When Pope Leo XIV arrives in Monaco for a one-day trip on March 28, he will attend a welcome ceremony with the prince of Monaco, meet with Catholics at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, and visit the Chapel of St. Dévote, a historic Roman Catholic chapel dedicated to the principality’s patron saint.
During the brief visit to the chapel, the pope will meet with young people and catechumens from Monaco outside the church.
Located in the Ravin de Sainte-Dévote, the chapel devoted to St. Dévote dates back to before 1070 and is a key site for Monegasque traditions, including the annual burning of a boat and the royal bride’s bouquet-laying.
Although relatively unknown beyond Monaco, St. Dévote remains a deeply admired figure in the small city-state where her legacy has been honored for centuries after her martyrdom. But who was this beloved young woman whom Monaco still celebrates?
Legend of St. Dévote
The sources of the legend of St. Dévote have survived in the form of manuscripts. The oldest known version dates back to the early 12th century and is now housed at the Bibliotheque Nationale de France.
According to the ancient legend, Dévote lived in the third century in Corsica, a small mountainous Mediterranean island. She was a young Christian when openly following Jesus could mean prison, torture, or death. As a devout follower of her faith, she consecrated her virginity and life to Christ.
When persecution rose, Dévote was arrested. The young woman refused to deny Christ, so she was brutally tortured and killed. It is believed she was martyred by the prefect Barbarus during the reign of Emperors Diocletian and Maximian in 303 or 304.
Her persecutors planned to burn her body so Christians would have no relics or body to venerate, but a small group of Christians secretly recovered her body. They placed it on a boat sailing to North Africa, hoping to bring her relics to a community that would bury her with honor and invoke her as a martyr.
The legend says that as the boat journeyed, a mysterious dove appeared and guided it along the coast, but a violent storm broke out and the sailors prayed for Dévote’s intercession and the storm suddenly calmed. The boat finally made its way to a port in Monaco.
The Christians believed the diversion was a sign that God had chosen Monaco as Dévote’s final resting place. She was buried there and a small and simple oratory was built over her tomb.
The faithful in Monaco never forgot the teenage martyr whose body arrived on their shore in the storm‑tossed boat. St. Dévote became the patron of Monaco and of the ruling Grimaldi family — which has reigned in Monaco since 1297.
She is also a protector for sailors, fishermen, and all who travel by sea.
Monaco’s deep devotion to the young martyr
The legend of St. Dévote is one of Monaco’s oldest traditions, influencing a deep devotion to the faith and to the saint. It has also shaped national life in Monaco including its literature, arts, music, coins, and stamps.
The Chapel of St. Dévote, where Pope Leo will visit, is first mentioned around 1070 as belonging to the Abbey of St. Pons. The chapel was rebuilt and expanded several times. It became a priory in the 13th century and then was acquired by Honoré I, Lord of Monaco, in 1536. It later became a parish church in 1887.
St. Dévote’s feast day falls on Jan. 27 and has become an important day for Catholics in Monaco. It is celebrated as a solemnity and a national public holiday.
Her feast day is honored in many ways, but most notably with the burning of the boat. On the evening of Jan. 26, the prince and royal family, the archbishop, clergy, locals, and visitors gather at the chapel. The group prays as the prince and archbishop set a small wooden boat on fire outside the church. The crowd prays, sings, and watches the boat burn, which serves as a reminder of the boat that once carried the martyr to safety and the fire that threatened to erase her memory.
The day after the burning of the boat, on Jan. 27, the faithful continue to celebrate. Catholics attend Mass and then process with relics of St. Dévote past the Prince’s Palace of Monaco and through the Rock of Monaco.
Throughout the year the saint is also honored with statues, artwork, and symbols around Monaco, especially near the port where her legend is centered.
In St. Dévote’s honor, it is also customary for brides to offer their wedding bouquet to the saint as a way of asking her to bless their marriages. It is a long-standing tradition for the bride of the sovereign prince to lay her bridal bouquet at the Chapel of St. Dévote after the royal wedding ceremony.