by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2024

Saint Dévote is the patron saint of Monaco. From their beginnings in Monaco in 1297, the Grimaldi dynasty has encouraged devotion to Saint Dévote. Saint Dévote is the patron and protector of Monaco’s Princely Family and the Principality of Monaco and a symbol of Monegasque unity and identity. Saint Dévote is also the patron saint of her birthplace, Corsica.

Who was Saint Dévote?

Saint Dévote was born circa 283 on the island of Corsica, then a Roman province, now part of France. She was a devoted Christian and served in the household of Eutychius, a Roman Senator. In 303, edicts were issued rescinding the legal rights of Christians and demanding they follow Roman traditional religious practices. This resulted in the Diocletianic or Great Persecution, the last and most severe persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire.

Circa 312, the Roman Governor of Sardinia and Corsica, Gabinius Barbarus Pompeianus, learned that Eutychius was protecting Dévote, a Christian in his household. He demanded that Dévote be given up and forced to perform the Roman religious rituals. Eutychius refused, and Gabinius Barbarus Pompeianus arranged to have him poisoned. Dévote was tortured and then stoned to death.

After Dévote’s death, Gabinius Barbarus Pompeianus ordered her body to be burned to prevent its veneration by Christians. However, the Christians were able to save Dévote’s body and placed it on a ship bound for Africa, where they believed Dévote would receive a proper Christian burial. However, the ship was caught in a storm. A dove appeared and guided the ship to present-day Les Gaumates in the Principality of Monaco. There the ship ran aground on the sixth day before the calends of February in the Roman calendar, corresponding to January 27, now Saint Dévote’s feast day. The site where the ship ran aground is the location of the current Chapel of St. Dévote.  In the 17th century, Saint Dévote’s relics were stolen. Fishermen caught the thieves at sea, retrieved the relics, and burned the thieves’ boats.

The Chapel of Saint Dévote

Saint Dévote’s remains were buried in a chapel built near where the ship ran aground. The first written documentation of the chapel dates from 1070 but most likely it was built sometime before then. During periods of invasion, Saint Dévote’s remains were moved for their safety to the Benedictine Monastery of Cimiez in Nice, France.

Today, Saint Dévote’s relics are located in Monaco at the Cathedral of Monaco and the Chapel of Relics in the Chapel of Saint Dévote, and at several churches in Corsica. A recent study of Saint Dévote’s relics confirmed many of the traditional conclusions: they are the remains of a young woman who was probably killed by blows, and the various bones remaining in the Principality of Monaco and Corsica belong to the same body.

The original chapel was restored, enlarged, and rebuilt several times over the centuries. In 1870, during the reign of Prince Charles III, the facade was refurbished and the 15-meter/50-foot tall bell tower was built. The front steps, marked with the initials S and D for Saint Dévote and topped with a crown and flanked by decorative motifs in white and black pebbles, were created by the Del Torchio brothers in 1880. Between 1885 and 1891, Charles Lenormand, the architect of the Cathedral of Monaco and the Saint-Charles Church, was responsible for refurbishing and extension work in an 18th-century Neo-Greek style. The chapel became the parish church in 1887.

The stained glass windows made by Maison Nicolas Lorin of Chartres were damaged during the bombing of Monaco in August 1944 during World War II. They were restored or refurbished by Maison Fassi Cadet of Nice in 1948.

It has become a tradition for the bride of the Sovereign Prince of Monaco to leave her bridal bouquet at the Chapel of Saint Dévote after the wedding. Princess Grace did so in 1956 and Princess Charlene continued the tradition in 2011.

How is Saint Dévote’s Day celebrated?

The Chapel of Saint Dévote, in the background, where the January 26 Mass is held with the boat that will be lit on fire in the foreground

On the evening of January 26, the Princely Family of Monaco and others attend a Mass called la Messe des Traditions – the Mass of Traditions – said in Monegasque at the Chapel of Saint Dévote, followed by a blessing for those who died at sea.

After the Mass on January 26, events relating to Saint Dévote are remembered. Saint Dévote’s relics arrive at the port on a boat, recalling the arrival of her remains in Monaco. A dove is released, recalling the dove that guided the ship.

Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene light the boat (2012)

The Princely Family lights a boat on fire, recalling the attempt to steal the relics foiled by the sailors setting fire to the thieves’ boat. The evening ends with a fireworks display over Port-Hercule, Monaco’s deep-water port.

Prince Albert II and his fiancee Charlene Wittstock attend Mass at the Cathedral of Monaco during the Saint  Dévote festivities on January 27, 2011. Saint Dévote’s relics are in the foreground.

On January 27, a Mass is celebrated at the Cathedral of Monaco attended by the Princely Family, government officials, and members of the public.

The Solemn Procession of Saint Dévote’s relics

The Mass is followed by a Solemn Procession of the Saint Dévote’s relics. The procession stops at the Place du Palais where an honor guard pays tribute to them. A priest blesses the Princely Family and the relics. The procession then goes to La Rampe Major, an uphill footpath from the Place du Palais leading to the Rock of Monaco, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. At Monaco’s highest point, a priest blesses Monaco and its people. The procession proceeds to the Cathedral of Monaco where the final blessing is for the sea and the fisherman.

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Works Cited

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