Vincentian Paris
 
 
Church of Saint Etienne du Mont
(Place Sainte Genevieve, Paris 5)

 
Many historic events are gathered around Sainte Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris. She was born about 420 in Nanterre became a consecrated virgin and, at the death of her parents, lived on the hill that now bears her name. The people attributed the safety of the city to her prayers during a siege by Attila in 451. She died about 496. The abbey of Sainte Genevieve was located on the Sainte Genevieve Hill in Paris. This abbey, dating from the 6th century, was founded under King Clovis. He wished to be buried here with his queen and near Genevieve, who had been his friend and advisor. An abbey not of monks but of canons regular, it was demolished at various times, but some remaining parts have been incorporated into a school, the Lycee Henry IV. The most visible element is its imposing tower. The contents of its ancient library were transferred to the nearby Sainte Genevieve Library.
 
The church of Saint Etienne du Mont was built for abbey servants and for others living in the area, and was independent of the abbey. The current building and bell tower were begun in 1492, but were consecrated only in 1626 by Sean Francois de Gondi. The style is "Flamboyant" Gothic, very rich in its decoration, and already old fashioned when completed. It also includes many Renaissance elements, mainly its decoration. The hanging keystones are noteworthy. The facade is very beautiful, unique in Paris. The church was restored in 1862 after the madness of the Revolution. Next to the church, which served university students in particular, was a cemetery, but the remains have been moved to the Paris catacombs. Inside the church are buried some important figures, particularly Cardinal de Ia Rochefoucauld (whom Vincent assisted on his deathbed in the abbey itself), the philosopher-scientist-theologian Blaise Pascal, and the dramatist Jean Racine. During his enforced exile Pius VII made one of his visits here for mass on 10 January 1805.
 
The church, one of the most beautiful in Paris, contains several elements of great interest:
 
(1) The reliquary of Sainte Genevieve. Her relics were often removed from the church to be carried in procession around the city, particularly in time of plague or war, such as in 1652 during the civil war known as the Fronde. The stained glass windows recount some of this history. Her remains were destroyed in the Revolution.
 
(2) The altar screen, called jube, a name taken from the Latin liturgical formula: Jube, Doimine, benedicere (Give, Lord, a blessing). In early times, the scripture lessons were read from the lube', and sermons were preached from it. Pulpits systematically replaced jubes in the 16th and 17th centuries. This altar screen was finished in 1545, and it is the only jube' remaining in Paris, and one of the few in France.
 
(3) The woodwork, particularly the organ case, dating from 1630, and the pulpit, dating from
1650.
 
(4) The memorials  to the founders of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul in the Saint Vincent chapel. The Society was founded in this parish (as noted below, although the first regular meeting was held in the parish of Saint Sulpice). The painting of Saint Vincent is said to be by Simon Francois.
 
(5) Another painting, that  of the nine choirs of angels, came from the former chapel of the original Saint Lazare. Louis Abelly (1604-1 691), Vincent's first biographer, commissioned it in 1679, and it conforms with his theological writing on the subject. Abelly himself was buried in the Holy Angels chapel at Saint Lazare.
 
(6) In the first stained glass window of the former cloister, reached from the behind the main altar, is depicted a famous legend with serious anti-Semitic overtones. In 1290, a woman is supposed to have been accused of having received Communion at the church of Saint Merry, and then selling the host to a Jew, Jonathan. He then pierced it with a knife, nailed it to his hearth, pierced it with a lance, and boiled it. Each time the host. began to bleed, and ar~ image of the crucified Savior appeared over it. The woman returned the host to the bishop, and who kept it in a reliquary at another church in Paris. It disappeared after the Revolution. Jonathan was supposedly burned at the stake. The other windows in this old cloister date from the 16th and 17th centuries, and continue the rich theological symbolism of the middle ages. The windows are the finest in Paris after those of the Sainte Chapelle.
 
Both Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac lived near here for some ten years, and certainly came here to pray, as did Francis de Sales during his student days in this area of the University of Paris, called the Latin Quarter. A Confraternity of Charity existed here from an early date (late 1636 or early 1637), and the Daughters of Charity worked for it beginning about 1640. Saint Vincent called Sainte Genevieve a model for the Daughters, inasmuch as both she and they were good country girls. (Conference 13, 25 January 1643)
 
The monks of the adjacent Saint Genevieve abbey did not favor Vincent's being at Saint Lazare. In 1658 one of the monks let it slip to a Vincentian relative of his that the monastery would wait until Vincent's death to try to get hold of the Saint Lazare property. Vincent felt some anxiety about securing his title to it.. (Letter 2650) At the same period he related in a conference that two monks were killed in a conflict with the public authorities, who had tried to gain entrance to put an end to some disorders. Vincent drew the conclusion that if the monks had kept religious silence and not become involved with secular affairs, their scandalous deaths would never have occurred. (Conference 190)
 
In the great square in front of the former abbey and the present church stood the College de Montaigu. Such luminaries as Ignatius Loyola, John Calvin and Desiderius Erasmus studied here. Today, in its place, stands the Pantheon. Louis XV had decided to build the Pantheon to replace the dilapidated church of Saint Etienne du Mont as a votive offering for his recovery to health. He secured the land, raised the flinds, and began to build in 1755. It was not finished at his death in 1780, but was completed at the beginning of the Revolution. The National Assembly decided to turn it into a mausoleum for French persons noteworthy for their talents, virtues and services to the nation. The term Pantheon ("of all the gods" in Greek) echoes a similar building in Rome. (8 place de Pantheon, Paris 5)
 
Napoleon had the Pantheon changed back into a church, but it was switched back again to its present usage - not a church but a mausoleum. In its crypt are buried a few heroes, such as: Francois Marie oltaire, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Emile Zola, Jean Jaure's, Pierre and Marie Curie and Andre' Malraux. Its dome, one of several in Paris, dominates the skyline. Interior decoration features paintings of French heroes. Among these is pictured Vincent de Paul.
 
The road leading up to the Pantheon, Rue Soufflot, between Boulevard Saint Michel and Rue Saint Jacques, marks the site of an ancient Roman forum. This complex contained a temple, public spaces and shops. It was first discovered in the 19th century; more work was done in 1971. Nothing can be seen of it above ground, however.
 
Although it is difficult to be precise, two homes of Louise de Marillac were located nearby. Probably after her husband's death she moved to Rue Saint Victor (1626-1631, now at 43, rue du Cardinal Lemoine), and then to Rue de Versailles (1632-1636), in the parish of Saint Nicholas du Chardonnet. It was here (now 21, rue du Monge) that she brought together the four or five young village girls for the first time on 29 November 1633--thus founding the Daughters of Charity. This parish has the honor of having the first house of the Daughters of Charity. It is clear that Marguerite Naseau, the first Daughter of Charity, served in the parish of Saint Etienne du Mont.

Back to Museum

Motherhouse of the Congregation of the Mission (New Saint Lazare) (95, rue de S6vres, Paris 6)
Motherhouse of the Daughters of Charity (1 801-1815) (II, rue du Vieux Colombier, Paris 6)
Mottlerhouse of the Daughters of Charity (140, rue du Bac, Paris 7Church of Saint Etienne du Mont (Place Sainte Genevieve, Paris 5)
Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris (Notre Dame de Paris), H6tel Dieu
Convent of the Visitation (17, rue Saint Antoine, Paris 4)
Church of saint Lawrence (68, boulevard Magenta, and 119, rue du Faubourg Saint Martin, Paris 10)
Clichy-la-Garonne