Five secret pilgrimage sites in Paris
- Aimee Boudreaux MacIver
- May 21
- 4 min read
For centuries, Paris has captured hearts with a feast for the senses. You already know about the treasure-laden museums, dazzling food, iconic streetscapes, and legendary photo ops at the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. But Paris is also home to an abundant heritage of Catholic faith. Soaring cathedrals, breathtaking stained glass, ancient sites of prayer and devotion: the riches of Catholic beauty can be discovered all over the city. If you're in Paris, take time to make your trip a pilgrimage. This practice will not only deepen your memories of and insights into another place, but will also open your heart to spiritual experiences, graces, and transcendent truths that you don't want to miss. Here are five lesser-known but powerful sacred places to add to your itinerary.
Paris' other Notre Dame is far more famous and frequently visited than this historic Marian shrine first constructed in 1629. But behind unassuming red doors, a deep and profound intimacy beckons. Notre-Dame des Victoires not only features rich beauty and breathtaking artworks, but also houses more than 37,000 ex voto plaques (thank you offerings for miracles and prayers answered). It was Mozart's favorite church for Mass and prayer whenever he visited Paris, and is also connected to many saints. Venerable Francis Libermann and St Theophane Venard both developed their prayer lives and eventual vocations here. St Anthony Claret's order grew from a men's fraternity at the parish. St Pierre-Julian Eymard prayed here as he discerned the founding of a new order. St John Henry Newman attributed his conversion to prayer in the church, and later returned to give thanks. As a young man in Paris, St Louis Martin came to Notre-Dame des Victoires for Mass and personal prayer. St Louis and St Zélie Martin frequently asked the intercession of Notre-Dame des Victoires for their family's needs. Louis brought his daughter Thérèse here to give thanks for her recovery from a serious illness attributed to a novena of Masses at Notre-Dame des Victoires. Thérèse later described this visit as a critical point in her spiritual journey. Basilique Notre-Dame des Victoires, 6 Rue Notre-Dame des Victoires
You probably already know or even wear a Miraculous Medal. Do you know where this beloved devotion originated? In 1830 at the Daughters of Charity convent in Paris, St Catherine Labouré began receiving miraculous apparitions of Our Lady, who eventually requested the striking of a new medal to inspire devotion to her intercession (read the incredible story here). Thousands around the world—people of faith and others without—have since cherished the Miraculous Medal. You can visit this shrine to see the chair where Our Lady sat during the apparitions as well as the incorrupt body of St Catherine Labouré. St Louise de Marrillac is also buried here. Officially entitled Chapelle de Notre Dame de la Medaille Miraculeuse, this shrine is an active place of worship offering Mass and Confession. The attached gift shop is one of the best places in Paris to buy affordable sacred souvenirs (currently run by religious sisters of the same order as Catherine and Louise.) And what a special gift for someone you love: a Miraculous Medal from the very place where it was first given by Our Lady. Chapelle de Notre Dame de la Medaille Miraculeuse, 140 Rue de Bac
Reliquary of St. Vincent de Paul
Very nearby to the Miraculous Medal shrine is another church containing the relics of St Vincent de Paul, who founded the order to which St Catherine Labouré belonged. After his death in 1660, the body of St Vincent de Paul has been venerated in a beautiful reliquary featuring a lifelike wax figure containing his bones. This sometimes strange-seeming Catholic practice of venerating bodily relics has a purpose. It points to the goodness of the human body and to the ultimate destiny of our bodies: physical resurrection. You can pray and worship in this church built upon the site where St Vincent de Paul served and worked with the poorest of Paris. Chapelle de Saint Vincent de Paul, 95 Rue de Sevres
Monastic community at Eglise de Saint Gervais
It's a great and sobering tragedy that many of Paris' beautiful, historic churches are often empty of worshippers. The Eglise de Saint Gervais is special because of the monastic community that lives and works here. With many young religious brothers and sisters, the Fraternite Monastique de Jerusalem is a rare and radiant bloom of life. The community engages in a multitude of outreach apostolates for young adults, families, and the poor. Of course, the church itself is a marvel. For fifteen centuries, St Gervais has housed treasures of art and faith. Today, you will discover a compelling and unqiue mix of Gothic architecture, modern stained glass, and paintings by great masters. If you can visit when the community is praying liturgy of the hours, you will never, ever forget it. Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais Church, 13 Rue des Barres
Picpus Cemetery and the Place de la Nation
The sixteen newly-canonized Carmelite martyrs of Compiegne were among the last executed in the Reign of Terror. The sisters had offered their private community prayer for peace in France, and found themselves targeted by revolutionaries intent on destroying religion. One by one, the sisters went the guillotine erected in the Place de Nation, gently helping each other climb the scaffold and singing hymns that moved the gathered spectators to silence. Their heoric witness of love and trust turned the momentum; ten days after their deaths, the Reign of Terror crumbled. You can visit the site of their martyrdom, now a tree-lined neighborhood park, and their graves in Picpus Cemetery. Cimetière de Picpus, 35 Rue de Picpus; Place de la Nation, 12th arrondissement
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