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The
Chalain area has many wonderful
sights, but I am always comforted
by the view of St-Maurice across
the meadows, with the forests
rising beyond. It seems to define
what the area is all about. The
ancient graveyard is a mound, and
the meadows and lane seem to wash
up against it. Above, there
always seems to be a buzzard
wheeling, and the lazy sound of
the brown cows resonates. I remember sitting
outside in forty degree heat one
feast of the Assumption while
Mass finished inside. Another
year, I sheltered from thunder
here. The large, lead shingled
south wall is stark across the
meadows, the plain north wall
nearer to the road and even more
so. The high cupola'd tower is
pretty, and the dedicatory stone
tells us it was built by a Father
Pierre; but the church below
rather austere, and you wonder
how much light there can possibly
be inside.
Well, there
isn't a lot. You step through the
west doors (the dedicatory stone
above says 1637) on a bright day
into near blackness. As your eyes
become accustomed to the gloom
there is gloomy wood panelling,
high statues, bleak pianted
stations, an elaborately painted
ceiling. It has little of the joie
de vivre of the Assumption
at Mont sur Monnet on the hilltop
above.
Two
circular windows to the west help
fill the nave with light in the
late afternoon, but when the sun
is high not much gets inside. The
sanctuary is pillared and grand
in a classical style, and the low
arcaded transepts have pretty
lancets that filter coloured
light.
This is
another church with a wooden
wall-mounted font, the image of
the Baptism of Christ carved
above in relief, painted this
time. However, another larger
stone-built font in the south
arcade seems to be the one
actually in use.
At first
sight, I thought the bones on
display were relics, but it turns
out they were found under the
floor during a restoration.
Curiously, they have been placed
in the piscina of a former chapel
altar.
As often in
the area, there are priests'
memorials at the chancel steps.
One dated 1683 is a particularly
fine example, with a well-cut
chalice and host. Vulgar statues
look on, but there is a very good
glass of St Michael dating from
about 1900.
The church
is a large one, partly because it
serves three separate villages;
the lost young men of all three
are remembered on a huge war
memorial outside. The parish
includes bars, a fruitiére, some
shops and even a small
supermarket. Make the most of it
if you are planning to disappear
into the hills above.
St-Maurice,
Monnet-la-Ville, is to the south
of the village, near the D27 road
to Marigny.
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