The idea of a brother who dived

Above the Balagne, clinging to its hillside, is the Saint-Dominique Convent of Corbara. It is home to brothers from the Saint-Jean community.

In 2004, one of them, Brother Baudouin Ardillier, had an idea that no one had had before him. He was a religious man, and he was a diver. He proposed submerging a statue of the Virgin in an underwater cave off the coast of Calvi.

The idea could have remained a whim. It became a tradition that has lasted for more than twenty years.

A sort of tradition has been created.

A cave at twenty-five meters

The chosen spot is located off the Pointe Saint-François in Calvi, in a cave situated at a depth of twenty-five meters.

Twenty-five meters is not insignificant. It is the limit for supervised Level 1 diving, and a depth where the light has already changed significantly. The red has disappeared. Everything is blue.

Those who have made the descent all say the same thing: the shape of this cave evokes another, the one in Lourdes. The connection is likely not a coincidence in the choice of site.

A Carrara marble Virgin

The statue is made of Carrara marble, the stone of Italian sculptors since antiquity, the same as Michelangelo's.

It bears the name Our Lady of the Seas.

This choice of marble is not merely aesthetic. It is a material that holds up under saltwater, slowly becoming covered in marine life without being destroyed, and it is heavy enough to stay put. A statue placed there is placed for a long time.

How the procession unfolds

It takes place every summer in August and serves as the highlight of a week spent on-site.

The procedure is simple and methodical:

• A group of young divers, usually about a dozen, boards a boat with the brother in an alb and instructors from nearby diving clubs.
• The descent is made in procession, in small groups, just as one would walk on land.
• Each person holds a laminated prayer to Our Lady of the Seas in their hand.
• Upon arriving in front of the cave, everyone prays side by side, facing the statue.
• The priest gives a blessing, then everyone ascends.

Safety is ensured by local clubs. This is not an improvised dive: it is a supervised dive, to which a prayer has simply been added.

The Lord's Prayer underwater

This is the moment everyone talks about, and one must imagine it to understand it.

Underwater, with a regulator in your mouth, you don't speak. You can only produce one sound: that of escaping air. Brother Baudouin described it himself, with no solemnity at all: “Blop blop blop,” which translates to, Our Father, who art in heaven.

And here is what happens when a dozen people do it together:

When you go “blop” all together in rhythm, it creates an enormous vibration in the sea; it’s incredible. The Lord’s Prayer can be heard.

No words are uttered. The rhythm, however, is perfectly recognizable. The bubbles rise in cadence, and those present know exactly what is being said.

The ex-votos of the deep

Over the years, the statue has become the object of local devotion, and numerous ex-votos have been deposited at its feet.

An ex-voto is an object left in gratitude for a grace received, or in request of protection. The Mediterranean is full of them, in seaside chapels, often left by sailors who have survived some ordeal.

The difference here is that you have to dive to twenty-five meters to leave them. No one does it by accident or while passing by. Each object placed there required a genuine effort, and that is perhaps what makes it the most sincere place of devotion on the island.

“Everyone is equal”

In Brother Baudouin’s words, there is an idea that extends far beyond the religious framework and explains why this meeting works.

When you put everyone in swim trunks on a boat, everyone is equal. It’s a shared experience.

On a dive boat, there are no more clothes, no more status, no more profession. There are people who are cold, checking their regulators, and who are going to descend together.

And he adds a sentence that explains everything else:

Some people wouldn't go kneel in a church, but they will do it twenty-five meters down.

One may not share this man's faith and still find the intuition remarkable. He did not wait for people to come to the place. He put the place where people were already going.

Diving the site

The site is accessible outside of the procession with a club, like any supervised dive in the bay of Calvi.

• Go through a Calvi club. They know the exact location and access conditions. This is a sea dive, not a tourist visit.
• Twenty-five meters is not for a complete beginner. It requires an appropriate skill level or close supervision.
• Don't touch anything. The ex-votos placed there belong to those who left them. You look, you don't take, you don't move anything.
• The best time remains summer and early autumn, when the sea is calm and visibility is good.

For a broader context on Corsican seabeds, see our guide on diving in Corsica.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the underwater Virgin of Calvi located?

In a submerged cave at a depth of twenty-five meters, off the Pointe Saint-François, in the bay of Calvi.

How long has this pilgrimage existed?

Since 2004, at the initiative of Brother Baudouin Ardillier, of the Saint-Jean community at the Saint-Dominique Convent of Corbara. The procession has taken place every summer since.

How do you pray underwater?

Without speaking. The divers hold a laminated prayer and recite mentally, in rhythm. The breath exiting the regulator produces a shared vibration, recognizable by all who participate.

Do you have to be a believer to participate?

The endeavor is open to all, and that is its very point according to its founder: it is aimed at people who would not otherwise cross the threshold of a church.

Can you see the statue outside of the procession?

Yes, on a supervised dive with a club from Calvi. A level allowing one to operate at twenty-five meters is required.

What is the statue made of?

Carrara marble. It is called Our Lady of the Seas.

Why this subject matters to us

At TAFANELLI, we draw what makes up the island's memory. And our best-known design is called The Diver of Calvi.

We drew it because diving here is not an imported pastime. It is a way of inhabiting the sea rather than just watching it. But we didn't know that just a few hundred yards from the spot that inspired this drawing, people had been descending for twenty years to pray in a cave.

What touches us is the chosen location. An island full of churches, Pisan chapels, perched convents, and a man decides that the place that was missing was underwater.

There is also this story of equality on the boat. Everyone in a wetsuit, no one knows what the other does for a living. We like this idea, because it’s a bit of what we look for with a t-shirt: something that doesn't say where you come from or how much you earn, only what you love.

And then there is the Lord's Prayer in bubbles. Twelve people breathing in rhythm at twenty-five meters, and a vibration that traverses the water. We will never make anything as beautiful with a screen-printing frame. But we can at least tell the story.

Read also: the complete guide to Calvi, Corbara and its convent, the Catenacciu of Sartène, and diving in Corsica.

When visiting Corsica, the customer becomes a friend.

A DOPU, TAFA