Tro Breiz. “In Brittany, it is customary to address the saints rather than God”
Gaële de La Brosse conducted a ten-year investigation into this little-known pilgrimage, which led to the publication of the book “Tro Breiz, les chemins du Paradis” in 2006. The author published an updated edition in the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Breton pilgrimage.
An updated edition of the book “Tro Breiz, les chemins du Paradis” has just been published. Why this new edition?
The book that I published in 2006, with Presses de la Renaissance, was out of print. And since this first edition, the pilgrimage has evolved enormously. This year we are celebrating the thirty years of its rebirth, since it was in 1994 that three residents of Saint-Pol-de-Léon (Finistère), including Philippe Abjean, created the association Les Chemins du Tro Breiz . My book has become a reference work on the subject, so I wanted to offer an updated version on this occasion.
I added a foreword, explaining the reasons which led me to publish this book, as well as the context in which I wrote it. The various chapters are updated, more particularly the last dedicated to the rebirth of Tro Breiz, as are the bibliography and practical appendices. I have also put together a new photo book, in order to illustrate the evolution of the pilgrimage over the last thirty years.
Why is there so little historical data on Tro Breiz?
Few contemporary historians have been interested in it, because the revival of this pilgrimage is recent. But there is, in the archives of past centuries, scattered data that I had to gather: a real treasure hunt… also including false leads! For example, errors on the list of the Seven Saints drawn up by Dom Lobineau, an 18th century monk, who replaces Saint Brieuc and Saint Patern with Saint Méen and Saint Judicaël. Or even the risky dating of Tro Breiz, which some historians date back to the time of King Nominoé, who established an ecclesiastical metropolis in Dol in the 9th century to free himself from the Church of Tours.
However, some “evidence” makes it possible to prove that devotion to the Seven Saints dates back to the dawn of the second millennium, and that this pilgrimage would have been practiced since the Middle Ages, from the 13th to the 15th century, notably at the four temporals (Easter , Pentecost, Michaelmas and Christmas).
What makes Tro Breiz different from other major French pilgrimages?
First of all, the fact that it is circular: it is a “circumambulation”. Most pilgrimages involve walking toward a goal, which is usually a sanctuary. Here, it is a question of “closing a loop” by visiting the Seven Saints founders of Brittany in their bishoprics: Corentin in Quimper, Paul Aurélien in Saint-Pol-de-Léon, Tugdual in Tréguier, Brieuc in Saint-Brieuc, Malo in Saint-Malo, Samson in Dol-de-Bretagne, Patern in Vannes. This is why I devoted a chapter of my book to the metaphorical dimension of the circle, symbol of perfection, purification and protection.
Second particularity of this pilgrimage: the fact that it is dedicated to seven saints, and not just one. I also wrote a chapter on this subject, where I showed that the septenary is a symbol of fullness and totality.
Why do we talk about the Seven Holy Founders? Why follow in their footsteps?
They are called so because they were the first evangelizers of Brittany, between the 5th and 7th centuries. Two of them (Corentin and Patern) are indigenous, the others came from Wales, that is to say from Great Britain; and it was they who gave its current name to Brittany, then called “Armorique”. They were also the ones who created the first ecclesiastical structures: the lann (Lanmeur, Lampaul) around a hermitage, the plou (Plouédern, Plounéour) or parishes, the be or Trier (Trédaniel, Tréfneuc). And it was around these first administrative and religious cells that the first Breton bishoprics were created in the 9th century.
Walking in the footsteps of the Seven Saints is therefore going back to the sources of Brittany, while meditating on the origins of the peregrine approach because these saints from across the Channel were “pilgrims for the love of God” .
This popular piety still flows in the veins of the Bretons
It is said that there are more than 1000 saints in Brittany
Gaële de La Brosse walker and writer
“In Brittany,” you write, “it is customary to address the saints rather than God.” Where does this habit come from?
Indeed, this saying gives the lie to the proverb which states that it is better to address the good Lord than his saints! Long before the official canonization procedure, which dates from the 12th century, the Bretons carried their saints on the altars: there are said to be more than 1000 saints in Brittany, although not all have been officially canonized. The devotees invoked them for each of their problems and illnesses. They dedicated their churches, their chapels, their fountains to them. And the saints, attentive to their supplications, heard them, multiplying miracles.
This popular devotion contributed to the birth of the collective cult of the Seven Saints and, consequently, of the peregrination which was formerly called “Pilgrimage of the Seven Saints of Brittany”.
You completed the Tro Breiz in 1996. How was this pilgrimage a unique experience?
This pilgrimage was unique in several ways. First, because it was placed under the sign of friendship: I did it with two old friends, Didier Labouche and Jean-Yves Guéguéniat, both pilgrims of Saint-Jacques… and pilgrims at heart !
Then, because I discovered a way of traveling that was unknown to me. Didier having taken his two children aged 5 and 6, we rented two donkeys: one, built, carried the luggage; the other was pulling a cart in which the children were standing.
Finally, because it was a “home pilgrimage”. The term “pilgrim” meaning “stranger”, it is a very special experience to wander at home! In one month, this pilgrimage allowed me to discover a more interior, more intimate Brittany than the one where I had lived for nearly thirty years.
What advice would you give to pilgrims who would like to get started?
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If possible, do the Tro Breiz in one go! One month is enough to complete the 700 kilometers (approximately) of this pilgrimage. And it’s a very special experience to come back to where you started.
A second possibility, different but also exciting, is to join the summer stage organized each year by the Les Chemins du Tro Breiz association, which brings together several hundred pilgrims. This year, from July 29 to August 3, walkers will connect Redon (Ille-et-Vilaine) to Nantes (Loire-Atlantique).
Whatever the formula chosen, I wholeheartedly hope that this book will encourage a large number of readers to take this route, in turn. Because this journey is not just a hike: it invites us to explore these mysterious furrows without fear of plunging into the depths of our soul. These paths which lead, by winding detours, to Paradise, where the Seven Saints await us!
To read, from the author, on this subject:
• Tro Breiz, the paths to Paradise. History and rebirth of a Breton pilgrimage, Ed. Salvator, new edition 2024; 230 p.; €19.
• Pilgrimage Church, Ed. Salvator, 2021, 220 p.; €18.
• Guide to pilgrimage routes, Ed. Renaissance Press, 2017; 318 p.; €19.50.
• The paths of Tro Breiz. The Tour of Brittany (in collaboration with François Lepère and Ronan Pérennou) (practical guide), Ed. Lepère, new ed. 2023; 178 p.; €21.