Monaco marks Saint Roman's Day with mass and aubade
By Zak Jackson, MonacoViews Editorial
The Principality celebrated one of its patron saints on Sunday 9 August, gathering Monégasques for a tradition that has continued since 1868.
Sunday 9 August brought Monaco's annual Saint Roman's Day festivities, honouring the Principality's second patron saint in a celebration that has been observed without interruption since 1868. The day followed its traditional sequence: an aubade in the morning, a mass conducted in the Monégasque language, and a communal apéritif that drew residents and members of the Comité des fêtes together.
The use of Monégasque during the religious ceremony remains one of the more deliberate gestures of the occasion, marking it as distinct from the broader calendar of civic events. For a community where the native language is heard by fewer people with each passing generation, the Saint Roman's Day mass represents one of the few moments in the public year when it takes centre stage.
The Comité des fêtes, which organises the day alongside local authorities, has long positioned the celebration as an opportunity to introduce younger and newer residents to Monégasque customs. With Monaco's population now drawn from well over a hundred nationalities, occasions anchored in local tradition carry an added weight as markers of what makes the Principality distinct.