If you're planning a trip to Paris, I hope you are bursting with joyful anticipation! Paris will capture you with a feast for your senses. As you're creating your itinerary, you already know about the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, and river cruises on the Seine. But Paris is also home to a rich 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. Take time to add a sacred layer to your trip. 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.
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 Laboure began receiving miraculous apparitions of Our Lady, who eventually requested the striking of a new medal to inspire devotion to her intercession. 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 and the incorrupt body of St. Catherine Laboure. Officially entitled Chapelle de Notre Dame de la Medaille Miraculeuse, this shrine is an active place of worship, so you can also go to Mass and Confession there. The attached gift shop is one of the best places in Paris to buy affordable sacred souvenirs. (It's also currently run by religious sisters of the same order.) 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 Laboure 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
Let us love God, but let it be with the strength of our arms and with the sweat of our brows. +St. Vincent de Paul
_______________
Would you like help adding a sacred layer your next trip? Make your travels deeper and unforgettable with a customized travel guide. Your guide will include journal prompts, reflection insights, spiritual quotes, and Catholic points of interest personalized for your family's or group's specific destination. Contact me. I'd love to create something to help you find the sacred wherever you go. I also offer speaking and presenting for your group's next retreat, day of reflection, or event.
_______________
Comments