Moselle. Folkling Church Reconsecrated for the 300th Anniversary of its Rebirth

The 300th anniversary of the reconstruction of the Folkling church was celebrated this Sunday, September 7, with other events, such as the blessing of a shell from the Camino de Santiago. A memorial stone was also laid in tribute to the deceased buried around this mother church. This was attended, among others, by Monsignor Ballot, Archbishop of Metz.

This Sunday, September 7, a special ceremony was celebrated for the 300th anniversary of the reconstruction of the Folkling church, in the presence of Monsignor Ballot, archbishop and bishop of the diocese of Metz. Photo Michel Levillain

It was a special moment this Sunday, September 7, in the church of Folkling, dedicated to Saint Eloi. With a mass concelebrated by the archbishop-bishop of the diocese of Metz, Monsignor Ballot. He was accompanied by various representatives of the cult, priests and former priests, to celebrate the 300 years of the rebirth of this mother church of the parish . With another idea, carried by the church council, that of blessing on one side a stele dedicated to the roads to Compostela, on the other a monument in memory of the deceased from all over the territory and buried in Folkling.

Of the three days of celebrations organized by the church council, this Sunday meeting was undoubtedly the most important, with this mass concelebrated in particular by the archbishop of the diocese of Metz. Monsignor Ballot recalled the importance of this faith which unites, making the links between this mother church, dating from the 13th century, before growing. It was then one of the most important in the basin, located on the paths of the pilgrims of Compostela , "who went from Germany, to Santiago, then Rome and even Jerusalem", recalls the archbishop. Three stages and three of the pillars of this faith which "show that man must journey and, always, keep this link with others", by going to meet them.

At the end of the service, he blessed this shell, created by the Friends of Saint-Jacques, via Germain Schuller, a former teacher who, with the hiking club, had proposed to walk and then mark out these paths which lead to Metz.

A slab marking the Folkling stage on the Way of St. James was blessed in front of the church. Photo by Michel Levillain — A slab marking the Folkling stage on the Way of St. James was blessed in front of the church. Photo: Michel Levillain

Then citizens and elected officials, including the mayor, Bernard De Feyter, headed towards the stele, installed on the side of the church and dedicated to the deceased of the basin. Because until 1792, people from the municipalities attached to Folkling, Gaubiving, but also Morsbach, Rosbruck, and the farms of Gensbach and Remsing, not forgetting Emmersweiler, a Saarland municipality, were buried around this building. Here again, a blessing took place and the archbishop recalled the symbolism of this monument with this phrase inscribed in Latin, “Requiescant in pace”, meaning “that they may rest in peace”.

During this blessing, it was the young Cornelius, 17, who read a text to recall this singular story, before asking Monsignor Ballot to bless a cross... for his father, Stéphane. The young man has his own, already blessed during a pilgrimage to Lourdes, and it is a form of transmission that took place on this occasion.