The famous pilgrimage site Mont-Saint-Michel is preparing to celebrate 1300 years

Paris - The famous French pilgrimage site Mont-Saint-Michel, which has earned the epithet "wonder of the West" for its uniqueness, will kick off large celebrations for its 1300th anniversary on May 1. The events will include solemn masses, pilgrimages, exhibitions, concerts, expert debates, colloquia, and meetings with artists. The program, announced by the diocese of Coutances and Avranches, under which the abbey falls, will conclude in October 2009.
    The exact year of the abbey's founding on the rocky islet near the Normandy coast is uncertain, but it has been accepted for 800 years that it was in the year 708. According to legend, it was founded by Bishop Aubert of Avranches, who was visited there by the Archangel Michael. The first sanctuary is said to have been consecrated as early as 709.
    The abbey is famous for its extraordinary island location combined with splendid architecture. Medieval walls and ecclesiastical and secular buildings cling to the little rock, dominated at a height of 170 meters by a statue of the Archangel Michael at the top of the church tower. Over three million people visit each year because of this. The abbey is on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
    However, the Bishop of Coutances and Avranches Stanislas Lalanne, in his address to the program of celebrations, reminds us that Mont-Saint-Michel is primarily a spiritual place and that the celebrations will be an opportunity to emphasize this spiritual dimension. "This is especially important at a time when so many anchor points are wavering," he states.
    The opening solemn mass for the celebrations will be celebrated by Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, the Archbishop of Paris. Among other events planned for September is a pilgrimage to Mont-Saint-Michel involving pilgrims from European dioceses dedicated to Saint Michael; the mass will be celebrated by the bishops of these dioceses.
    Mont-Saint-Michel was one of the most renowned pilgrimage sites in Western Europe during the Middle Ages. However, in the 16th century, the fervor for pilgrimages waned, and after the French Revolution of 1789, the abbey was converted into a prison. Spiritual life returned only during the reign of Napoleon III. Today, about a dozen friars and sisters live there.
    The celebrations are taking place at a time when work is in full swing to preserve the island character of Mont-Saint-Michel. One of their central points will be the removal of the dam with the road that currently connects the island to the mainland, to be replaced by a bridge along which shuttle transport will run. The dam prevents the free movement of sea currents and contributes to the silting up of the bay at Mont-Saint-Michel with sand. Experts have calculated that due to sand deposition and the bay's vegetation overgrowth, Mont-Saint-Michel may no longer be an island in forty years. Costs are expected to reach 140 million euros (3.6 billion crowns).