Visiting Fanjeaux (Languedoc, France) with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget
Fanjeaux is a logical if low-key place to begin a visit of France’s Languedoc-Rousillon region, which shares a mountainous border with Spain and lies along the Mediterranean Sea.
The Spaniard Dominic de Guzman (1170 – 1221), later Saint
Dominic, stayed in Fanjeaux during his tours in the region. Fanjeaux is also the site of one of Dominic’s
famous miracles that was replicated throughout Languedoc-Rousillon; this
miracle was the ability of Dominic’s writings denouncing the Cathar heresy to
withstand fire against Catholic holy books.
Catharism was the French offshoot of the heresy known as
Bogomolism, which was founded in Bulgaria in the 10th century. It spread throughout the northern
Mediterranean. Bogomilism rejected many
of the tenets of Catholicism, and its followers often refused to tithe to the
church. Tithing was the practice of
giving 10% of one’s goods to the Church as set out in the Bible.
Suppressing Catharism was the impetus behind starting the
Albigensian Crusade (1209 – 1229) against heretics in the south of France. Saint Dominic became involved in this
Crusade. He founded the Order of
Preachers (OP) in Toulouse, France in 1216.
This order later became known as the Dominican Order.
According to Michelin’s Guide
Vert Rousillon Pays Cathar, Dominic’s home in Fanjeaux was the saddlery
(horse gear room) of the castle (now gone).
Today Saint Dominic’s home is a private religious institution. You cannot visit it, but the Dominican nuns
from the nearby Prouille convent (set up by Saint Dominic in 1206) sing prayers
in perpetual devotion to their Order’s founder.
As I stood listening to the nuns’ sung prayers, I smiled and
figured out angles to shoot photos on a crooked street. I appreciated the nuns’ life, but was happy
to take photos with my husband, glimpse at the pretty church in town, and enjoy
the contemplative silence away from Saint Dominic’s home.
By Ruth Paget - Author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Click here for: Ruth Paget's Amazon Books
Click here for: Ruth Paget's Amazon Books
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| Photo by Laurent Paget |
