The Saix Stone
The French revolutionaries arrived in Savoie in September 1792. They met with local opposition, such as the siege of Thônes in May 1793 and deliberate procrastination concerning drafting, requisitioning of hay, etc... At the beginning of 1794, Albitte, the French representative for the Department of Mont Blanc, ordered the destruction of all onion-shaped steeples and the melting down of bells.
As anticlerical policies developed, priests were required to swear allegiance to the new French constitution. A large number of them refused and either went into exile or were hidden in homes by the fervently Catholic population. The Capuchin priest, Perillat-Charlaz, hid at the Châtillon, Reverand Angelloz hid in the Bouchet valley and Reverand Renévrier, the parish priest, said mass at Le Cornillon in the summer and at Le Villard in the winter.
Three other priests were hidden by a widow named Janin at a place called Sous le Cey (meaning « under the rock »), near Lormay. The inscription reads : « Year (undated) of the French Republic, which outlawed by decree more than 40,000 priests and 6000 in Savoie. Madame Girod sheltered 5 months in Thônes and widow Janin 7 months under the Cey, three persecuted French priests : Pierre Larel, Cataptro, JPJ Terrasse - one of the three (engraved the stone) ».
