Cardinal Robert Sarah’s Homily for the 400th Anniversary of the Apparitions of Saint Anne in France

“What will save the world is man kneeling before God.”

Photo credit: Ouest France / MAXPPP / © Thomas Brégardis

BRITTANY, July 26, 2025 — Cardinal Robert Sarah today delivered a forceful and inspiring homily marking the 400th anniversary of the apparitions of Saint Anne, mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at her shrine in Sainte-Anne-d’Auray, Brittany, France.

Appointed by Pope Leo XIV as his special envoy for the historic celebration, Cardinal Sarah declared that France—and Brittany in particular—has been chosen by God as a sacred land. He urged the faithful to return to Eucharistic adoration and to place God first in both private and public life.

The former Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments condemned what he called “barbaric and inhuman laws” that promote death—a clear reference to France’s ongoing debate over the legalization of euthanasia. He warned against a society that distances itself from God, making idols of “money” and “screens,” and affirmed instead that “what will save the world is man kneeling before God.”

Drawing on the Church Fathers, the Guinean cardinal called on believers to care for their souls—the inner sanctuaries where God speaks—through prayer, silence, and adoration. He offered particular encouragement to couples longing for children and to all those enduring suffering, inviting them to turn to Saint Anne as a source of hope and intercession.

What follows is a working translation of Cardinal Sarah’s homily, published in its essential entirety in the original French by Aleteia.

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Most dear brothers and sisters of Brittany and of France,

I respectfully greet the civil authorities present here on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the apparitions of Saint Anne in this place. Pope Leo XIV has sent me to you as his special envoy to this shrine of Sainte-Anne-d’Auray. Through this gesture, the Holy Father wishes to emphasize the importance he accords to your pilgrimage. I therefore bring to all of you, pilgrims of Saint Anne, the greetings and the blessing of our beloved Pope Leo XIV.

The Pope is praying for you on this day. Through his envoy, he expresses his fatherly affection for you. In his name, I extend warm greetings to Bishop Raymond Centène, Bishop of Vannes, who cherishes Saint Anne so dearly. I greet the other bishops, the abbots and superiors of religious communities here present, the priests who have come from Brittany and elsewhere, and you, dear pilgrims of Saint Anne, who have come to this shrine in response to the call of Saint Anne and above all to worship God.

In this place, four hundred years ago, Saint Anne appeared to Yvon Nicolazic and said to him: “Yvon Nicolazic, Me zo Anna, mamm Mari” (“I am Anne, mother of Mary,” in Breton, Ed. note). “Yvon, fear nothing, I am Anne, mother of Mary. Tell your rector, your priest, that on the land called the Bocenno—meaning this very place where we now stand—a chapel was once built in my name; it was the first in the entire region. For 924 years and 6 months it has lain in ruins; I desire that it be rebuilt as soon as possible, and that you care for it, because God wills that I be honored there; God wills that you come there in procession.”

Brittany, a Sacred Land Chosen by God

Dear brothers and sisters, Saint Anne said to Yvon Nicolazic: “God wills this place.” God chose this land to make of it a holy place; God willed that a portion of your land, a portion of your country—France—should be a sacred place, a place set apart. God willed that your ancestors not cultivate this place, not make use of it for livestock or agriculture. He chose this place to be honored there.

Here lies a great mystery, one that must be pondered. There were indeed many other churches available, many other possible places—but He chose this one. Why? First, to remind us that God comes first, that the glory of God precedes us and does not belong to us. God created us by an act of gratuitous love; all of creation is the work of His hands, the free gift of His love. […]

We have not merited His love; He loved us first. We owe Him everything, for it is from Him that we receive life, movement, and being. For us, who are His creatures and His children, to honor God and give Him glory is to act in justice. Rendering glory to God is not an optional choice—it is a duty, a necessity. It is most important that we recover this awareness, especially in your societies which tend to consider God as dead, useless, or irrelevant.

