My name is Veronique Flayol. My friends call me Roni.
Since my youngest age, I have a special devotion to Mary Magdalene.
I have loved Mary Magdalene for a very long time, since I was very young. I already loved her before knowing the woman she had been. It was my father who passed on this passion to me. He himself was very attached to her. Today there are still gray areas concerning her on a human level, on what her life has been like. But on a soul level, I know her as well as she knows me, we are close friends.
I was born in St Maximin, the place where she is buried, at the foot of the Sainte-Baume mountain. In this mountain is the cave where she spent the last years of her life.
My family, established in St Maximin at the 18th century, has always been involved in the respect and maintenance of the traditions.
I am proud of my Provençal roots and I’m deeply attached to our local traditions. Thanks to my father, who gave me the passion for it, I followed the way of my ancestors. A few decades ago, I created, with a group of friends, the Association Santo Madaleno (from the Provençal, our local language, means Saint Mary Magdalene). The purpose of our association is to defend and uphold the traditions. That is why, we organize every year the religious feasts of St Mary Magdalene in July.
I am lecturer guide, licensed by the French Ministry of Culture.
In 2008, I founded my own tour company. It was for me a way to share, through my profession, my passion for our Patroness of Provence. Also a way to show the places where she lived and preached to people in search of spirituality. In 2017, I passed my certification of aromatherapist to be able to work with the plants and the energy properties of the essential oils. In order to better understand the lineage of myrrh-bearing women of which Mary Magdalene was part. I prepare my meditation oils with the plants I harvest at the foot of St Baume mountain.
After years now, I meet more and more people interested by Magdalene’s story. We follow her steps doing these sacred tours.
Every morning, when I wake up, I realize how fortunate I am to live here, so close to her. Every morning, when I open my shutters, I can see the St Baume mountain and the basilica while people have to cross the world to come here.
When I have to face difficulties, when I am in trouble, the Saint Baume grotto is my refuge. The simple fact of rising up through the relic forest calms me. After a moment of meditation and prayers, I feel better. Things are still the same, they haven’t changed, but I do see them in a different way.
I have always felt the desire to open my heart bigger and bigger as Jesus and Mary Magdalene invite us to do. They call me by their message and their mission. And, the more I study and search for Mary Magdalene, the more I discover the different facets of her personality. At the same time unique and countless. She is every woman.
From this meeting were born these spiritual journeys, and a long passion.
