The Chartres Pilgrimage
"I dare to predict: Chartres will become, more than ever, the center of devotion to Mary in the West; people will flock there, as in the past, from all corners of the world."
Cardinal Louis-Édouard Pie, May 31, 1855
Historically a major gathering for the traditionalist Christian world, the "Pèlerinage de Chrétienté" (Pilgrimage of Christendom) now attracts, each year, many Catholics beyond this sphere, eager to pray before Notre-Dame de Chartres. For forty-two years, a huge group of pilgrims crosses the plains of Beauce on the Pentecost weekend, linking Notre-Dame de Paris and Notre-Dame de Chartres in three days of walking, while reciting Pater Noster and Ave Maria. This pilgrimage of Christendom follows the ancient rite, i.e., the one in force before the reform of the Second Vatican Council.
The pilgrimage now attracts over 15,000 pilgrims each year, traditionalists or not!
History of the Chartres Pilgrimage
The Henri and André Charlier Center and its first summer universities were created in the years 1979-1980 in Fanjeaux, in Occitania, under the protection of the mother superior of the teaching Dominican sisters of the Holy Name of Jesus, Mother Anne-Marie Simoulin. For the members of this new foundation, this was an opportunity to organize a pilgrimage in 1980 to Mesnil-Saint-Loup, to the tomb of Father Emmanuel (founder of the monastery in said town). During this pilgrimage, two men, Max Champoiseau and Rémi Fontaine, had the idea of organizing a walking pilgrimage between Paris and Chartres, modeled on the national pilgrimage to Czestochowa in Poland. Supported by Dom Gérard Calvet, the Henri and André Charlier Center set up the project and placed it under the patronage of Notre-Dame de la Sainte Espérance (Our Lady of Holy Hope). Thus, the first pilgrimage took place at Pentecost in 1983.
In 1991, the pilgrimage separated from the Charlier Center with the creation of the "Pèlerinage de Chrétienté" association, replaced two years later by the "Notre-Dame de Chrétienté" association, this time completely independent from the center.
The pilgrimage enjoyed considerable success during this period, bringing together around ten thousand pilgrims each year. 800 volunteers oversee the pilgrimage each year.
Practical Information about the Pilgrimage of Christendom
The next pilgrimage will take place on June 25, 2025
The pilgrimage between Paris and Chartres is 97 kilometers long
The prices for participating in the pilgrimage are on a sliding scale. Pilgrims participating for two or three days and living in the Paris region pay between €60 and €80, those living in the provinces or abroad between €50 and €65. Pilgrims participating for only one day pay €25.
The theme of the 2025 pilgrimage is "For He shall reign, on earth as in heaven".
Other Pilgrimages to Chartres
Students come on pilgrimage to Chartres on Palm Sunday weekend
The Tamil community from Sri Lanka, living in the Île-de-France region, gathers in May
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is celebrated on August 15 with a large procession through the city
The Guides and Scouts of Europe make a back-to-school pilgrimage in the autumn.
Prayer to Notre-Dame de Chartres
"O Notre-Dame de Chartres, my Mother and my Sovereign, with what happiness I prostrate myself at your feet! No one can tell all the wonders you work each day in favor of the souls who invoke you; thus what confidence, what love animates all your children!
Virgin of miracles, as our fathers called you, heal those who suffer, console those who weep, preserve families, protect children.
The tender solicitude of your maternal heart watches over the just to sustain them, over sinners to convert them, over priests to strengthen them, over the faithful to save them. From your venerable crypt, Notre-Dame de Sous-Terre (Our Lady of the Underground), be always the source of grace! From your sacred throne, which we kiss so often with respect, Notre-Dame du Pilier (Our Lady of the Pillar), be always the dispenser of heavenly treasures! Despite my unworthiness, I dare to ask for my share in your countless blessings; you will hear me, O Notre-Dame de Chartres, so that the glory of your name may shine with the brightest splendor for ages and ages! Amen!
O Immaculate Virgin, who must bring forth to grace and glory all the elect of God, deign to receive me into your maternal womb and form me in you so that I may resemble Jesus!"
Charles Péguy's Prayer on Pilgrimage to Chartres
"Morning Star, inaccessible Queen, behold us walking towards your illustrious court, and behold the plateau of our poor love, and behold the ocean of our immense pain.
Thus we sail towards your cathedral.
From afar, a rosary of round mill-hills surfaces, round as towers, opulent and alone like a row of castles on the admiral's ship.
Two thousand years of labor have made of this land a reservoir without end for new ages.
A thousand years of Your grace have made of these labors a resting place without end for the solitary soul.
You see us walking on this straight road, all dusty, all muddy, the rain between our teeth on this large fan open to all winds the national road is our narrow gate.
We go before us, hands in pockets, without any apparatus, without clutter, without speeches, with a step always even, without haste or recourse.
From the most present fields towards the nearest fields...
We were born for You on the edge of this plateau, in the bend of our blond Loire, and this river of sand and this river of glory is there only to kiss your august mantle.
A man from our land, from the fertile soil, made spring forth here in one single uplifting, and from one single source and one single bearing, towards your Assumption the unique spire in the world.
Tower of David, behold Your Beauce tower.
It is the hardest ear of wheat ever risen towards a sky of clemency and serenity, and the most beautiful jewel in your crown.
A man from our land made spring forth here, from ground level to the foot of the Cross,
Higher than all the saints, higher than all the kings, the irreproachable Spire that cannot fail.
It is the Stone without stain and the Stone without flaw, the highest Prayer ever offered, the straightest Reason ever cast, and towards a boundless sky the highest Line. Amen."
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