The Church of Les Saintes Maries De La Mer
Saintes Maries de la Mer, France 2018
The church towers above the village and can be seen from miles away in the flat, marshy lands of the Camargue. I had the feeling that for centuries people could look up from their work in the fields and see the bell tower and have the feeling that God was watching over them.
The Procession of Black Sara
The statue of Black Sara is kept in a grotto underneath the main church. Hundreds of flickering candles in colored glass holders heated the grotto to an almost intolerable degree, but that did not stop the faithful who lined up to touch the statue, or hug it, or kiss it or just make the sign of the cross on its forehead. Some had come to give thanks for an answered prayer and others to petition for an answer to a prayer. Being an old-school Catholic myself, none of this seemed out of the ordinary.