CHAPELLE SAINTE CLAIRE

Description

The chapel was built around 1730 by the canons who lived at St-Mont and was dedicated to Sainte-Claire (the third abbess of St-Mont) and Saint-Romaric (one of the founders of the monastery).

The chapel of Sainte-Claire disappeared during the French Revolution and was subsequently rebuilt near the St-Romary farm.

According to various sources, Sainte-Claire was born around 600 and died between 652 and 665. Originally called Ségorberge, she presented herself as the daughter of Saint-Romary. She was the third abbess of Saint-Mont.

According to legend, during the Laus Perenis, the continuous prayer, she prayed so fervently that she wept. In the end, she lost her sight; from then on she was called Cécile (for blindness). Later, during a walk on the Fossard estate, she went to refresh herself near a spring. Passing the water over her eyes, she regained her clear sight. From then on, she was called Saint-Claire.

According to another legend, because of her exceptional purity and tenderness, her companions nicknamed her "Clare". She had a gift for curing eye ailments, using water from the spring of the same name that flows at the foot of Saint-Mont.

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