The Sainte-Baume ( Provençal: ''Massís de la Santa Bauma'' according to classical orthography and ''La Santo Baumo'' according to mistralian orthography) is a mountain ridge spreading between the departments of

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( , , ; oc, Bocas de Ròse ; "Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in Southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the south. Its prefecture and ...

and

Var Var or VAR may refer to: Places * Var (department), a department of France * Var (river), France * Vār, Iran, village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Var, Iran (disambiguation), other places in Iran * Vár, a village in Obreja commune, Ca ...

in Southern France. Its summit is 1147 metres high.

History

John Cassian John Cassian, also known as John the Ascetic and John Cassian the Roman ( la, Ioannes Eremita Cassianus, ''Ioannus Cassianus'', or ''Ioannes Massiliensis''; – ), was a Christian monk and theologian celebrated in both the Western and Eastern c ...

established a priory at Sainte-Baume in the early fifth century.

Magdalene's grotto

According to the Tradition of Provence, Mary Magdalene,

Lazarus of Bethany Lazarus of Bethany (Latinised from Lazar, ultimately from Hebrew Eleazar, "God helped"), also venerated as Righteous Lazarus, the Four-Days Dead in the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the subject of a prominent sign of Jesus in the Gospel of John, ...

and Maximinus, one of the

Seventy Disciples The seventy disciples or seventy-two disciples, known in the Eastern Christian traditions as the seventy apostles or seventy-two apostles, were early emissaries of Jesus mentioned in the Gospel of Luke. The correct Greek terminology is evdomik ...

, and some companions, expelled by persecutions from the Holy Land, traversed the Mediterranean in a frail boat with neither rudder nor mast and landed at the place called

Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (, lit.: "Saint Marys of the Sea"; Provençal Occitan: ''Li Santi Mario de la Mar'') is the capital of the Camargue ( Provençal Occitan ''Camarga'') in the south of France. It is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône ...

near Arles. Lazarus came to Marseille and converted the whole of Provence. Magdalene is said to have retired to a cave on a hill by Marseille, La Sainte-Baume ("Holy Cave", baumo in Provençal), where she gave herself up to a life of prayer and contemplation. The cave is now a Christian pilgrimage site."Sainte-Baume, Rock of Mercy", Sanctuaire de la Sainte-Baume
/ref> Louis IX of France visited the grotto in 1254. The site was under the management of the Dominicans when it was pillaged during the French Revolution. They subsequently returned in 1859 at the behest of

Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire Jean-Baptiste Henri-Dominique Lacordaire (12 May 1802 – 21 November 1861), often styled Henri-Dominique Lacordaire, was a French ecclesiastic, preacher, journalist, theologian and political activist. He re-established the Dominican Order in p ...

. In 1941, a hostel and school were established to serve as refuge for those fleeing Nazi persecution.

References

External links

Site Personnel sur le massifAssociation Découverte-Sainte-Baume
* {{Authority control Landforms of Bouches-du-Rhône Landforms of Var (department) Mountains of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

History

Magdalene's grotto

See also

References

External links