Saint Vincent de Paul Chapel

The chapel is a church of the Congregation of the Mission, an order founded by Vincent de Paul in 1625, with a mission to help the poor and to train young men for the priesthood. The original church of the order was located in the Priory of Saint Lazare, but they were expelled during the French Revolution when the priory was transformed into a prison.Agnès Chauvin: La Chapelle de l'ancienne prison Saint-Lazare; in In Situ; n# 11; July 2009.

To honour their founder, the Lazarists decided to built a new chapel to shelter his relics. The first stone was laid on 17 August 1826. The chapel was consecrated on 1 November 1827 by Archbishop de Quélen.[https://www.paris.catholique.fr/chapelle-des-lazaristes.html History] It was restored in 1983 and 1992. It was registered in the Monument historiques on 27 March 1994.

At the time that the church was completed, the relics of Saint Vincent were kept in the Chapel of the Sisters of Charity on rue de Bac. They had been carefully hidden during the French Revolution. The transfer to the new church was made on 25 April 1830. An enormous procession, led by King Charles X of France, escorted the relics to their new home.Congregation de la Mission - Provence de France https://cmission.fr[https://cmission.fr/communautes/maison-mere/chapelle-saint-vincent-de-paul-paris Congress de la Mission website]

The tombs of two other Lazarist martyrs are found in the chapel. Jean-Gabriel Perboyre (1802-1840), was executed by strangulation for preaching without the permission of the Chinese government, and Father Pierre Fracois Cletis, buried alive for the same crime in 1840. Their tombs are found in th4 side chapels.Congregation de la Mission - Provence de France https://cmission.fr

The facade is Neo-classical and almost bare of decoration. A bust of Saint Vincent de Paul is placed in a niche over the portal.

File:Les lazaristes. Saint-Lazare. 2 dessins chapelle de St-Vincent-de-Paule. D.8021(963)(2).jpg|The chapel in. 1863

File:Chapelle Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, 95 rue de Sèvres, Paris 6e 9.jpg|bust of Saint Vincent de Paul over the portal

The lavishness of the interior compensates for the austerity of the facade.

The relics of the Saint, including his skeleton, are placed in a vessel suspended over the main alter. The vessel is lavishly decorated with sculptures in silver. It can be viewed from the two stairways on either wide of the altar.

File:Chapelle Saint-Vincent-de-Paul @ Paris (32163689902).jpg|Nave facing the entrance

File:Intérieur de la chapelle Saint-Vincent-de-Paul.jpg|Nave facing the choir

File:Autel Chapelle St-Vincent-de-Paul.jpg|The altar and the choir

Saint Vincent had died on 27 September 1660. The body of Saint Vincent had been placed in the Chapel of Sisters of Charity after his death. When the remains of Saint Vincent were uncovered in 1712, they were relatively intact; but the eyes and nose were gone. By 1737, however, only the skeleton remained intact.

Congregation de la Mission site, Chapelle Saint Vincent de Paul

The vessel for the relics was made by the jeweller Jean-Baptiste-Claude Odiot. It is 2.25 metres long sixty-five centimetres wide, and had a height in the center of about one meter. It is largely made of silver, and contains his skeleton. LAt one end is a waxen mask of the face and hand of the Saint. Above his head are the emblems of faith, hope, and charity, the three theological virtues associated with Vincent, carried by four angels. The vessel was funded by a public subscription from the people of Paris.Congregation de la Mission site, Chapelle Saint Vincent de Paul

File:Tomb of Saint-Vincent @ Chapelle Saint-Vincent-de-Paul @ Paris (32274197136).jpg|The reliquary

File:Saint Vincent de Paul 1.JPG|Sculpture of Saint Vincent in the tomb

File:Chapelle Saint Vincent de Paul - Staircase.JPG|The stairway to the reliquary

The chapel has a very fine collection of stained glass windows which depict scenes from the life of Saint Vincent de Paul.

File:Chapelle Saint Vincent de Paul - vitrail2.JPG

File:Chapelle Saint Vincent de Paul - vitrail detail1.JPG

File:Vitrail Christ aux Outrages.jpg|Christ facing his tormenters

File:Chapelle Saint Vincent de Paul - vitrail detail3.JPG|Saint Vincent with Cardinal Richelieu

Following the doctrine of Saint Vincent de Paul, the designers of the church used every art medium to create images could tell the story of Christ.

In the tribunes, a series of paintings illustrate the life of Christ and the Virgin Mary. Saint Vincent. They were created by Brother Francis, a brother of the Mission, who was a student of the painter Ingres.

File:P1280839 Paris VII chapelle St-Vincent chapelle rwk.jpg|Statue of Mary in the chapel of the Virgin

File:Chapelle Saint-Vincent-de-Paul @ Paris (31502482273).jpg|Chapel ceiling decoration

File:P1280834 Paris VII chapelle St-Vincent statue bois rwk.jpg|Wooden angel

File:Chap Lazaristes chdecroix.jpg|Way of the Cross: Simon de Cedrine

File:Chapelle Saint-Vincent-de-Paul @ Paris (32193786791).jpg|Saint Joseph and the Christ Child

File:Orgue de St-Vincent-de-Paul.jpg

From 1845 until 1852, the organist of the church was Louis Braille, best known for his work with the blind. The organ of the chapel was built in 1864 by the workshop of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll.

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.paris.catholique.fr/-chapelle-saint-vincent-de-paul-.html Paris Catholique]
• [https://cmission.fr/index.php/2016/06/28/1525/ Guide of the chapel]
• [https://cmission.fr/communautes/maison-mere/chapelle-saint-vincent-de-paul-paris Chapel website]
• [https://cmission.fr/communautes/maison-mere/chapelle-saint-vincent-de-paul-paris/] Congregation de la Mission site

{{Coord|48.8488|2.3218|display=title}}

Vincent de Paul

Category:Congregation of the Mission

Category:19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in France