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Date: 15 Jul 1999 08:44:47 -0700 From: "Spirit One Email" <laurel@spiritone.com> Cousins, Tomorrow, July 16th, is the feast day of St. Clair at St. Clair-sur-Epte. Our cousin, Sinclair de la Behottiere will represent all of us as he, one of the few chosen by the mayor, will help carry the bones of St. Clair through the streets. This will begin exactly at 11:00 PM in the cemetery, where the poplar logs are blessed and set on fire and then the 15 meter (49 ft.) pyramid and cross will be carried through the streets. Why not figure out what time that will be wherever you are at
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Feast of St. Clair, 16 July 1999
From: "Privateers" <Privateers@privateers.org>Date: 26 July 1999 13:44
On a warm summer's evening in
Normandy
I went to
St. Clair sur Epte,
arriving at about 7.00 PM.
I walked up to the
holy well
and into the enclosure around the
comemmorative hut
and
beheading stone.
A jolly man in his sixties, Marceau, was policing the pebbled
floor and preparing for that
night's festivities. After a short walk to the
church
I could see all
was in preparation. The
brothers of Charity,
a lay group, dedicated to providing Christian
burials had assembled to the left
of the church in their tougers (tabbarts). At 7.45PM the priest of the
church of St. Clair sur Epte
offered a Roman Catholic mass and prayed for the intervention of
Clair
to all peoples afflicted
by any sight disorder. In front of the altar was a small casket with
the bones including the skull
of Saint Cyrian. That casket was approximately 3 feet long and
contained long poles for carrying
by two men. Closer to the altar lay the bones of the sainted Clair. I
looked in amazement that
this saint's bones were a thousand years old were preserved in a glass
and guilded casket, the casket
in ornatley carved with glass windows. The casket together with the
bones of the Saint weigh
approx 80 kilos. Over each Cathedral shaped window sat a semi precious
stone.
The church
was filled with flowers and on the restored part of the vaulted ceiling
stood the arms of many
knights who had prayed in this church. Too long poles stood on either
side of the casket for
carrying it. At precisely 8.20 a headless statue of approx 3 feet tall
covered in a brilliant sparkly blue
robe was carried into the church bearing precious stones around the
feet. The statue bore the
head of Clair in his hands.
The mayor received communion on behalf of the people in the town. He
then introduced me
as being the only person there with the name of Sinclair. He asked the
approximate 500 people
in the church to call the name Sinclair to God in remembrance of all
those who bear that name.
The brothers of charity slowly tolling a bell walked down the center of
the church and turned
into the brilliant sunshine. The sun does not set at that time of year
until well after 10.00 PM.
Four of us then picked up the bones of the Sainted Clair and walked
behind the brothers of
Charity and three acolytes burning incense down the aisle, turning right
and down the steps.
we were followed by the Mayor
and the priest in full vestments. When we
reached the
bottom of the steps of the church, the priest cried out for the approx
5000 people assembled
in the place du
Rolon
(the principal square of St Clair sur Epte)
there "be joyful for our patron still lives in the bosom of his Father.
Those who have
affliction come forth this day to gaze upon the healer." With the bell
of the brothers of Charity
slowly tolling we walked through the streets as people surged forward to
touch the casket
of the bones of the Sainted Clair. The short walk to the park of the
holy well in normal
times is 5 mins. It took 25 mins for us to reach
the well.
The well
was desecrated as it
has been every year for the last 900. With shock and horror the Mayor
reached into
the well and removed the bottle that had been thrown into the well. The
Parish Priest
announced that the well was once again purified. We walked slowly
around the well on
the lawn of the
salon de fete. We carried the bones of the Saint
followed by Cyrian to
the place where he had been martyred
and the hut where he had lived. On
the other
side of the hut, beyond the wall, a carnival had been set up.
We walked, turned the caskets around, past the
well and carried the
caskets back to
their repose in the church. The magistrate of the brothers of Charity
placed his hand
on my forehead and promised me wherever I be in the world for honouring
the saint
of the name I bore, a decent Christian burial. I suppose that is
something to look forward to...
He invited me to go and meet another group of the brothers in Bratonne where they had built a great pyre of wood in the cemetery plot behind the church for the feu de St Clair. Just as the sun set (approx 10.30PM) the priest of that parish gave a short religious ceremony in honour of St. Clair. At exactly 11.00 PM the pyre was lit, the great cross on the top of it standing alone as the light shimmered
off Yew trees. There were saplings where the great
Rolon saw them which
bounced the light of the fire back into the cemetery. After the
magistrate
of the bothers of Charity lit the fire. The townspeople stepped back
beyond the low wall of the Cemetery. Tiered wooden seats had been set up that
held about somewhere between 4-5000 people. For a seat on one of these
wooden chairs, there was a charge of 30 Francs. Approx $4.60 The other
7-10,000 surrounding the cemetery wall stood without any charge. I was
overwhelmed as the French people exchanged the kiss of peace.
I went back to St Clair Sur Epte where the salon du fete was laid out
for the
mayors invitees (approx 500 people) in a buffet style (Light
refreshment).
On the lawn in front of the holy well, a large dancefloor had been
assembled between the time I had left for the fire and returned.
The carnival rides were barely visible on the other side of the hut.
The local
parish priest read the bans of marriage for three of the residents of
St Clair sur Epte. It is considered good luck to have your bans read on
this day. The bans (announcement that the couple intends to marry) have to
be read a certain amount of times before the actual ceremony.
The band began to play and we danced till 4 in the morning! Exhausted
happy and totally satisfied, returned to
La Behotierre
full of too much
wine and song. The overwhelming feelings of brotherhood made me
feel totally at peace with the world.
Sinclair
I wish I could write better— the feelings of that soft summer evening are virtually impossible to describe.
Last changed: 99/11/21 14:42:49
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