Île Madame : la France catholique se souvient des prêtres des pontons de Rochefort
La foi au bout du rivage English summary On 20 August 2026, Catholics from Charente-Maritime gather for the annual pilgrimage to Île Madame, near Rochefort, in memory of the priests imprisoned on floating prison ships during the French Revolution. In 1794, 829 priests and religious who had refused the constitutional oath were detained in appalling conditions; 547 died. Sixty-four were beatified by Saint John Paul II in 1995. The pilgrimage, held for more than a century, remains one of the most striking Catholic memorial traditions of the French Revolution. The Church also celebrates today Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, the great Cistercian abbot and Doctor of the Church. Saint du jour : Bernard de Clairvaux Le 20 août , l’Église célèbre saint Bernard de Clairvaux , abbé et docteur de l’Église. La mémoire de saint Bernard figure bien au calendrier liturgique français de ce jeudi 20 août 2026. Né en Bourgogne en 1090 , Bernard entre très jeune dans la vie monastique et rejoint la réfo...