Monday, Aug. 03, 1959

Pardon Walk

In the marketplace of Locronan, a tiny (pop. 1,000) village in Brittany, 5,000 Frenchmen got set for a hike. Most were Bretons or of Breton origin, and many had come from far-off towns and lands; all had waited six years for the day. The occasion: the Tromenie, Brittany's sexennial pilgrimage, whose history, like Locronan's, dates back to the 5th or 6th century.

That was when St. Ronan, an Irish bishop consecrated by St. Patrick himself, founded Locronan. According to legend, St. Ronan spent his time in a hermit's cell, studied spiders as they spun their webs, and adapted their technique to the art of weaving, which soon brought prosperity to the village. St. Ronan, tradition has it, was driven out of town by a mob of angry shrews whose leader accused him of being a werewolf--she was afraid that the hermit was persuading her husband to become a monk. The saint left town walking barefoot across the rocky terrain outside the village.

Soon Bretons became convinced that this path was the way of penitence; tradition demanded that they follow it in pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime or else be obliged to do so after death, advancing only one coffin-length each year. In the 10th century, Benedictine monks built a monastery just outside the town, and the pilgrimage turned into a "pardon walk" around the monastery's land--hence the word Tromenie, which is Breton for "tour of the refuge."

This year's tour followed the old tradition: to the clatter of cowbells, bagpipes and lusty Breton hymns, the pilgrims marched the ten penitential miles. Bearing crosses and banners, whole families walked together, singing and praying. The young helped the old across improvised bridges and through the sharp stubble of newly sickled wheat. At twelve resting places along the way, prayers were recited in makeshift chapels. That evening Locronan doors stayed open, and big rustic tables were laden with crepes, bread, butter and cider. Last week the rituals ended with midnight Mass and a pageant re-enacting the life of St. Ronan.

Another six years will pass before Bretons again walk in the footsteps of their saint. Oldtimers thought they noted particular fervor among the marchers this year, recalling the great devout pilgrimages before World War I. Still, some recalled that St. Ronan had walked barefooted. Nowadays, said a local priest, "just a few go without shoes--usually only those who have some specially profound penitence to make."

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