Sainte-Dévote and Monaco’s Year of Traditions

The feasts that shape the Monegasque year, kept by the Comité National des Traditions Monégasques: the legend of Sainte-Dévote and her January celebrations, then Saint-Jean, Saint-Roman, the Fête-Dieu, Saint-Nicolas and the Pan de Natale.

Long before the Grand Prix and the Casino, Monaco had its feasts. The Comité National des Traditions Monégasques keeps them alive, and the greatest of all belongs to Sainte Dévote, the Principality’s patron saint, whose church stands at the mouth of a narrow valley in La Condamine.

The legend of Dévote

Dévote was a young Christian martyred under the emperor Diocletian in the year 304, in Corsica. Her body was placed in a boat and, the story goes, a dove guided it through a storm until it ran aground on the beach of the Gaumates valley, at the far end of the port of Monaco.

She was buried in a small chapel, and the monks, not knowing her name, called her Dei Vota. Later some sailors tried to steal her relics and flee, but a contrary wind kept them in port. The Monegasques caught them, took back the relics and burned their boat on the beach. That fire still burns every year.

26 and 27 January

On the eve of the feast, 26 January, a Mass is sung in the Monegasque language at the votive church, the Église Sainte-Dévote, in the presence of the civil and military authorities, and ends outside with a blessing of the sea for the sailors lost at sea.

That evening, after the procession of the relics and in the presence of the Sovereign Prince and his family, a boat is set alight, followed by a great fireworks display.

On 27 January a solemn Mass is celebrated at the Cathedral. Then the relics, carried by the Penitents of the Archconfrérie de la Miséricorde and escorted by the Carabiniers du Prince, process through the lanes of the Rock. They are presented before the Palace for the blessing of the Sovereign Family, then taken to the ramparts to bless the town and the sea. Vespers close the day.

Each January, Monaco sets a boat alight to honour the saint a dove guided to its shore.

Through the year

On 24 June, the feast of the birth of Saint John the Baptist, Monaco lights the Saint-Jean bonfires around the longest day of the year, to carry the sun’s light into the night.

Saint Roman, a Roman soldier martyred in 258, has his own festivities, which date back to 1543; the Comité des Fêtes de la Saint-Roman that organises them was founded in 1868. The Fête-Dieu, or Corpus Christi, follows on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday.

On 6 December the Comité holds a Mass in Monegasque in the chapel of Saint Nicolas in the Cathedral. And in the days before Christmas, Monegasque bakers offer U Pan de Natale, the Christmas bread, in return for a donation to charity; families have it blessed, and it is blessed again at midnight Mass.

Did you know? On the eve of her feast, Monaco blesses the sea for the sailors lost at sea.

Our advice

Our advice: for Sainte-Dévote, be in Monaco on the evening of 26 January for the burning of the boat and the fireworks, then come back to the Rock on the 27th to watch the procession. Exact times are announced each January.