up the torch. For these sisters, this was their first foundation in Europe. The departure of these institutes because of lack of personnel dictated the finding of other solutions, always dogged by the limitation of being temporary. The administration of the hotels, as well as that of running the religious goods store for which a new building was built, has often presented ticklish problems.

Here, there is need to mention the great efforts that were made at the beginning of those 50 years by Father Marcel Pajot “in spite of all opposition, with noble stubbornness and thanks to exceptionally generous assistance” and by his successors. The guest house, as they began to call it, was entirely reorganized, on the first floor, with dining rooms and on the others stories (along with the upper floor of the convent) with many guest rooms. So it was that in 1967, Sion was able to offer its guests 104 rooms with a total of 207 beds. From that time on, they were able to receive for short term stays groups for congresses or retreats, or yet again, families or individuals in modest family atmosphere.

These renovations allowed them to develop retreats and days of recollection at Sion. So it was that in 1957, Sion received 1634 people for retreats of three days and 708 people for weekend days of recollection. The three day retreat for the sick (there were 180 of them in 1956) deserve mention. Also from 1955, Sion became a location for retreats for the solemn communion of the children of the whole area. More than a thousand teenagers were received on certain years (1250 in 1975). These retreats were often led by Oblates from the community. Unfortunately, safety regulations for buildings serving the public demanded numerous costly renovations and finally rendered these buildings unfit for public use.

To strengthen the bonds between the culture and religion, a room was set up in the old workshops in order to give audio-visual presentations on Sion, slide programs developed mainly by Father Gaston Delaunay. Another room of the farm became an exposition room during the summer thanks to the assistance of many co-workers.

In 1979, by agreement between Bishop Bemard, the Bishop of Nancy, Mother Marie-Paul of the Trinity, former abbess of the Poor Clares of Vandoeuvre and the Oblates, the Poor Clares founded the “Branch of Sion” in the former rectory near the basilica. They perceived this as a means of ensuring on the hill a prayer presence which went beyond what was possible for the Oblate community. Mother Marie-Paul also hoped to revive the tradition of hermitages which had existed among the Franciscans from the time of Francis and Clare of Assisi. Following a period of experimentation, the Branch obtained from the Holy See definitive recognition of their rule. Sion, which remains their centre, has given rise to several foundations in France, in Hungary and in Rumania. The Branch where the Poor Clares welcome people to come and pray, especially for morning and night prayer (They normally participate in the Eucharist for the pilgrims.) has rapidly become one of the important elements of Sion.

For some twenty years, from the end of the war until 1965, the Oblate community also included a group (from four to eight) of preachers of parish missions and retreats. This was a long-standing dream for Sion and this had been partially realized before the war. Thanks to a number of sufficiently numerous Oblate ordinations to the priesthood in the post-war period, this ministry developed considerably. The newsletter of Sion published the list of ministerial projects carried out by the house. Initially, parish missions were preached in the surrounding area. Then, soon enough, the missionaries participated in general missions of the city or worked along with their mission preaching confreres from other Oblate houses or from other institutions.

Upon their arrival at Sion, the Oblates were given the pastoral responsibility for the parish of Saxon-Sion. In 1953, the parish of Vaudémont at the other end of the hill was entrusted to them. The Oblates were subsequently called to deal with the marked decline in the number of diocesan priests by progressively taking over other parishes in the surrounding area, either as parish priests, or as heads of a pastoral team made up of lay people. While accepting to render service to the diocese and being happy to find priestly work for Oblates advanced in years the Oblates also saw in this an opportunity to renew the bonds of ecclesial communion with the diocesan priests whose load was getting heavier as well and strengthening the bonds between the Hill and the churches and parishes of the plain. Very recently, the diocese of Nancy has proceeded to regroup the little parishes. The result has been that the new parish to which Sion belongs has received the name of Notre-Dame in Saintois and embraces at least thirty former parish churches.

The Oblate community has obviously made its contribution to these various developments, sometimes taking the initiative and sometimes responding to requests from the diocese. It took part in the development of the Oblate province and of the Church in France. In those fifty years, the character of the community has remained rather traditional. It embraces as well a good number of brothers who take care of the material needs, the farm, the garden, the shops, the sacristy, the religious goods shop, community services. This character has changed a lot. In spite of the decreasing numbers, in spite of the fact they are growing older, the people of Lorraine know that at Sion they have a community of Oblates and that the Oblates are providing faithful service at the shrine. They remain one of the reference points in the area.
The Oblates’ orientation toward the foreign missions manifested itself on many occasions and in a great variety of ways throughout these years. The presence of missionaries at celebrations, first and foremost of Bishop Plumey, that has made this evident. In 1982, Father James Cooke, the assistant general from Sri Lanka preached the Fifteen Days and, in 1996, commemorating the fiftieth year of the departure of Oblates for Cameroon-Tchad, the preaching was done by Father Joseph Djida, a Cameroon priest.

Several Oblates from the community received obediences for the foreign missions. In 1955, Brother Alexis Guémené received an obedience for Laos. He was killed on June 4, 1961 without anyone ever being able to find out whether the bullet that struck him down was meant for him or if he was the victim of an accident. On the other hand, the Oblate community often had among its members priests and brothers who were veterans of the missions of Laos, the Cameroon or Tchad. Father Jean Verhaeghe, the superior from 1991 to 1997, was a veteran of the Laotian missions. Father Serge Cuenot, appointed superior in 1999, was a veteran of the missions of the Cameroon and of Tchad.

Sion has hosted Oblate meetings of all kinds: province retreats, congresses or province gatherings, European reunions. Let us mention in 1976 the reunion of French Oblates who were forced to leave Laos. In the course of this meeting, the foundations were laid for a mission on the Island of Borneo in Indonesia. In 1990, Sion hosted eight young Oblates from the inter-provincial novitiate of Velaines for the celebration of their first vows at Sunday Mass, a Sunday of the Fifteen Days. In February 1991, Sion hosted the Superior General and the entire General Council in plenary session for two weeks… Very often this bond with the Congregation and the missions is manifested publicly during the celebration of the pilgrimage.

In perusing the reports, the documents, the news bulletin articles, etc., of the last thirty years, one gets a lasting impression that, like all of society and the entire Church, Sion is seriously searching. At the same time, shrine life continues. Pilgrims from all over came to visit. Many tell of the place Sion continues to hold in their spiritual well being for their faith. The Spirit continues to blow on the Hill. But numerous questions remain. What does the future hold? How can one describe it? Prepare for it? With which people? With what resources? Sion’s complex nature is both its problem and its plenty…

A few salient features stand out in this long history. We list three of them. Without having mentioned the term, inculturation of the faith and of the Church is striking. Sion has been the shrine for a agrarian population right up until the 1950s. Sion has lived through the patriotic upheavals of the people of Lorraine, helping them to sublimate them in prayer. In this society at the beginning of the third millennium, the same task seems to be facing them. But how is one to carry it out?

Sion has always drawn heavily on its bonds with the local church, the bishops, the priests, the religious, the laity of the diocese of Nancy, but also from the dioceses of Saint-Dié and of Metz.

The strong personalities of some of the superiors has meant that they left their mark on Sion and perhaps built it. But the work was carried forward by a community, initially, the community of the Tiercelins, then that of the Oblates. One cannot forget the many hidden apostles, priests and brothers, the devotion to Our Lady and the service to the Gospel on the Hill and in the surrounding area.

The recent negotiations engaged in with the diocese of Nancy and with the general council of the department of Meurthe-et-Moselle have remained faithful to this outlook.

Michel Courvoisier, o.m.i.