Tomb of Bordeaux basilica's patron steeped in antiquity

Pilgrims attribute miraculous healings to St. Seurin

St. Seurin – October 21

- WCR photo by Ted Fitzgerald Statue of St. Seurin stands beside the front entrance of his Bordeaux basilica.

By TED FITZGERALD
Special to the WCR
Bordeaux, France

First time visitors to Bordeaux's Basilica Saint-Seurin might want to find the sacristan to admit them to the church's famous crypt, one-time resting place of the city's patron.

The church is in the old Saint-Seurin section of the historic seaport on France's west coast Garonne River. Bordeaux is an ancient place, a former Roman town and later the historic capital of Aquitaine. It's also the hub of one of the world's noteworthy wine-producing areas.

Facing west on rue Capdeville, just blocks north of lively rue Judaique with its shoulder-to-shoulder street caf‚s and bistros, the basilica is adjacent to Place des Martyrs de la Resistance and an archaeological site where the city was first established.

Monastery created

The basilica has a long history, beginning in the fourth century when Bishop Amand was joined in his ministry by Seurin who succeeded him as head of the Bordeaux See. A monastery is said to have been established outside the town walls by Seurin on the site of a Gallo-Roman cemetery where both bishops were later buried.

Following Seurin's death in 420 AD, his grave became the objective of pilgrims, and his patronage of the city was declared after a number of miraculous cures were attributed to his intervention.

- WCR photo by Ted Fitzgerald Bordeaux's Basilica Saint-Seurin

By the sixth century, an oratory had been built on the site to replace an earlier chapel and this became the crypt of an 11th century church, rebuilt in the 16th century. The bishops' tombs continued to attract pilgrims, particularly in the Middle Ages when Bordeaux became a major stopping place for those undertaking the important pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in western Spain.

Composite

The present structure dates from the 12th and 13th centuries. Like many early churches, Saint-Seurin has a complex history of rebuilding, additions and alterations that leave its story a complex subject in itself.

Visitors approaching the church are welcomed by life-size statues of Bishops Amand and Seurin occupying niches in the relatively new, 1828 fa‡ade. Inside, and hidden by the west front, is the 11th century porch that, with the square tower above, are the oldest parts of the building.

The long nave is flanked by a series of chapels of a variety of sizes, shapes and ages dedicated to, for example, Our Lady of Good Tidings, Saint-Fort, the Sacred Heart and Saint-Martial. Naturally though, the focus of any visit here is the main altar which contains the fifth century sarcophagus of the basilica patron.

Almost mandatory, a visit to the famous crypt, centred beneath the asymmetric transepts is an experience not to be missed. Here, in an atmosphere heavy with antiquity - people offer prayers to the saint beside his original tomb, surrounded by carved sarcophagi and funeral structures dating from Roman times.

A saintly presence

This is where the story of Seurin begins and his presence can almost be sensed in the silence of the stony sanctuary. This is actually a part of the old oratory buried by the raising of the ground level beneath the present church.

For some, the high point of a visit to the basilica will be attendance at the celebration of the Eucharist at an impressive Sunday evening sung Mass. They may join with hundreds crowding the spacious nave to share their prayers and participation in a scene that belies the commonly held belief that church attendance is at an all-time low.

If the timing is not convenient, the faithful have a choice of several other weekend and daily Masses in the great church, second in importance only to Bordeaux's Saint-Andre Cathedral.

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