Paris, France

Taking in the visual delights of this relatively tranquil section of Paris’ Left Bank, many a Catholic pilgrim has likely looked right past the site of a significant Marian apparition: Chapelle Notre-Dame de la Médaille Miraculeuse (Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal).

The oversight is understandable. Incongruously situated between two Parisian monuments to consumption — the chic Le Bon Marché department store and its cavernous food hall, La Grande Epicerie — the chapel behind the walls of the motherhouse of the Daughters of Charity is, quite literally, invisible to passersby.

During the brisk and overcast September afternoon of my visit, uncertain tourists consulted guidebooks, maps and one another as they surveyed the sand-colored façade at No. 140 rue du Bac. All they needed to do was look over to the massive, dark-green double doors of the entrance. And then look up. The Latin inscription Monstra te esse matrem (Show yourself a Mother) — encircles the niche from which the Virgin Mary and Christ Child welcome visitors.

An alleyway, populated with statues and bas-reliefs narrating the history of the foundation and the events that transpired here, lies between the street and the chapel. While the urge to enter the chapel without lingering can easily overtake you, it’s worth spending a few minutes here. The countless ex voto tiles lining the walls, each giving thanks for a grace received or a prayer answered, speak to a rich spiritual continuity that spans several centuries.

Established in 1633 by Sts. Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac, the Daughters of Charity were granted the site in 1813. They added the chapel in 1815.

Here, on the night of July 18, 1830, Catherine Labouré had the first of three extraordinary visions. The extraordinary experiences of this 24-year-old novice and former farm girl would eventually gift Catholics with a wearable devotional whose popularity may be second only to that of the crucifix.

Scapular enthusiasts may take legitimate exception to that claim, but one thing no one can argue is the Church’s support for the medal: It has its own feast day on Nov. 27 — the day before the feast honoring St. Catherine Labouré.

A small shop off the alleyway leading to the chapel offers pilgrims a single Miraculous Medal or a bagful. Each is inscribed with the familiar petition O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you (rendered, of course, in St. Catherine’s native French).

Guides speak a variety of languages. The fluency of each is indicated by the national flags on their name tags.

The Daughters of Charity no longer wear their distinctive, oversized coronets, having traded these decades ago for more practical veils. The nuns cheerfully and tirelessly greet a daily stream of pilgrims that, according to the chapel guidebook, averages 2,500 during the winter and tops 4,000 during the summer.

“This is calm,” I was told by one Sister Theodora, who gestured to the dozens of tourists around us. Since Pope John Paul II’s 1980 visit, Poles have been streaming here in such numbers that “they want their own chapel,” said Sister Theodora, only half in jest.

Rare Silence

Entering the chapel, I encountered an almost overwhelming stillness. I noted the contrast between this reverent ambience and the chattering din that pervades many of Paris’ other sacred sites. Then, too, the intimate sanctuary is humble in scale compared to Notre Dame, Sacré Coeur and the city’s other towering Gothic monuments.

The significant attractions are clustered around the altar, where the first apparition of July 18-19, 1830, took place. The remainder of the chapel space, including the ceiling, is almost unadorned. The neoclassical, gilded tabernacle, dating from the 17th or 18th century, is the only item unchanged since the chapel’s consecration in 1815.

A triumphal arch surmounts the apse. It’s frescoed with a scene from the first apparition. Its art-deco styling is somewhat incongruous with the chapel’s other decoration: a rendering of the heavenly host observing St. Catherine Labouré in dialogue with the Blessed Mother.

Two statues of Mary, both representing phases of St. Catherine’s second vision of November 27, 1830, are on display. But it’s the statue in the apse behind the altar that attentive Catholic pilgrims will immediately recognize — the Virgin of Radiant Graces, the depiction of the Virgin Mary reproduced on the face of the Miraculous Medal.

Seat of Wisdom

To the right of the altar is the reliquary of St. Catherine Labouré. Her body was moved to the chapel in 1933 after its exhumation in Reuilly, where she died in 1876. The saint is dressed in the habit the Daughters wore until 1964. A rosary is intertwined through her fingers. Her face, covered with a wax mask molded from a photograph of St. Catherine at 26, is ever-youthful.

A statue of St. Joseph stands to the left of the altar, in the location where, prior to the Marian visions, St. Catherine saw an apparition of St. Vincent de Paul’s heart. In 1947, this precious relic was ensconced in the chapel, and it now flanks St. Catherine’s own reliquary. A statue of St. Vincent stands behind the reliquary containing his heart.

To the far left of the altar area is the reliquary of the Daughters’ other founder, St. Louise de Marillac. The enshrined wax figure contains the bones of the foundress, at rest after traveling throughout France to ultimately establish more than 40 houses for her nuns.

I’d advise an advance, virtual visit to the chapel through the online Internet tour and downloadable brochures, or, at the very least, the purchase of an annotated postcard once you arrive. The chapel interior is crowded with items that don’t readily explain themselves with a simple glance.

Many pilgrims I observed completely ignored the seemingly unremarkable chair below the relic of St. Vincent de Paul’s heart. They were apparently oblivious to St. Catherine’s report that this was the chair in which the Blessed Mother sat during the first apparition.

Shortly before her death, St. Catherine Labouré — whose identity as a visionary remained a secret throughout her life — spoke with touching humility of the singular graces she received in this small Parisian chapel: “I have only been an instrument. The Blessed Virgin did not appear on my behalf. … If she chose me, it was so that no one could doubt her.”

Kimberley Heatherington

writes from Fairfax, Virginia.

Information

Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal

140 rue du Bac

75340 Paris cedex 07

France

chapellenotredamedelamedaillemiraculeuse.com

Planning Your Visit

The chapel is accessible by Metro (Sevres-Babylone or Saint-Placide) or bus. Mass and confession are offered daily, as is Rosary followed by Benediction (except Tuesday). All are in French. Visit the chapel website for schedules.