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Origin and history

The chapel Notre-Dame de Tout-Aide, located in the village of Querrian in La Prén try (Côtes-d'Armor), has its origin in the Marian apparitions of 1652. Jeanne Courtel, a deaf and mute 12-year-old girl, claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary on August 15, 1652, miraculously returning to hearing and speaking. After about fifteen apparitions, she guided the villagers to a wooden statue of the Virgin, buried near a source, confirming her story. The bishop of Saint-Brieuc, Denis de La Barde, recognized the authenticity of the apparitions and ordered the construction of a chapel as early as September 1652.

According to legend, the site had already been sacred since the 6th century, when Saint Gall, a companion of Saint Colomban, had caused a spring to spring there and built a wooden oratory dedicated to Notre-Dame. The statue of the Virgin, carved by Saint Gall, was rediscovered in 1652 after centuries of oblivion. The chapel, completed in 1656, quickly became a major pilgrimage site in Brittany, attracting between 70,000 and 100,000 faithful annually. The great forgivenesss of 15 August and the second Sunday of September commemorate apparitions and episcopal recognition.

The sanctuary grew over the centuries to welcome pilgrims: the nave was enlarged in 1779, the bell tower completed in 1790, and the sacristies added in the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1950, the statue of Our Lady of All Aid was solemnly crowned in front of 20,000 pilgrims, in the presence of the Archbishop of Rennes. Pope Pius XII blessed this event, and Cardinal Lustiger visited the site in 2000 to bless the renovations launched in 1998.

The chapel, plan in Latin cross, presents a unique nave in granite and schist, covered with slate, with a choir in cul-de-four adorned with a polychrome altarpiece. The stained glass windows illustrate the apparitions of 1652 and the life of Saint Gall. In 2019, a 392 pipe organ, originally built in 1971, was installed there. The sanctuary, nicknamed "Little Lourdes Breton", was inscribed in the Historic Monuments on January 30, 2020.

Today, the site remains a high place of Marian devotion, managed by lay people missioned by the diocese since 2023. The pilgrimages, organized by 200 volunteers, include Sunday Masses and celebrations presided by bishops. The sanctuary, owned by the commune, continues to attract faithful from all over the world, perpetuating a 350-year tradition of popular fervour and miracles attributed to Our Lady of All Aid.

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