The False Western Vision of Religion

Too often in the West, religion is presented as an activity in the service of human well-being. Religion is equated with humanitarian efforts, acts of charity, the welcoming of migrants and the homeless, the promotion of universal fraternity and peace in the world. Spirituality is viewed as a form of personal development, meant to offer some comfort to modern man absorbed in his usual political and economic pursuits.

Even if these matters are important, this vision of religion is false. Religion is not a matter of food or humanitarian action. In the desert, this was the first temptation that Jesus rejected. To redeem humanity, one must overcome the misery of hunger and poverty—this is what the devil proposed to the Lord. But Jesus replied that this is not the path of redemption. He shows us that even if all people had enough to eat, even if prosperity extended to all, humanity would not be redeemed.

We see clearly how, in lands of comfort, wealth, and abundance, man destroys himself, self-destructs, because he forgets God and thinks only of his riches and earthly well-being. What saves the world is the bread of God. Man must be nourished with the bread of God—and the bread of God is Christ Himself. What will save the world is man kneeling before God, to adore and to serve Him. God is not at our service. It is we who are at His service.

Silent Adoration as the Only Remedy

We were created to praise and adore God. It is in the adoration of God that we discover our true dignity, the ultimate reason for our existence. It is on his knees before God that man discovers his true greatness and nobility. And if we do not adore God, we will end by adoring ourselves.

God has chosen this place to be adored. God has chosen France to be as it were a holy land, a land set apart for Him. Do not profane France with your barbaric and inhuman laws that promote death, when God wills life. Do not profane France, for it is holy ground, a land reserved for God. Brittany is sacred ground and must remain sacred ground—a land set apart for God. God must have the first place there.

And our first task is to adore and glorify God. It is the highest expression of our gratitude to Him and the most beautiful response our life can offer to the extraordinary love He bears us. To adore God, one must set oneself apart—in silence. Come here in the silence of the heart, to listen to God. This is what it means to enter into a sacred disposition.

There are sacred places, places set apart for God, chosen by God—these places must not be profaned by any activity other than prayer, silence, and the liturgy.

Our churches are not theatres, nor concert halls, nor venues for cultural or recreational events. The church is the house of God. It is reserved for Him alone. We enter it with reverence and veneration, properly clothed, because we tremble before the greatness of God. We do not tremble out of fear, but out of reverence, awe, and wonder.

I wish once again to thank the Breton men and women who know how to wear the most beautiful traditional garments to give glory to divine majesty. This is not a matter of folklore. The outward effort you make to dress yourselves is but the sign of the inward effort by which you present yourselves before God with a pure soul—cleansed by the sacrament, adorned by prayer and the spirit of adoration. Sacred places do not belong to us; they belong to God. The purpose of the liturgy is the glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful, and sacred music is a privileged means to foster the active and fully conscious participation of the faithful in the sacred celebration of the Christian mysteries. […]

Rebuilding the Church of the Soul

During the apparitions, Saint Anne asked Yvon Nicolazic that the ancient church be rebuilt and cared for. It is difficult, it is costly, it is demanding—and yet it is the image of what God desires today. God still wants us to rebuild His house. God says to each one of us today: “I have chosen your soul, I have chosen your heart as sacred ground, to be adored there.” Your baptized soul is a sacred place—do not profane it by giving it over to disordered passions and to the spirit of the world; do not profane it by stealing from God the first place. If the church of your soul lies in ruins, then listen to God’s call. It is time to rebuild it—and to rebuild it upon the rock, the solid foundation upon which we must build our life and our hope.

Yes, it is time to rebuild the church of your soul. It is time for you to go to confession: confess the sins you have committed in word or in deed, by night or by day; confess now, in this favorable time, and on the day of salvation receive the heavenly treasure. “Above all, watch over your soul,” says Saint Cyril of Jerusalem. It is time to care for it—by setting aside each day a real time of deep and silent prayer. It is time to cast out the idols of money, of screens, of easy and vulgar seduction. God wants your heart. God wants your soul, just as He wanted this land of Brittany.

