Lyon saved from the plague epidemic? Historian tells the true story of December 8 (video)
Bruno Benoit, historian of Lyon, on the set of the program 6 minutes chrono on the occasion of December 8.
Bruno Benoit, historian of Lyon, is the guest of the daily Lyon Capitale, 6 minutes flat, on the occasion of December 8. The historian returns to the real story of December 8 in Lyon. And no, it’s not the plague … But yes, the Lyonnais did say the Virgin Mary. Explanations.
Popular legend has it that the feast of December 8 would come on the day when the Virgin Mary saved Lyon from the plague epidemic. “There is confusion between two “8”, between September 8, 1643, the famous wish of the aldermen, which yes has a link with the plague, and December 8, 1852. The two 8 are confused, September 8 is the birth of the virgin and December 8 is the conception of the virgin “, explains Bruno Benoit, historian of Lyon, on the 6-minute set, the daily Lyon Capital.
The history of December 8 dates back to December 8 … 1852
The current feast of December 8, the candles, comes from December 8, 1852. So 159 years ago. This year, “the inauguration of a statue of the virgin on the small chapel of Fourvière was to give rise to a magnificent celebration in Lyon on the evening of December 8 “, Narre Bruno Benoit. The historian continues : “The cardinal of Lyon at the time illuminated the city. This famous December 8, 1852, it is a Wednesday, it starts to rain. The Rhône floods the workshop where there was the statue of the virgin. The cardinal cancels everything. But the weather calms down in the evening, the Lyonnais take out candles that had been ordered in colored glasses and the city lights up. The Lyonnais had a fervor for the virgin who for them protected our city. The cardinal, seeing that the Lyonnais then precede the church, gives the order to present the virgin on this December 8, 1852 “. The story of December 8 is moving.
Bruno Benoit then how December 8 tells about two world wars. But not only. Before turning, henceforth, into a veritable Festival of Lights. “December 8, it’s Lyon July 14, it’s our Lyon identity celebration “, the historian.