Pope Leo XIV has appointed Cardinal Robert Sarah as his special envoy for the upcoming liturgical celebrations marking the 400th anniversary of the apparitions of Saint Anne at Sainte-Anne-d’Auray in France. The decision reflects Pope Leo’s call for a renewal of sacredness in the liturgy. As he recently affirmed, the Church has a “great need to recover the sense of mystery” in her worship.
Cardinal Sarah’s selection carries symbolic and pastoral significance. The Guinean cardinal is known for his outspoken defense of the Traditional Latin Mass and his desire for reverence in liturgical practice. As the former prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Cardinal Sarah has become a leading voice for preserving the sacred in Catholic liturgy. His presence at the Shrine of Sainte-Anne-d’Auray honors both his liturgical legacy and the spiritual importance of the apparitions. According to LifeSiteNews, Cardinal Sarah will preside over a pontifical Mass and a procession on Saturday, July 26, in the Diocese of Vannes, where the apparitions took place.
The event coincides with a larger pilgrimage for young people, aged 16 to 30, who are gathering at the shrine before journeying to Rome for their Jubilee Year celebration. As Vatican News (French edition) reports, the Saint Anne Festival at the shrine will be “the starting point” for this international pilgrimage, drawing youth into deeper encounters with their faith.
Sainte-Anne-d’Auray holds a treasured place in French Catholic history. The apparitions began in 1623 when a humble Breton peasant, Yvon Nicolazic, began experiencing extraordinary signs. One summer evening, while praying to his “benevolent mother,” his room was suddenly illuminated by a torch. According to the shrine’s official account, “The phenomenon was repeated several weeks later.” Saint Anne’s appearances prepared Nicolazic for a deeper call: to restore an ancient chapel in her honor.
The first visible apparition occurred at a fountain in August 1623. Nicolazic, accompanied by his brother-in-law, saw a radiant lady who smiled but said nothing. Over the following months, she appeared repeatedly to Nicolazic in various locations. Finally, on the night of July 25, 1624, she spoke:
“Yvon Nicolazic, fear not: I’m Anne, Mother of Mary. Tell your rector that there was once in the piece of land called the Bocenno… a chapel… Today it has been in ruins for nine hundred and twenty four years and six months. I want it to be rebuilt as soon as possible… It is God’s wish that I be honoured here. God wants you to come there in procession.”
The shrine was eventually built, and it remains a revered site of Marian and saintly devotion in Brittany. The 400th anniversary is not only a celebration of these miraculous events but also an invitation to renew faith in the power of the “domestic church,” where conversion often begins. As Pope St. John Paul II once said, the home is “the first instance of conversion and evangelization.”
Cardinal Sarah’s presence, deeply aligned with his defense of tradition and the family, emphasizes the enduring relevance of Saint Anne’s message—a divine call for fidelity, reverence, and the rebuilding of what time and neglect have tried to erase.