Your soul is a sacred place—take care of it. It is only there, in the sacred sanctuary of your soul, that God can speak to you, console you, and draw you back to Himself through a radical conversion. It is only within this inner sanctuary that you can hear His call to holiness, to be an adorer. “Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.” It is in this inner and sacred place that you, young man, may hear His call to the priesthood or religious life. And you, young woman, may hear His call to consecrate yourself to Him in religious life, offering your body, your heart, and all your capacity to love. If you profane this inner place of your soul by a life dominated by sin and worldly distractions, you risk missing your life; you risk never truly becoming yourself.

My beloved brothers and sisters, let us not steal from God the sacred sanctuary of our soul. God created it; God redeemed it—let us not profane our body. Our body is the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells within us. Let us not destroy this temple, for the temple of God is sacred—and that temple is us. God entrusted it to us so that we might care for it and adore Him in silence. God wills it. God wills you.

Looking to Saint Anne Amidst Trial

Dear brothers and sisters, God chose this piece of land in Brittany with a special purpose; He wished to be honored here through the veneration of Saint Anne. There is no other place in the world where Saint Anne has appeared. What a privilege! What a grace! What a mystery! Saint Anne bears here a particular message—she who, with Joachim, had no child because of their advanced age. Her heart must have been full of sorrow and anxiety. What suffering for the heart of a woman who longs to become a mother yet sees her waiting prolonged.

How often Saint Anne must have wondered: Is it my fault? Why such a trial? Surely among you are men and women who suffer from childlessness. Surely among you are parents whose hearts, like Saint Anne’s, are overwhelmed by suffering, anguish, and worry—for sick children, for those who have abandoned the faith and seem to drift away from God, or for their families, or for their homeland which seems threatened.

Our trials and sufferings sometimes plunge us into a state of profound bewilderment. Why the death of a child? Why the suffering of the innocent? Why war? Why betrayal? Why, Lord? We sometimes feel abandoned by Him. Apparently, God is no longer present; for Europe, God is dead. Should we rebel? Should we believe that God has become indifferent to us? Should we abandon religious practice because He does not hear our prayers? Should we cease praying and attending Sunday Mass? Let us look to Saint Anne and listen to her voice. What does she do? Does she rebel against God? Does she turn away from Him? No, she remains in adoration. God is greater than our misunderstandings, greater than our doubts. God is greater than our hearts. In the face of evil, we have no ready-made answers; we have no human answers. Faced with evil, we have but one response: adoration. Our only response to the mystery of evil is silent adoration. Yes, evil is incomprehensible, but by faith, we know that trusting adoration in God is stronger than the absurdity of evil.

Saint Anne came here to tell the Bretons and all of France—and through them to the men of all countries and places—that adoration is the sole remedy for despair. Faith in God and adoration of God are the only remedies capable of granting men a firm and lasting peace. […]

To all of you who suffer, I speak to you: look to Saint Anne. To all of you who despair for your children, your parents, your homeland, look to Saint Anne. Like her, let us persevere in adoration. The adoration of God will never disappoint us. The patient and silent adoration of Saint Anne made possible the birth of Mary, the mother of the Savior, the most beautiful, the purest, the holiest of all creatures. To all of you whose hearts bear suffering and sorrow, your adoration will bear fruit in hope. Persevering and relentless adoration tears through darkness and brings the light of hope. […]

Even when all seems dark, we can always say, with our beloved Pope Leo XIV, evil will not triumph, evil will not prevail. God, our God, is infinitely good, infinitely beautiful, infinitely great. Today, with Saint Anne, in this place blessed and chosen by God, may this cry of love rise up in each of our hearts: “Come, let us adore the Lord, come, let us adore Him, let us bow down before Him, let us kneel before the Eternal, our Creator, for He is our God. Amen.”