Ostensions Limousines 2023

This year will be the 73rd occasion for the 7-yearly processions through 20 or so communes within Charente, Creuse, Haute-Vienne & Vienne: Abzac 16, Aixe-sur-Viennes 87, Aureil 87, Chaptelet 87, Charroux 86, Crocq 23, Esse 16, Étagnac 16, Eymouthiers 87, Guéret 23, Jardenat 16, Le Dorat 87, Limoges 87, Saint-Junien 87, Saint-Just-le-Martel 87, Saint-Leonard-de-Noblat 87, Saint-Victurnien 87, Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche 87. 

 

Every 7-years since 1512, the communes of the Limousin region gather to commemorate the epidemic that ravaged the area in 994 killing  as many as 40,000 people. During the summer of that year, the crops of rye had been infected by an ergot fungi. As the crop was harvested and milled so the flour and consequently the bread made from it became infected with ergotism. Rye bread, a staple in medieval Europe's diet, containing the poison consumed over time causes a number of unpleasant symptoms frequently leading to death:

• hallucinations, psychosis, convulsions and other central nervous system effects 
• an intense burning pain in the skin all over the body with huge serum-filled blisters giving the disease one of its names St Anthony's Fire
• poor blood flow leading to gangrene in the extremities and the loss of fingers, toes and even whole limbs
  

As a response to the epidemic the first Ostension was a procession to the Puy de Gaudy (near Guéret) ; the people, believing the epidemic was a punishment from God, asked for the intercession of Saint Martial to alleviate their suffering.

Limousin (and throughout Aquitaine at the time) appears to have suffered the worst incidence of this scourge but it was quite common throughout Europe until wheat began to replace rye as the favoured grain crop (wheat is resistant to the fungus which is why the British Isles, where rye was rarely grown,  managed to avoid its effects). Although the Order of Saint Anthony was explicitly founded in 1095 with the purpose of caring for those afflicted with the disease, the cause was not properly understood until 1596 and later in 1778 methods were found to prevent or deal with the fungus. However, the fungus still persists: a severe outbreak occurred in 1951 at Pont-Saint-Espirit (in the Rhône valley near Montelimar) killing 5 and, during 2001, contaminated barley caused another outbreak in Ethiopia.

Calendar of Events

Sat 19 March Limoges: The official opening of the 73rd Ostensions Limousines  where the surrounding communes gather along with the ostentation parishes

Monday 10 April Abzac ancient priory/hospital of the Limoges diocese known for its procession of the saints Lucius and Emerite, beginning on Easter Monday
Sat/Sun 15/16 April Limoges celebrates saint Martial (first bishop of Limoges), saint Aurélion (his successor), saint Loup (bishop of Limoges during the 7th century) and saint Valerie
Sunday 23 April Saint-Just-le-Martel this village, a suburb of Limoges, venerates Saint-Just, a shepherd who lived alongside the great saint Hilaire of Poitiers in the 5th century
Sunday 30 April Eymoutiers According to tradition, the village dates back to the 10th century and the founding of a monastery built on the tomb of the hermit Psalmet who came from Ireland to live in the forest of Grigeas.
Sunday 7 May Saint-Yreix-la-Perche the city celebrates its founder, Aredis, a hermit during the 6th century who founded a monastery at Attane and was later canonised as Saint-Yrieix

Sunday 14 May Saint-Victurnien where they celebrate the patron saint of this small village, saint Victurnien, who, legend has it, came from Scotland to live as a hermit
Thursday 18 May Javerdat the parish venerates saint Blaise
Sat/Sun 20/21 May Aixe-sur-Vienne the town celebrates Notre-Dame-d’Arliquet and its patron saint Alpinien, a companion of Saint Martial
Sunday 21 May Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat the Miaulétous celebrate their founding saint, saint Leonard, a Frankish hermit of the 5th century

Sunday 28 May Rochecouart the city of the Viscounts, celebrate saint Julien de Brioude, a Roman soldier martyred during the rule of Diocletian in 304
Monday 29 May Esse a small village in Charente-Limousine that is home to the only museum dedicated to the ostentations phenomena; venerate the protomartyr saint Étienne
Sunday 4 June Le Dorat the capital of the ancient county of Basse Marche, honours two  13th century saints: Israël and Théobald
Sunday 11 June Charroux the only ostentation in the Vienne (the Benedictine monks of Charroux were reputed to have relics of St Anthony believed to be themselves, a cure for The Fire of St Anthony)
Sunday 18 June  Chaptelat the village celebrates its most famous inhabitant, saint Éloi de Noyen, advisor to King Dagobert (605-639 last of the Merovingen dynasty), founder of Solignac in 632 and bishop of Noyen and Tournai
Sunday 25 June Saint-Junien honours Saint-Junien du Limousin and his master saint Amand de Coly who retired to the ancient forest of Comodoliac in the 5th century
Saturday 1st July Aureil this village, situated a few kilometers from Limoges, celebrates its founder, saint Gaucher and his disciple saint Foucher who lived in the 9th century
Sunday 2 July Limoges celebrates saint Martial (first bishop of Limoges), saint Aurélion (his successor), saint Loup (bishop of Limoges during the 7th century) and saint Valerie
Sunday 16 July Crocq in the Creuse Department, where they venerate saint Éloi (a tryptiche tracing the life of the saint can be seen in the chapel of Notre-Dame-de-la-Visitation in the heart of the village)
Sunday 10 September Étagnac
Sunday 17 September Nexon saint Ferréol, bishop of Limoges in the 6th century, is venerated there
Sunday 1st October Pierre-Buffière where they celebrate saint Côme and saint Damien, a monk who offered free medical services
Sunday 8 October Guéret prefecture of the Creuse Department; during the ostentations, 3 saints are venerated: Pardoux, Roch et Valéric