June 10, 2013
Caunes-Minervois
The Feast of the Martyrs of Caunes

          In the early evening there is a Mass at the Benedictine abbey in Caunes.  This is a special occasion, as the church and abbey are more historic than religious landmarks in the village.  There was another church in Caunes, devoted to Saint Genès, but it was demolished some years ago, so villagers must go to Carcassonne or another town if they wish to attend Mass regularly.

          However, June 6 is the feast of the Martyrs of Caunes, and the feast is observed with pageantry.  In the abbey church are displayed wooden busts of each of the four Martryrs, Luce, Audalde, Alexandre and Amand.  They are in spindled and gilded wooden niches, each of which has its distinctive crown.  Four dowels project from each of the bases, so they may be hoisted and carried.  The date the feast is celebrated --which happens to be Sunday-- designated males don coral silk stoles over their white shirts, and carry the figures in procession through the old town.

          I attend the Mass which is celebrated by a middle-aged priest from the nearby town of Rieux.  During the procession he tells me that he is responsible for eighteen parishes, a fact that underscores the shortage of priests in the countryside.  Despite the difficulties, the parishioners, though, keep the tradition alive, singing out "We Come Joyously" "Children of the City of Caunes", and "Glorious Martyrs", hymns composed in honor of Luce, Audalde, Alexandre and Amand.

          After the Mass, the procession starts, with a figure of a hand leading the way, and the priest bringing up the rear.  The hand contains a relic of Amand, a bishop whose forearm was chopped off before he was killed.  This devotion has existed in Caunes since 982, interrupted only from 1894 to 1944 the priest tells me as we walk.  In 1944, during the Nazi occupation, the devotion was revived in opposition to the wish of the occupying authorities.  The priest says that in fact, it was revived despite Nazi opposition, the locals choosing express in this way something of their own, whatever the consequences.

          Caunes' narrow streets are jammed by the procession and the portable niches make a pretty sight against the stones of the houses' walls.  It is not quite holy week in Seville, but it is a spectacle nonetheless, particularly in the sunshine, which has finally come out.