Assumption Day in France: History, Traditions .
Assumption Day in France is celebrated every year on 15
August and remains one of the country’s most important Catholic feast
days.
Known in French as l’Assomption, it
commemorates the Catholic belief that the Virgin Mary was taken body and
soul into heavenly glory at the end of her earthly life.
Although
France is a secular country, it has kept Assumption Day as a public
holiday. For practising Catholics, the date is marked by Masses,
pilgrimages and processions. For many other people, it is simply a
welcome day off in the middle of the summer holidays.
The vow of Louis XIII in 1638
Assumption Day acquired particular significance in France during the reign of Louis XIII.
On
10 February 1638, the king declared that he was placing himself, the
royal family and the kingdom of France under the protection of the
Virgin Mary. This declaration became known as the Vow of Louis XIII — le Vœu de Louis XIII.
The
king ordered processions to be held throughout the kingdom on 15
August. He also promised to build a new high altar dedicated to the
Virgin Mary in Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.
Later in 1638, Queen Anne of Austria gave birth to the future Louis XIV. The child was given the name Louis-Dieudonné, meaning “Louis, the gift of God”.
The
long-awaited birth strengthened the symbolic association between the
royal family, the Virgin Mary and the feast of the Assumption.
The first major Parisian procession associated with the vow took
place at Notre-Dame on 15 August 1638. The vow continues to be
proclaimed at the cathedral during Assumption celebrations today.
The famous painting The Vow of Louis XIII, completed by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres in 1824, depicts the king offering his crown and sceptre to the Virgin Mary.
