In the Pas-de-Calais, a collection to renovate Notre-Dame-de-la-Nativity
The wishes of the people of Airon for Christmas? That the Church of Our Lady of the Nativity can be restored. To achieve this, it is necessary to raise one million euros. “The department, the region and the State are helping us up to €750,000 and the municipality is going to borrow €200,000, a significant sum because our financial capacities are limited, says Marc Delaby, mayor of Airon-Notre-Dame since 2014. We therefore need at least €50,000 in donations to complete the budget. »
For years, the small church of Airon-Notre-Dame, a village of 250 souls near Berck-sur-Mer (Pas-de-Calais), has suffered from the cement covering the original white stone and which is cracking. The cover and the frame are also degraded.
From 2014, the municipality plans to restore the building and, in 2020, the Association for the preservation of the church of Airon-Notre-Dame (ASEAND) is created. Latest episode, the launch last September of a collection with the Heritage Foundation so that donors can benefit from a tax advantage (1).
For now, a little over €2,000 has been collected but the inhabitants are confident and are mobilizing for their church: “We try to animate this collection, emphasizes Caroline Sarazin, parishioner and member of the safeguard association. For the end-of-year celebrations, we are organizing a raffle to win bottles of champagne. »
A chapel that became a church in the 18th century
The town is not left out: “At the beginning of 2023, corporate sponsorship will be activated with craftsmen and traders, SMEs and also large groups listed on the CAC 40. And we will submit our grant applications with updated quotes, continue Marc Delaby, aware that inflation will further increase the amount of work. We will kick off the ground at the end of next year. »
Maintained by the municipality, the church is still used by the deanery of Berck-Montreuil: mass is designated there approximately once a quarter at 9:30 a.m. This is not much, of course, but the parishioners of the sector are all happier to prepare the church for these rare occasions.
“We clean it, we flower it, we wash the tablecloths, says Caroline Sarazin, attached to Notre-Dame-de-la-Nativité. It is small and without stained glass but it has character. And even for people who don’t practice, the church is a soul”, continues this 71-year-old retiree whose husband is responsible for ringing the bells, now electric. The vocation of the building is also cultural: regularly, concerts are organized there, allowing to make it live outside the worship.
Limestone, stained glass…
This small communal church was originally a chapel, “traces of which can be found in 1477 in a collection of the Abbot of Montreuil-sur-Mer”, says Joël Brasselet, from Airon who is passionate about the history of his village. Enlarged over the years before becoming a church following the blessing of its bell in 1727, Notre-Dame-de-la-Nativité is not classified as a heritage historical monument, but it houses a gable of an old hunt from Saint-Josse dating from 1614, element listed in 1911.
Like the other inhabitants, Joël Brasselet would like the church to regain the whiteness of the original limestone. “Especially since we will celebrate our 300th anniversary in 2027”, add the mayor. The village hopes to celebrate this anniversary around a renovated building. And who knows, the little church may even be embellished with stained glass windows…