BUGLOSE, FROM THE MUD TO THE LIGHT…

The story of the Virgin of Buglose… 

Singular, history was born four centuries ago in the muddy field of a Landes swamp. 

It all began in 1620, when a shepherd directing his herd of oxen discovered, in the deep dacquoise country, an imposing statue of the Virgin Mary and Child.

Hidden there around fifty years, towards 1570, in the midst of the Wars of Religion, to escape from the abuses of Huguenot troops burning the churches and monasteries on their way, the stony mass of nearly 400 kilos is half silted up and hidden by rushes.

Strip cartoon "Our Lady of Buglose", by the Diocesan Association of d'Aire-et-Dax

Hearing the news, the local bishop immediately ordered to transfer it to the neighboring parish. But, according to the legend, the hitch responsible for transporting it refused to move forward. Sensing the sign of Providence, the latter changed his plans and ordered it`s erection, at this very site, of a chapel.

With its wooden structure, the first place of worship built in the marshy area had indeed became very old and deteriorated. This is what prompted in the mid-19th century, then the bishop of the time ordered the construction of a solid church.

The blessing of the new church was done in 1855 and, in 1866 on 9th September, Mgr Louis-Marie Epivent, bishop of Aire, solemnly crowned the statue of Our Lady of Buglose, in the name of Pope Pius IX. In 1966, Pope Paul VI again granted the Shrine the title of Minor Basilica.

How does one explain the spiritual radiance, always important, of this place of popular piety in the Landes?

"What constitutes a great mystery, is that Saint Vincent de Paul (1581-1660) was also born a few kilometers away, in this "in the middle of nowhere". As Our Lady of Buglose, passed from mud to light, she concretely preached her the passage from human misery to spiritual dignity."