Saint Sarah of God, Patron Saint of the Romani people venerated by Romanis all around the world

The South of France, where the Mediterranean Sea washes against the Côte d'Azur and strong winds blowing from the sea cover are cooling the hot and worn-out houses on the shore. Here, the atmosphere is quiet and calm. Sometimes this calmness of the seaside is disturbed by long-lasting humming of ships arriving at local port cities. The mosaic ornaments on the doors of private mansions glitter with chimerical arabesques in sunrays. Chaikhanas where coffee is served, prepared in cezves. Where the fragrances of saffron spices spread in the surrounding air from the kitchens. Local restaurants where they eat couscous and chicken. Where you can see two temples in the skyline against angular rocky mountains: a Muslim mosque and a Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Sea.

In the shadow of the joyful carnival

This is a location in the South of France to which every year, thousands of pilgrims from all around the world come to worship their saint. The one they respect, venerate, adore, confabulate, admire, and in whom they believe as the protectress of the Romani people. So each and every Romani who considers himself to be a practising Catholic must at least once in his life embark upon this journey as a pilgrim. In order to see the Saint Sarah of God.

Joyfully shouting the words «Glory be to Saint Sarah!», singing and praying, the procession carrying the statue of Saint Sarah descends towards the shore and enters the sea. Here, the religious ceremony is more like a big carnival featuring lots of colourful dresses, sequins, motley ribbons, dancing and exclamations. First, the statue clad in colourful posh Roma attire, custom-tailored every year, is sprinkled with seawater. Afterwards, a prayer service is held ashore, celebrated by priests of the Dominican Order. The prayer is attended by thousands of Romanis, tourists, and local residents, elegantly clad in Provençal folk costumes. Local Roma women can be seen wearing long flared dresses whilst their men have golden shirts and black suits on.

A Disciple of Jesus and the Leader of Romanis

So where did Saint Sara-la-Kâli come from and why do Romanis believe that she is their defender?

Let us start from the beginning: with the Biblical story. There is, as a matter of fact, not a lot of historically accurate information about this mysterious woman. The legend says that Saint Sarah was a servant of one of the Three Maries and that, during the persecution of the early Christians in Jerusalem, she joined one of them, sailed away and reached the shores of France. At the same time, during the great persecution of the first Christians in Jerusalem, the authorities there did everything they could to exterminate the followers of Jesus, especially his Apostles and friends. In order to do so, they put Lazarus whom Jesus had raised from the dead, his sisters Martha and Mary, and several of Jesus's disciples onto a ship without oars or sails. Among them was Jesus's disciple, Sara-la-Kâli, a native of Upper Egypt who, according to a legend, was a Black maid of one of the Three Maries, most probably of Mary Cleophine. The intention of the Jerusalem authorities was to kill them without shedding blood: by depriving them of food and water, sending them into the waves of the Mediterranean Sea.

Religious sources say that it was through sheer miracle that the ship quickly reached the southern coast of France—a location where the present-day city of Marseille stands. Since Lazarus and his shipmates spoke Greek, it was easy for them to establish contact with the local population. Not everyone disembarked there. Maria and Sarah stayed onboard and sailed a little further. The place they decided to evangelise was named in their honour. Today, this is the name this church in the South of France bears: the Church of St Mary of the Sea.

A charity worker raising money

That is, however, but one version of the biography of this Saint Sarah of Romanis. Other sources state that Sarah was already in Gaul, and that she actually welcomed the Three Maries upon their arrival. In his 1956 book, The Roma Tradition in Belgium, Franz de Ville, a Belgian man of letters, asserts the following:

“Among the first ones to receive the first revelation was Sara-la-Kâli. She was a noblewoman and the Elder of her tribe on the banks of River Rhone. She was let into secrets that had been relayed to her…”

Although the legend about the arrival of the Three Maries in France dates back to the late Middle Ages, this actual event is mentioned in earlier sources—for instance, in the most famous medieval edition of the Legenda Sanctorum (Legend of the Saints) dated the 13th century. The image of Saint Sarah first appeared in Vincent Philippon's book The Legend of Saint Mary, where she was described as a charity worker who helped people collect alms—which led to the general belief that she was a Romani. After that, the Romanis of Saarland adopted her as their saint.

The grave of Saint Sarah and the Church of Saint Mary of the Sea

The church in honour of Holy Virgin Mary in the settlement of St Mary of the Sea was built in the 12th century. Statues of Mary Cleophine, Mary Salome and Mary Magdalene are stored as relics in the crypt of this church. The crypt also contains the tomb of St Sara-la-Kâli. There is also a statue of her here. And thus, every year, on the 24th and the 25th of May, a lavish Roma festival is held in honour of St Sarah. The day of pilgrimage is the 24th of May. On this day, the statue of Saint Sarah, along with the statues of Mary Cleophine and Mary Salome, is taken to the sea to symbolically reenact their arrival on French shores. The festival is attended by thousands of Catholic Romanis from all over Europe—mainly from France, Italy, Romania, Spain, and Portugal. After the Mass held inside the church, a procession headed by horsemen flying a red flag with a golden cross starts moving. Thousands of Romani Catholics come to this church to have their children baptised at St Sarah's, as they believe that Sara-la-Kâli is the patron saint of all Roma people.

Hinduism, Christianity and mystification

Today, researchers and historians are trying to draw parallels between this ceremony of Saint Sara-la-Kâli in France and the worship of Kali (Durga) - a Hindu goddess depicted as unbearably bright, having ten arms, mounted on a lion or a tiger, armed with various types of weapons, holding a lotus flower, always smiling, and making hand gestures. The festival of Durga Puja is dedicated to this goddess. In his book, The Romani Goddess Kali Sara, Ronald Lee, a Canadian Romani writer notes:

“If we compare this ceremony with the ones in France, we can come to a conclusion that the worship of Kali/Durga/Sara has been transferred to a Christian figure ... in France, to a non-existent ‘saint’ called Sarah, who is indeed part of the deification of the goddess Kali/Durga/Sara among certain groups in India.”

We may thus deduce that the origins of this tradition to honour Saint Sarah are rooted in India and in the ancient Hindu religion. Many studies indicate that Sara-la-Kâli was one of the three Hindu goddesses. It still remains unknown, however, who was this woman that reached the shores of France, listened to the sermons of Jesus, sailed on a ship with the Three Marias somewhere off, reaching the shores where present-day Marseille stands, begged for alms, and had the looks of one of the Virgins of India. Maybe Romanis themselves have the answer to this question. Maybe that is why she is a Romani Saint—so that only her own folks really know her.

Illustrations: open sources