Confraternity of the Penitents

In the wake of the Counter-Reformation, numerous confraternities of Penitents emerged in France to revive the Catholic impulse against Protestantism. In Villar-d’Arène, such a confraternity was likely founded around 1640. It distinguished itself by its exceptional longevity: active until the early 20th century, it is the most enduringly attested in the region. Most unusually, a photograph taken around 1900 still shows a procession of these Penitents, a precious testimony to a centuries-old tradition.