In Nîmes, the Friends of Notre-Dame-de-Santa-Cruz and the Nacioun Gardiano join forces for the “Day of Hope”

Frédéric Pastor, Bérenger Aubanel et Roger Pessoles. Midi Libre – Mikael Anisset

Évènement à la fois grand public et spirituel, la première édition de ce nouveau pèlerinage aura lieu le dimanche 29 septembre.

Every two years, since 1985, the herdsmen, their horses and their families have been going on a pilgrimage to Lourdes. But they will soon have a local equivalent in Nîmes! “Last year, precisely on the occasion of the herdsmen's pilgrimage, I said to myself that the year they don't go to Lourdes (now even years, Editor's note), they could quite easily come to Santa Cruz “, confided Christian Pastor, vice-president of the Friends of Notre-Dame-de-Santa-Cruz, the association that works to promote and preserve the eponymous sanctuary perched atop a hill, at Mas-de-Mingue.

Procession, mass, dance and music

This Thursday, September 19, it was in the heart of this tree-lined sanctuary, a tribute to Notre-Dame-du-Salut, that the beginnings of this first edition of the "Day of Hope".

" A pilgrimage named thus since the Carmaguan Cross and the virgin of Our Lady of Santa Cruz are both bearers of hope“, justified Roger Pessoles, president of the association Les Amis de Santa Cruz, specifying that the schedule of this day, based on that of the Ascension pilgrimage to the sanctuary, will include, among other things, a procession of guardians and pilgrims, mass, Provençal dances and music, or even a lunch on site.

People of Camargue and belief

“This gathering of the people of Camargue, of the people of belief to defend our land, our traditions, our art of living are a sign of the anchoring of the fundamental values ​​of our civilization and even beyond“, congratulated Bérenger Aubanel, vice-captain at the head of Nacioun Gardiano, who was honored to be involved in this new project.

A project that will therefore come to life for the very first time on Sunday, September 29 at 9 a.m., within the sanctuary itself, on Avenue Notre-Dame-de-Santa-Cruz, in Nîmes. About twenty guardians and their horses are expected for the Marian procession which will take place at 3:30 p.m.

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