The people of Vassivière say their town was named after the ancient Celtic site that it was. In this 'vas iver', Celtic for 'temple of water', the spirits of the local rivers and lake were honored. Mary, Queen of Heaven succeeded these water gods as the source of life. To this day there is a sacred fountain near the chapel in Vassivière.

Until the 14th century there was a church in the mountain hamlet of Vassivière in which the predecessor of this Black Virgin resided. The church fell into ruin and was abandoned; only the niche with its black Madonna remained. She was considered the protector of travelers and no passerby failed to stop and pray before her image - none, until the Protestant reformation. In 1547 a merchant from Besse and two companions passed the Virgin. The merchant refused to acknowledge her majesty and mocked his fellow travelers' devotion. As punishment, he was immediately struck blind, whereupon he repented and promised to become the Black Mother's 'King of Devotion' if she only healed him. She did and he kept his promise. Through his testimony her fame spread.

More miracles happened and pilgrims flocked to the Madonna's mountain. Soon it was decided that she would be better honored in the church of Besse-en-Chandesse, a town 8 km. down in the valley, rather than in her outdoor shrine in the cow herding hamlet. But each time the statue was brought down to more civilized environs, she escaped back to her mountain abode. The scenario was repeated three times, until a compromise was made that seemed acceptable to the Lady and is maintained to this day. A chapel was built for her in Vassivière, where she spends the summers. The rest of the year she is willing to be in Besse-en-Chandesse.

Each year in the early morning of July 2nd, she is carried on the shoulders of men in a solemn procession up to her mountain home at 1300 meters elevation. July 2nd is the 'feast of the visitation' when the biblical Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth "in the hill country" (Luke 1:39). God spoke to the Virgin about and through Elizabeth, whom he had chosen as a refuge, support, and inspiration for Mary. In commemoration of this visit, Mary of Vassivière goes into the hill country to be with another "cousin," the Earth, to be with her natural rhythms. She follows the cows, who are brought to their mountain pastures during the summer and back down into town during the colder months.

As in many other wild and remote sanctuaries chosen by our Heavenly Mother, so too in Vassivière, Mary draws her children back to their earthly mother, Mother Nature. Mary needed Elizabeth and she knows that we need Mother Earth in the same way, as a refuge, support, inspiration, and messenger from God.

Her descent happens at nightfall on the first Sunday after the fall equinox (September 21st). It is accompanied by rifle shots, fire works, and big parties.

When workers prepared the ground next to the old shrine in Vassivière for the little chapel to be built, a spring was uncovered that was immediately considered a sacred spring of Mary. It is enclosed by its own little oratory with its own little Black Madonna. And so the water spirits are still honored in Vas-iver, the temple of water. Her specialty was to revive still-born babies at least long enough so they could be baptized. Pilgrimage to Vassivière counted as a substitute for those who couldn't afford to go to Santiago de Compostella, Rome, or Jerusalem. Still many pilgrims and ex-voti.