Église Notre-Dame de Lavasina de Brando, Catholic church in Brando, France

Église Notre-Dame de Lavasina stands on a promontory above the Anse de Lavasina in the hamlet of Lavasina, commune of Brando, north of Bastia. The complex pairs a square bell tower of pale pinkish-tan stone, with a clock face, louvered belfry openings and a small statue on its flat roof, with the main church, whose walls are the same tone under a low roof of grey flat stone slabs. Its facade has a triangular gable topped by a cross, an arched central niche and a balustraded balcony of stone columns above the entrance.

In the 16th century the Danese family, wine-trading sailors, placed an anonymous painting of the Virgin Mary on the chapel altar after finding the exact sum of a Roman client's debt in its packaging. In 1675 the Franciscan tertiary Sister Marie-Agnès of Bonifacio, suffering from paralysis and convulsions, had her legs anointed with oil from the lamp before the painting and was healed. The chapel became the church Notre-Dame des Grâces, then a sanctuary, celebrated on 8 September 1677.

On 8 September the sanctuary celebrates the Nativity of Mary with a Marian feast where the Corsican hymn Dio vi salvi Regina is sung. A procession sets out from north of Bastia and reaches the sanctuary barefoot, passing before the painting of the Virgin above the altar.

The location is easy to reach via the main road between Bastia and Cap Corse, with several hotels within walking distance. Visitors should note that the area becomes especially crowded during the September celebrations.

The painting reached the chapel through the Danese family, wine-trading sailors who took it from a Roman client temporarily unable to pay his debt; opening the crate, they found the exact sum owed in cash. The anonymous Virgin hangs above the altar, and the oil of the lamp burning before it was used by Sister Marie-Agnès in 1675.