Our Lady de la Breche - March 14th, 2026 | No Greater Delight
March 14: Our Lady de la Breche, Chartres, France (1568)
The Abbot Orsini wrote: “Our Lady de la Breche, at Chartres, where a procession takes place every year, in thanksgiving for Our Lady’s having delivered the city, when besieged by heretics, in the year 1568. It was during this siege that the image of Our Lady, placed upon the Drouaise gate, could not be injured by the cannon and musket balls, which the besiegers fired at it, and the marks of which are still seen at two or three inches from the image.”
“I shall place enmity between thee and the Woman. She shall crush thy head…” is indeed verified at the shrine of la Breche.
The procession mentioned by the good abbot was a custom that took place annually in commemoration of the miracle until the time of the French Revolution. The mayor, or on occasion some other important personage who happened to be the guest of the town at the time, traditionally lit the first candle …More
Notre-Dame de la Brèche de Chartres
Cette chapelle est construite en 1599, à la suite du siège de Chartres par les protestants en 1568, lors de la deuxième guerre de religion : une brèche ayant été ouverte dans les remparts de la ville par l'artillerie de Louis de Bourbon-Condé, les chartrains, sous la protection d'une statue de Notre-Dame de la porte Drouaise, échafaudent et défendent une barricade qui empêche la prise de la ville.
Chapelle Notre-Dame de la Brèche de Chartres — …