Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre
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Commune of Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre |
|
Location | |
Administration | |
---|---|
Country | France |
Region | Pays de la Loire |
Department | Vendée |
Arrondissement | La Roche-sur-Yon |
Canton | Mortagne-sur-Sèvre |
Intercommunality | Communauté de communes du Canton de Mortagne-sur-Sèvre |
Statistics | |
Elevation | 98 m–199 m (avg. 110 m) |
Land area¹ | 15.79 km² |
Population² (1999) |
3,307 |
- Density | 209/km² (1999) |
Miscellaneous | |
INSEE/Postal code | 85238/ 85290 |
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once. | |
Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre is a town and commune in the Vendée department, in the Pays de la Loire region in France.
[edit] Pilgrimage
Some 25,000 visitors per year arrive at the town, for it is the burial place of two well known Roman Catholic figures: Saint Louis de Montfort and Blessed Marie Louise Trichet. The Basilica of Saint Louis de Montfort at Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre is an impressive structure that attracts a good number of pilgrims each year.
On September 19th 1996, Pope John-Paul II visited the town to meditate and pray on the adjacent tombs of Saint Louis and Blessed Marie Louise. Pope John Paul II's strong Marian devotion was highly influenced by the Mariology of Saint Louis de Montfort. According to his Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, the pontif's personal motto "Totus Tuus" was inspired by St. Louis' doctrine on total consecration to the Virgin Mary[1]