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Models of boats donated for answered prayers hang in basilica in Marseille, Olympic sailing host

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Models of boats donated for answered prayers hang in basilica in Marseille, Olympic sailing host
Sport

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Models of boats donated for answered prayers hang in basilica in Marseille, Olympic sailing host

2024-08-03 13:35 Last Updated At:13:51

MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Little model boats hang from the ceiling and maritime paintings adorn the walls of the basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde, which from the city's highest hill overlooks the bay of Marseille, where sailing regattas are being held for the 2024 Olympics.

They’re votive offerings — some more than 200 years old — that residents of this Mediterranean port city continue to bring in gratitude to the Virgin Mary for everything from avoiding shipwrecks to successful rescues of migrants trying to make it to Europe on unseaworthy boats.

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FILE - The Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica overlooks the harbor in Marseille, France, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)

FILE - The Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica overlooks the harbor in Marseille, France, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)

The mosaic of the cul-de-four of the apse is pictured inside the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica in Marseille, France, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

The mosaic of the cul-de-four of the apse is pictured inside the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica in Marseille, France, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

An ex-voto of a ship hangs inside the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica in Marseille, France, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

An ex-voto of a ship hangs inside the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica in Marseille, France, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Paintings of ships hang inside the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica in Marseille, France, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Paintings of ships hang inside the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica in Marseille, France, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

An ex-voto of a ship hangs inside the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica in Marseille, France, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

An ex-voto of a ship hangs inside the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica in Marseille, France, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

FILE - Pope Francis leaves the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica at the end of a Marian prayer with the diocesan clergy, in Marseille, France, Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole, File)

FILE - Pope Francis leaves the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica at the end of a Marian prayer with the diocesan clergy, in Marseille, France, Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole, File)

Visitors stand near paintings of ships in the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica in Marseille, France, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Visitors stand near paintings of ships in the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica in Marseille, France, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

The mosaic of the cul-de-four of the apse is pictured inside the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica in Marseille, France, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

The mosaic of the cul-de-four of the apse is pictured inside the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica in Marseille, France, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

“Since its origins, Notre Dame de la Garde has been venerated by all seafarers,” said Jean-Michel Sanchez, the head conservator of the basilica’s museum. “Marseille was born of the sea.”

He estimates the basilica’s collection of ex-votos, as the offerings are called, at several thousands, including many in storage. And that’s after those predating the French Revolution were destroyed in the anticlerical violence that followed it.

Offerings shaped in reference to prayers answered – from babies to limbs, from vehicles to sports jerseys – are common across Catholic and Orthodox churches in Southern Europe especially, and in parts of the United States.

The nautical motifs that dominate Marseille’s landmark church are inextricably linked to the city's 2,600-year-old seafaring history.

The first chapel was built in the 1200s on a barren rocky outcrop above the main port. In the 16th century, France’s king ordered the construction of a fort around the chapel to defend the growing harbor. Most of it still serves as the pedestal on which the massive basilica that replaced the chapel was built in the 1850s.

The name itself speaks to that connection between guarding the port and divine protection, Sanchez said. “Garde” means guard in French.

Inside the church, the models hanging from the ceiling include elegant sailboats, three-masted ships and utilitarian cargo vessels. About once a month someone brings a new one — sometimes with an explanation, sometimes anonymously, most handmade.

Among the most recent additions is a helicopter, donated a few years ago by civil defense forces. They were grateful for never having had an accident while conducting high-risk rescues of climbers in Marseille’s calanques, narrow inlets east of the Olympic marina, said Marie Aubert, who works with the basilica’s historical collections.

Hundreds of marble plaques, some just inscribed “merci a N D” — thank you to Our Lady — pack the walls. So many continue to be donated that church officials are now lining the terrace walls outside with them.

“The connection of the people of Marseille with the Bonne Mère is transmitted from generation to generation,” said the basilica’s rector, the Rev. Olivier Spinosa, using the popular name for the church, French for “good mother.”

One chapel is decorated with paintings of boats, including a 2011 work donated by a ship’s two captains. It gives thanks for their crews’ rescue of nearly two dozen North African migrants in the Mediterranean, Spinosa said.

The painting is inscribed with a prayer for all victims of trafficking and illegal immigration — one of Europe’s political flashpoints and a recurring source of tragedy, with estimates of nearly 30,000 migrants dying trying to cross the sea in the past decade.

Both were themes of Pope Francis’ visit to Marseille last fall and the prayer service he celebrated by the basilica.

In its apse, behind a statue of Mary that arrived, of course, by boat, is a 19th-century mosaic of a ship sailing between choppy and calm seas by a lighthouse. It’s an allegory of the church traversing the storms of history, with Mary providing the guiding light.

