La Chapelle des Pénitents

Marie invites you to follow her on a tour of this museum of religious art. You’ll plunge into the life of a brotherhood, past and present, and into the religious history of the Plateau Vivarais-Lignon.

A little history...

The creation of the Confrérie des Pénitents dates back to April 10, 1652, greatly encouraged by the Bishop of Le Puy, who wished to combat Protestantism.

Initially there were 37 penitents, and they were allowed to set up shop in the tribune of St-Martin church (much smaller than the one we know today).

Many notables joined the Confrérie, bringing the total number to nearly 200, and the poor parish priest, seeing his collections dwindle, forced them to find new premises.

In 1719, they bought the site, which had previously been a barn, and converted it into a chapel, where they remained until 1789 (Revolution).

The architecture is rather classical (absence of a cross-shaped architectural plan).

During the Revolution, the site was devastated and sold as national property.

They stopped for a while, then moved back into the chapel until 1976, when the confraternity was disbanded (with only 20 or so penitents).

This diocesan property was acquired by the Tençoise Municipality in 1982.

The interior was restored between 1983 and 1990.

In 1992, the Museum of Religious Art opened its doors.

Today, there are still some 140 penitents in 3 brotherhoods in the Haute-Loire region: Saugues, Le Puy-en-Velay and Ste-Sigolène.

Objects & ornaments...

Donations are frequent and the penitents install them as and when they are needed, naturally finding their place in this small chapel.

The pulpit of the Chapelle des Pénitents in Tence

At the end of the 1800s, the chapel was adorned with this woodwork and pulpit. Jean-Pierre Napoléon Richard (a native of Isère), who marries here and becomes rector of the confraternity, makes the pulpit. He carved the pulpit from sycamore and chestnut, colored it with walnut stain and made a copy for his home village. This pulpit is one of the examples of naive art in the chapel, i.e. work made by people with no knowledge of art, self-taught artists.

More striking examples are the processional objects on the rostrum.

The arched woodwork depicts Jesus Christ and a figure symbolizing God in the center, surrounded by the 12 apostles and their attributes.

Lanterns for processions, others for funeral processions, symbols of death (skulls, skeletons).

Macabre art with catalogs of the dead, probably penitents.

The circular stained-glass window depicts the flight into Egypt.

The ceiling features an impressive rose window representing a monstrance, the rays symbolizing power through the Eucharist.

Among the gifts from nobles are several paintings and statues:

Painting of Salome and the severed head of John the Baptist
Painting of Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur (linked to the GR 65)
Statue of Saint-Roch, the plague healer, showing a wound from the disease he caught before being healed by God through the appearance of an angel.
Statue of Saint-Jean-François-Régis (statue dating from the 18th century), a missionary who tirelessly traveled the mountain to preach. In December 1640, he arrived in Lalouvesc with difficulty and died there (museum in Lalouvesc).

Several period chasubles are on display in the chapel:

The red chasuble presents the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit: sapientae, wisdom – intellectus, intelligence – consilii, counsel – fortitudinis, strength – scientiae, science – pietatis, piety – timoris, fear of God. The inscription on the back: Veni Sancte Spiritus means “Come, Holy Spirit”. Fragilibus corporis ferculum dedit et tristibus sanguinis poculum means “Fragile, he gave them their bodies as food, and sad, he gave them the cup of his blood”.
The green chasuble with the names of the 12 prophets of the Bible who announced the coming of the Messiah.

The Black Madonna, Chapelle des Pénitents, Tence

The black Madonna (17th-century statue): from the Château des Reymonds in Les Mazeaux, close to the reproduction of the one in Le Puy Cathedral, purchased for 3,000 francs by a religious from Le Puy. There are many legends as to the origin of its color, smoke from candles…

In reality, the color is intentional, probably because Mary, although depicted as white, was black-skinned, a peasant woman from an oriental country.

The checkroom: each locker contains the processional outfit and a breviary.

A word about the chasuble: in Latin, “casula” means “little house”.

In fact, the ancient “paenula”, a winter or traveling cloak, became a ceremonial garment around the 3rd century, replacing the toga.

Slipped over the head, the “casitia” was like a small house for its wearer.

It is said to symbolize the cosmic. The priest who wears it prays for the whole universe.

The checkroom at the Chapelle des Pénitents

The Sacristy: the chasublier is a very important room, housing sumptuous chasubles from different periods (17th to 20th century), with beautiful fabrics and numerous details.

The second checkroom: upstairs, you’ll find the continuation of the checkroom, with beautiful custom-made walnut furniture.