Part of a Series on Vincentian Heritage Places

Collège des Bons Enfants, Paris

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Corner of Rue des Écoles and Rue du Cardinal Lemoine, Paris (Location of eastern end of old property of the Collège des Bons Enfants )

Séminaire St-Vincent-de-Paul, replaced former Bons-Enfants; site of massacre of 76 priests, including Louis-Joseph François CM

When the Congregation of the Mission was officially formed in 1625 at the insistence of Madame de Gondi, the small community of confreres took up residence in the Collège des Bons Enfants in Paris at what is now the corner of Rue des Écoles and Rue du Cardinal Lemoine in Paris (5th Arrondissement). It was Vincent de Paul’s home from 1625 to 1632, when he moved to the Priory of Saint-Lazare. Vincent remained at Saint-Lazare until his death in 1660.

From 1632 to the Revolution

From 1632 to 1707 the Collège des Bons Enfants was an annex of Saint-Lazare as a Séminaire (Novitiate), and Retreat House. From 1707 to 1792 it was the diocesan Seminary of Saint Firmin, conducted by the Congregation of the Mission.

On September 3, 1792, during the French Revolution, the Collège was the location of the massacre of Louis Joseph François CM, John Henry Gruyer CM, and around 70 other residents of the building. The property was confiscated by the State during the French Revolution and not returned to the Congregation of the Mission. Little of the original building remains.

Source: VincentWiki

All Vincentian Places in this Series

Red = Vincent de Paul, Blue = Frederic Ozanam, Teal = Elizabeth Seton, Yellow = Louise de Marillac

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