Part of a Series on Vincentian Heritage Places

Saint-Médard and the Chapel of Blessed Rosalie Rendu, Paris, France

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A Church Shaped by Centuries

At the foot of the Sainte-Geneviève hill, where Rue Mouffetard descends through one of Paris’s oldest neighborhoods, the Church of Saint-Médard bears witness to many layers of the city’s religious and social history. Christian worship on the site reaches back to the Middle Ages, while the present building was formed principally through construction campaigns from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries. The church was classified as a French historic monument in 1906.

Saint-Médard Chruch, Paris. Author: Chabe01. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

Its architecture reflects that long development rather than a single unified plan. Flamboyant Gothic forms dominate the older fabric, especially the pointed arches, ribbed vaulting, high nave and large traceried window of the western façade. Later additions expanded the choir and side chapels, introducing elements associated with the classical taste of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The result is a richly layered parish church, intimate in scale but filled with artistic treasures.

Floor plan of Saint-Médard Church. Source: https://www.patrimoine-histoire.fr/Patrimoine/Paris/Paris-Saint-Medard.htm

Among its notable works are an early seventeenth-century Annunciation ensemble and The Young Christ and Saint Joseph Walking by the Spanish master Francisco de Zurbarán. Historic paintings, stained glass and carved woodwork reinforce the sense that Saint-Médard has grown together with the neighborhood it serves.

Interior of the Church of Saint-Médard in Paris. Author: Guilhem Vellu, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Sister Rosalie’s Parish

For the Vincentian Family, however, Saint-Médard’s greatest importance comes from its relationship with Blessed Rosalie Rendu, Daughter of Charity and “apostle of the Mouffetard district.” Sent to the neighborhood as a young sister, she remained there for fifty-four years, serving a population marked by overcrowding, disease, unemployment and recurring political violence.

Sculpture of Sister Rosalie, by Alain Courtaigne, 2008, at the Saint-Médard parish. Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-SA 2.0 license.

From the Daughters of Charity’s house on Rue de l’Épée-de-Bois, Rosalie and her companions organized an extraordinary network of practical assistance. They visited families, cared for the sick, taught children and established a clinic, pharmacy, school, nursery and services for workers and older people. Her charity was deeply personal, but also remarkably organized: she brought together religious sisters, benefactors, public officials, students and lay volunteers in the service of people living in poverty.

Among the young Catholics who sought her counsel were Frédéric Ozanam and the first members of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. Rosalie gave them addresses, introduced them to families and taught them that assistance must always be offered with respect, patience and humility. In this way, Saint-Médard stands close to one of the formative encounters in the history of the modern Vincentian movement.

A Chapel of Memory and Mission

Saint-Médard was Rosalie’s parish throughout her long ministry, and her funeral was celebrated there on February 9, 1856, before an immense crowd accompanied her coffin to Montparnasse Cemetery. After her beatification by Pope John Paul II in 2003, the parish created a permanent place of liturgical remembrance within the church.

Source: https://www.patrimoine-histoire.fr/Patrimoine/Paris/Paris-Saint-Medard.htm

On February 7, 2004, Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, then Archbishop of Paris, blessed a chapel dedicated to Blessed Rosalie Rendu. A reliquary was installed there, together with an altar. The chapel also contains a contemporary limestone sculpture by Alain Courtaigne, whose open-armed representation of Rosalie evokes both welcome and service.

The chapel is more than a memorial to a beloved nineteenth-century sister. It presents Rosalie’s life as a continuing call to the entire Vincentian Family: to recognize Christ in those who suffer, to unite prayer with practical action, and to build networks of charity capable of responding creatively to changing forms of poverty.

Address: Church of Saint-Médard, 141 Rue Mouffetard, 75005 Paris, France
Website: https://www.saintmedard.org/

All Vincentian Churches in this Series

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