During the pilgrimage in May, catechism is taught in caravans and heartfelt conversions are made. Many Gitans use the pilgrimage as a family assembly and as a time to baptize their children in the church of Saints-Maries de la Mer. At night Gitans visit the crypt of Sara, always there to support them in this antique sanctuary of the Carmargue. Indeed, Saint Marie-Jacobé and Saint Marie-Salomé also have a place in their hearts. They acclaim them during the descent of the shrines to the sea, hoisting their children to the statues, that they may place their hands and lips to the statues. But it is Sara that is their "saint."

Each person adds a candle to the white fiery forest that spreads in the crypt of the chapel. Near the statue of Sara-la-Kâli, notes with intentions are placed, as are the linens and clothing of children, humble jewels, and naive messages. Abandoned crutches lean against the wall in a corner of the crypt. And then robes are placed on the statue that accumulate day to day.

For reasons which are obscure, the legend of Sara was adopted by the local chapel of Saintes-Maries de la Mer, although she was never conferred sainthood by the Catholic Church. The first historical mention of Sara is found in a text of Vincent Philippon written in 1521, The Legend of the Saintes-Maries, and whose hand-written pages are now located in the Arles library. In the legend, Sara lived and traveled through the Camargue to provide for the needs of a small Christian community. The practice of begging for alms performed by Sara gave early writers a reason to make Sara a Gitane.

Known as the patron of Gypsies, Sara is an historical enigma that is difficult to solve. A Carmargue tradition holds that she was the servant of Saints Marie-Jacobé and Marie-Salomé in Palestine, and their companion on their journeys in the Rhône river area of France. Another tradition, ascribed to by Roma, holds that Sara was a Gitane, living on the Provençales banks, rescuing the Saintes-Maries from a storm at sea.

Other stories have been equally proposed. One says that Sara was an Egyptian, abbesse of a large convent in Libya. Another story says that Sara figured prominently among a group of Persian martyrs, with the two Maries and Marthe, who arrived in Gaule by ship. Finally, an apocryphal text from the 11th century, shows us a Sara discovering, with Marthe and the two Maries, the empty tomb of Jesus, and leaving to announce with the Apostles the news of the Resurrection of the Christ.

An ancient Provençal tradition describes the early Christian figures of Mary, sister of the Virgin, and Mary, mother of St. James and St. John, together with their black servant, Sara, and others. According to tradition, they miraculously escaped persecution in Judaea about the year 40 and landed in Saintes-Maries de la Mer in a frail craft. Their relics were put in a local oratory, which was replaced in the 12th century by the present fortified church.

In truth, no one knows who Sara really was, or how the cult of Sara came to Saintes-Maries de la Mer, where pilgrims came to pray well before the French Revolution. For Gitans, she is Sara-la-Kâli, a Gypsy word that means both Sara the Gitane and Sara the Black.

Gitans themselves do not ask questions about Sara's authenticity. By the thousands they follow a solemn procession on the 24th of May, after the descent of the shrines of the saints from the chapel to the sea. The narrow streets of Saintes-Maries de la Mer overflow and Camargue gardians on horseback accompany the statues of the Saintes-Maries and Sara into the sea, the frail statues carried by specially chosen men. Arlésiennes honor the escort as well, but it is the Gitans that sing hymns untiringly and shout thousands of times, "Vive Saint Sara!"

Posted 10 September 1998.