Paris, France: Shrine of Saint Vincent de Paul
About Saint Vincent de Paul:
Born April 24, 1581, in the region of Landes, Vincent de Paul was ordained a priest on September 23, 1600. St. Vincent is not only known as the champion of the poor but also of the rich, for he taught them to do works of mercy. During his early years as a priest, he worked as a chaplain for Queen Margaret de Valois and served as a tutor to the powerful de Gondi family. While ministering to the de Gondis family, however, Vincent began noticing the great inequities between the lots of the rich and the poor.
On January 25, 1617, he preached a sermon that was to become the founding statement of “the Congregation of the Mission.” In August of the same year Vincent established the first “Confraternity of Charity.” Both the order and the confraternity had missions of serving the poor and suffering.
After serving Christ for sixty years as a priest, Vincent de Paul died on September 27, 1660. He was canonized by Pope Clement XII in 1737. We celebrate his Feast Day on September 27.
Blessed Frédéric Ozanam (1813–1853) founded the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (the Lazarists) in Paris on April 23, 1833, along with Emmanuel Bailly and five other students. The aim was to combat poverty through personal, direct service to the needy.
About the Shrine of Saint Vincent de Paul:
To honor their founder, the Lazarists decided to build a new chapel to shelter his relics. The first stone was laid on August 17, 1826. The chapel was consecrated on November 1, 1827 by Archbishop de Quélen. It was restored in 1983 and again in 1992.
Upon entering the Church you can immediately see his body high above the main altar. It is an easy climb to the reliquary by a double stairway behind the altar, to venerate his relics.When his body was first exhumed it appeared to be incorrupt but later flooding damaged the area where his body was placed and the body did decay.
What you will see here is his skeleton covered with wax, giving him a very realistic appearance.
His heart was taken and is now in the Chapel of the Daughters of Charity at the Shrine of the Miraculous Medal.
There is another saint entombed here as well: Saint Francis Regis Clet
A member of the order founded by Saint Vincent de Paul, Francis Regis Clet was sent as a missionary to China in 1791. He was assigned to Kiang-si in October 1792, the only European in the area. In 28 years of work, he never mastered the language. In 1793 Clet moved to Hou-Kouang in the Hopei Province where he served as superior of an international group of Vincentian missioners scattered over a very large territory: his pastoral area covered 270,000 square miles. In 1811 government anti–Christian persecutions intensified; the missionaries were accused of inciting rebellion, and had to pursue their work while on the run, often hiding in the mountains.
On June 16, 1819, with a bounty on his head, Francis was betrayed by a Christian schoolmaster whose behavior the missionary had tried to correct. Force marched hundreds of miles in chains to trial. On January 1, 1820 he was found guilty of deceiving the Chinese people by preaching Christianity.
He was slowly strangled to death with a rope while tied on a cross on February 18, 1820 at Au-tshung-fu, China and buried on Red Mountain by local Christians, where it was later recovered.
He was Canonized on October 1, 2000 by Pope John Paul II,
We celebrate The Feast of Saint Francis Regis Clet on February 18,
Click here for a great assortment of St. Vincent de Paul medals, statues and more in our online store (opens in new window)
Traveling to the Shrine of Saint Vincent de Paul in Paris:
To reach the Shrine of Saint Vincent de Paul by Metro, get off at the Vaneau station which is on the same street as the shrine. As you may note from the photo above, it does not appear to be any different from many of the other buildings on the street (even knowing where it is, we have almost walked by it before), but inside you will find a beautiful church. There is a small plaque on the front door that might help you find it.
We recommend “Little Black Book of Paris” and “Streetwise Maps” to help you find your way.
Address: 93 Rue de Sèvres 75007 Paris
GPS coordinates: 48° 50′ 55.8348” N, 2° 19′ 17.5512” E
Tel: +33 1 45 49 84 84 or + 33 01 45 48 35 72 Fax +33 01 42 84 09 64
email: paris.cm@wanadoo.fr
Click here for website for the Shrine of Saint Vincent de Paul in Paris.
There is a small gift shop here as well, open at irregular hours. They only speak French in the shop.
If you plan to visit, we recommend that you combine this with the
Shrine of the Miraculous Medal, which is just around the corner.
Sources:
Staff of the shrine.
I would like to visit your shrine again n it was breathtaking the last time when I visited her. I also would like to get in touch with you for the sale of your SVDP medals… we are celebrating our patron saint which happens to him St Vincent De a Paul… so we would like to purchase the normal medal maybe about 300 pieces. Please reply to me looking forward to hearing from you . Celina
Please note that you are posting on the Catholic Travel Guide. They do not have any way set up that you can order medals directlt from the shrine. You might wish to order in bulk here at The Catholic Company.