“The Bonne Mère is a mother who welcomes everyone,” Spinosa said. “Like the soul of Marseille.”

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

FILE - The Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica overlooks the harbor in Marseille, France, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)

FILE - The Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica overlooks the harbor in Marseille, France, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)

The mosaic of the cul-de-four of the apse is pictured inside the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica in Marseille, France, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

The mosaic of the cul-de-four of the apse is pictured inside the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica in Marseille, France, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

An ex-voto of a ship hangs inside the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica in Marseille, France, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

An ex-voto of a ship hangs inside the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica in Marseille, France, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Paintings of ships hang inside the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica in Marseille, France, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Paintings of ships hang inside the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica in Marseille, France, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

An ex-voto of a ship hangs inside the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica in Marseille, France, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

An ex-voto of a ship hangs inside the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica in Marseille, France, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

FILE - Pope Francis leaves the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica at the end of a Marian prayer with the diocesan clergy, in Marseille, France, Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole, File)

FILE - Pope Francis leaves the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica at the end of a Marian prayer with the diocesan clergy, in Marseille, France, Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole, File)

Visitors stand near paintings of ships in the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica in Marseille, France, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Visitors stand near paintings of ships in the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica in Marseille, France, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

The mosaic of the cul-de-four of the apse is pictured inside the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica in Marseille, France, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

The mosaic of the cul-de-four of the apse is pictured inside the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica in Marseille, France, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Next Article

Jaguars and GM Trent Baalke agree to part ways amid coaching search chaos

2025-01-23 04:27 Last Updated At:04:30

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — General manager Trent Baalke is out in Jacksonville after the Jaguars failed to land second interviews with three of their top coaching candidates.

Owner Shad Khan made the announcement Wednesday, hours after Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Liam Coen withdrew his name for consideration for the Jaguars job and agreed to a new contract with the Buccaneers. Coen had been scheduled to interview with the Jaguars on Wednesday.

“Following several discussions with Trent Baalke this week, we both arrived at the conclusion that it is in our mutual best interests to respectfully separate, effective immediately,” Khan said in a statement. “Trent leaves us with my deepest appreciation for his efforts over the past five seasons."

Ethan Waugh will serve as interim general manager and will “continue the process of interviewing candidates to serve as our new head coach,” Khan said.

It had become clear that Baalke was impeding Jacksonville's coaching search, with Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and Detroit defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn taking other jobs without a sit-down interview with the Jaguars. And Coen's call may have forced Khan's decision when the OC canceled a visit to Jacksonville and chose to keep his current job in Tampa Bay.

Jacksonville had narrowed its search to Coen, Las Vegas defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and former New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh. Graham and Saleh are scheduled for in-person interviews on Thursday and Friday.

Khan insisted after firing Doug Pederson earlier this month that he didn’t believe Baalke’s retention as GM would affect the coaching search. But it hasn't played out that way.

The 60-year-old Baalke has developed a less-than-spotless reputation around the league, and three of the five coaches he’s hired in San Francisco and Jacksonville have had one-and-done tenures. His draft picks have been spotty, at best, and last year’s free-agent class turned out to be one of the worst in franchise history.

Jacksonville still could double back on Buffalo offensive coordinator Joe Brady, Philadelphia offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. Under NFL rules, the earliest they can interview again is next week because their teams are in conference title games.

Nonetheless, the Jaguars (4-13) will move forward with three fewer candidates in play. The question now is how much more attractive does the job become without Baalke in the mix.

They have a young quarterback (Trevor Lawrence) with upside, a budding star at receiver (Brian Thomas Jr.), a few defensive building blocks (cornerback Tyson Campbell and pass rushers Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker), a relatively new practice facility, a $1.4 billion stadium renovation upcoming and a hands-off owner with deep pockets.

They have the fifth overall draft pick in April and roughly $50 million in salary cap space for 2025, play in arguably the NFL’s weakest division (AFC South) and work in a state with plenty of sunshine and no income tax. They also went 3-10 in one-score games — an indication they could be a quick fix.

But Khan is committed to playing at least one home game annually in London — even though it may put the team at a competitive disadvantage — and will play home games in 2026 in front of a reduced capacity and play all of 2027 away from Jacksonville.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

FILE - Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke speaks during a press conference at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

FILE - Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke speaks during a press conference at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

FILE - Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan, left, and general manager Trent Baalke watch players during the NFL football team's rookie minicamp, Saturday, May 14, 2022, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)

FILE - Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan, left, and general manager Trent Baalke watch players during the NFL football team's rookie minicamp, Saturday, May 14, 2022, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)

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