July 1 Notre Dame du Calvaire / Our Lady of Calvary - Lestelle Betharram, France.
July 1 Notre Dame du Calvaire / Our Lady of Calvary - Lestelle Betharram, France.
.
Betharram is a small village about nine miles (15 km) outside of Lourdes. It was on the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostela. Hubert Charpentier (1565-1650), a priest architect had the idea to open a hospice for the pilgrims. An extant first chapel dedicated to the Virgin was enlarged in order to build the Sanctuary complex, extended by a monastery belonging to the chaplains of Betharram. Charpentier also had a monumental Way of the Cross (Via Crucis) set up above the Sanctuary on the side of the hill. In July 1616, the large cross was planted on the hill overlooking the Sanctuary.
.
Two months later, five peasants from the village of Montaut, were resting after a long day of working in the fields, when a violent storm erupted on the hill overlooking Betharram. The violence of the wind was so great, that the cross shook, then fell to the ground. A moment after the collapse, the cross rose amidst a dazzling light, and was re-affixed without human hands. The devout flocked to the site of this miracle. In 1623 the first Calvary of Betharram was inaugurated. And the sanctuary came to be called Our Lady of Calvary.