The best road cycling routes around Entrammes

The patronage of this church has been entrusted to Saint Simeon, who is mentioned in the New Testament. According to the biblical account by Luke, he and the prophetess Anna were the two people present in the Temple in Jerusalem forty days after the birth of Jesus Christ, when Mary and Joseph—following Jewish custom—entered the Temple with their firstborn son and an offering (two doves). The Evangelist records the following prayer on the occasion of this encounter between the elderly Simeon and Jesus as the promised Messiah: "Now, Lord, you are releasing your servant in peace, according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel." (Luke 2:29-32)

The cathedral (i.e., a bishop's church) in Laval was not dedicated to one of the many people we venerate as saints, but rather, the ONE God in THREE Persons – God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God's Holy Spirit – was chosen as its patron saint. Father Reinhard Körner writes about the mystery of the Holy Trinity: + "Among the great prayer-givers in the history of Christianity... I found prayer texts in which each of the divine Three was explicitly addressed – in the same prayer. When I tried to recite the texts, I could sense that these people had not only individually envisioned God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit – they were addressing a divine community. And it seemed to me that they could only do this in their written prayers because they also did so otherwise, quietly in their hearts."

This church was not dedicated to one of the many people who died as martyrs (witnesses to their faith) for their Christian beliefs, or whom we venerate as blessed or saints because of their exemplary lives. Rather, this parish has chosen God himself – in the "Holy Trinity" – as its patron saint. According to Christian doctrine, we believe in ONE God, who exists in THREE persons – God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. The following description can be found on the EKD (Evangelical Church in Germany) website: + “The word attempts to express the seemingly impossible, namely that God is simultaneously three and one. To understand this, it helps to consider how people have experienced God throughout history: as a Creator who loves his world and humanity like a father loves his children. As a God who himself became human in Jesus Christ, his Son, and shared human life. And finally, as a God who is still present and alive among people in the Holy Spirit.”

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This church has existed since at least the 9th century, but it got its current appearance in the 12th century, when Benedictines set up a priory there. The nuns left Avesnières during the Hundred Years War and the church then became a simple parish church again. It was elevated to the rank of minor basilica in 1898 by Pope Leo XIII.

In Orleans, around 453, Saint Aignan was the bishop who, putting his trust in God alone, obtained from him, through repeated prayers and tears, that the city besieged by the Huns be delivered.

Here I almost died. I think I had the scare of my life. Having lost control of my bike on the slope, I fell on my luggage rack, and it braked my rear wheel, veiling it. For a quarter of a second, I thought I was going to finish him in the background, and that I couldn't get out without a serious injury. It's crazy all the ideas that go through your head in such a short time. Eventually, or miraculously, everything stopped, and I didn't even find myself on the ground. #AMDG

In Mayenne, there are about 6,400 crosses on the roads, of which at least fifty refer to the apparitions of Pontmain. Pontmain? One of the 5 places where the Most Blessed Virgin Mary appeared in France. In 1871, the whole parish of Pontmain prayed to ward off the Prussian war. Our Lady appears in the center of the village, and says to them: "But pray my children, God will answer you in no time. My son allows himself to be touched." The Virgin holds in her hands a red crucifix with a sign "Jesus Christ" above. After 1871, Calvaries multiplied in Mayenne and often took up the model of the appearance of Pontmain. Even today, the "Crucifix de Pontmain" is very visible in Mayenne.