PROCESSION À NAVIAUX DE LA CONFRÉRIE DES CHARITABLES
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On the Sunday following St. Matthew's Day, September 21, the Confrérie des Charitables, founded in 1188, marches through the streets of the town. At the time, a plague epidemic was devastating the region. No one wanted to bury the dead or care for the sick. Saint Éloi appears in a dream to Gautier de Béthune and Germon de Beuvry, two blacksmiths, asking them to found a "karité" (a charity). The two men met at the Quinty spring and founded the Confrérie des Charitables de Saint-Eloi. They accompany and bury the dead, without distinction. Every year, the traditional "naviaux procession" pays tribute to them. Naviaux means "turnips"; these vegetables were used by the Charitables to protect themselves from disease. Each charitable person carries a white wand adorned with boxwood, thyme and flowers, the strong odors of which were thought to ward off evil.