Pilgrimage to France

The Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris remains one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture, from its completion in 1260 through the pillaging of the French Revolution in the 1790s and the damage caused by the fire of 2019. Explore the history of France’s most important cathedral – the inspiration for Victor Hugo’s novel, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame; the site of many coronations; and home to three rose windows, seventeenth-century tapestries of the life of Mary, 268 portraits of popes from St Peter to Francis, and relics of the Passion, including the crown of thorns, a piece of the True Cross, and a nail.

Sainte-Chapelle was built in the thirteenth century as a royal chapel to house Christ’s crown of thorns and other Passion relics, which are now held in Notre-Dame. Consisting of an upper and lower level, the stained glass in the upper chapel is the oldest in Paris and perhaps the most important example of thirteenth-century stained glass in the world – an astonishing 70% of the panes are original. The 1,113 biblical scenes spread across 15 windows give the illusion that the very walls of the chapel are made of glass and explain why tourists and pilgrims alike continue to flock here to soak in its splendor.

The Basilica of Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre is, as the name implies, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and is situated on the hilltop of Montmartre in Paris. Not only is the Basilica known for its dome which towers two hundred meters above the Seine, offering incredible views of Paris and making it the second most popular tourist destination in Paris after the Eiffel Tower, it is also a sanctuary of perpetual Eucharistic adoration, welcoming pilgrims and the faithful to encounter the merciful heart of Christ for over one hundred years.

The Chapel of Notre-Dame de la Médaille Miraculeuse is one of France’s main Marian shrines, dedicated to Mary, Virgin of Miracles. Built in 1813, the chapel was used by the Order of the Daughters of Charity and is where Mary appeared in 1830 to one of the sisters, St Catherine Labouré, asking that a medal of the Immaculate Conception be created and worn by the faithful – thus beginning the devotional practice of wearing what later became known as the Miraculous Medal. Here you can pray before the statue of Mary, Virgin of Miracles, and before the tomb of St Catherine Labouré and the relics of St Louise de Marillac and St Vincent de Paul.

A pilgrimage to France would not be complete without a visit to the Sanctuaire de Notre-Dame de Lourdes on the bank of the Gave de Pau River in the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains. Built at the site where Mary appeared to St Bernadette Soubirous in 1858 in the Grotto of Massabielle, the Sanctuary has three basilicas and is a place of healing with its miraculous springs where pilgrims can drink and bathe in the water as St Berandette was instructed to do by Our Lady. Join the nightly candlelight procession at the Sanctuary – a moving act of devotion that unites you to your fellow pilgrims as you seek healing from Our Lady of Lourdes.

The Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Chartres is a UNESCO World Heritage site regarded as perhaps the finest example of French Gothic architecture due to having undergone only minor changes since its construction in the thirteenth-century. The Cathedral is also an important pilgrimage site, housing a relic, the Sancta Camisa, believed to be Mary’s dress, and a statue of a Black Madonna. Chartres’ ninth-century crypt is the largest in Europe and its stained glass is particularly noteworthy, with its “Blue Virgin” and three rose windows as particular highlights among the 167 windows adorning the Cathedral.

The Basilica of Sainte-Thérèse de Lisieux is the second largest pilgrimage site in France, after Lourdes. The crypt is decorated with scenes from the life of St Therese and contains the tombs of her parents, Sts Louis and Zelie Martin. The Carmel of Lisieux is where St Therese lived as a Carmelite, spending nine years here before her death at the age of twenty-four, and continues to be an active Carmelite monastery. You can pray in the chapel, where there is a shrine to St Therese built over her tomb. Also part of the sanctuary is Les Buissonnets, St Therese’s family home in Lisieux, and the Cathedral of Saint-Pierre, where she made her first confession.

A ninety-minute drive from Normandy’s Omaha Beach is the stunning Abbaye du Mont-Saint-Michel, one of the first UNESCO World Heritage Sites and an architectural feat known as the ‘Wonder of the West’. The Benedictine abbey was originally founded on the island in the year 966 at the site of an eight-century sanctuary to St Michael the Archangel, and was later developed into the Gothic abbey admired today. A popular pilgrimage destination throughout the medieval period until the present day, Mont-Saint-Michel also served important military functions in both the Hundred Years’ War and World War I.