Peter M.J. Stravinskas: Reject False Prophets and Embrace Enlivening Moral Theology
July 28, 2025
By Cardinal Robert Sarah, Posted on Diane Montagna’s Substack, July 27, 2025
Homily by Cardinal Robert Sarah marking the 400th anniversary of the apparitions of Saint Anne, mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at her shrine in Sainte-Anne-d’Auray, Brittany, France on July 26, 2025, republished from Diane Montagna’s Substack.
Most dear brothers and sisters of Brittany and of France,
I respectfully greet the civil authorities present here on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the apparitions of Saint Anne in this place. Pope Leo XIV has sent me to you as his special envoy to this shrine of Sainte-Anne-d’Auray. Through this gesture, the Holy Father wishes to emphasize the importance he accords to your pilgrimage. I therefore bring to all of you, pilgrims of Saint Anne, the greetings and the blessing of our beloved Pope Leo XIV.
The Pope is praying for you on this day. Through his envoy, he expresses his fatherly affection for you. In his name, I extend warm greetings to Bishop Raymond Centène, Bishop of Vannes, who cherishes Saint Anne so dearly. I greet the other bishops, the abbots and superiors of religious communities here present, the priests who have come from Brittany and elsewhere, and you, dear pilgrims of Saint Anne, who have come to this shrine in response to the call of Saint Anne and above all to worship God.
In this place, four hundred years ago, Saint Anne appeared to Yvon Nicolazic and said to him: “Yvon Nicolazic, Me zo Anna, mamm Mari” (“I am Anne, mother of Mary,” in Breton, Ed. note). “Yvon, fear nothing, I am Anne, mother of Mary. Tell your rector, your priest, that on the land called the Bocenno—meaning this very place where we now stand—a chapel was once built in my name; it was the first in the entire region. For 924 years and 6 months it has lain in ruins; I desire that it be rebuilt as soon as possible, and that you care for it, because God wills that I be honored there; God wills that you come there in procession.” …