Paris is also home to great faith
Beyond romance and elegance, the City of Light is also a place of great faith. Paris is not only a humongous fashion house; it is also home to hundreds of big and small churches.
While some of these places of worship are already icons because of their size and their outstanding architecture, say, the newly restored Notre-Dame Cathedral or the Sacré-Cœur Basilica, there are many hidden gems of faith around Paris.
A Marian pilgrimage to the French capital is not complete without visiting its many churches. And if the sightseeing starts with a jump shot before the Eiffel Tower, consider the wrought-iron lattice tower a symbol of God, too, if taken from the perspective of a pilgrim.
“Yes, the Eiffel Tower is not a place of worship but when we see beauty in the world, it reflects the greatness and love of God. We marvel on His works through the hands of man,” said Fr. Dave Concepcion, the chaplain of the pilgrimage organized by Catholic Travel Inc. last May.
Faith is instinctive, and the human race can create structures to fortify faith. Take, for example, the relatively modern Sacré-Cœur Basilica. Built beginning in 1875 and, according to our tour guide, consecrated in 1919 after the Franco-Prussian War, the Sacred Heart Church is immaculately perched 130 meters atop Montmartre, the highest point in Paris after the Eiffel Tower. Inside the church, on its ceiling below the altar, the commanding 475-sq.-m. Christ in Majesty mosaic is enough for the faithful to genuflect and be mesmerized by the genius of man and the presence of God.
“Inside and outside Sacre Coeur is an experience for my husband and me. Nakakakilabot pagmasdan ang presensya ng Diyos (We had goosebumps witnessing the presence of God),” said Erlinda Landig, a faithful from our group of 80 Filipino pilgrims.
Her husband, Sixto Landig, who is legally blind, said, “We rely on faith all the time. I just feel happy and blessed to be able to go up to Sacre Coeur for the first time and be in the quiet presence of God.”
The loving Landig couple, dubbed the Marian Rivera-Dingdong Dantes of the group because of their sweetness to each other, are businessmen from Virac, Catanduanes.
‘Father of the Poor’
In the 10th arrondissement of Paris, we stopped to visit the Church of St. Vincent de Paul. As a French Catholic priest born to a peasant family, St. Vincent de Paul (1581-1660) is called the “Apostle of Charity” and “Father of the Poor.” He founded the Congregation of the Mission of Vincentian priests. To many pilgrims who have read of his good deeds, St. Vincent de Paul is remembered for organizing hospitals, orphanages, and relief operations for victims of war and famine in Europe.
“To be able to visit holy places and wander around their amazing architecture is already a blessing. It feels surreal to be in the presence of God with pilgrims of the same faith,” said Elvira Ngan, a Filipino retired banker based in Australia.
Elvira and the other pilgrims were solemnly silent inside the neo-classical Church of St. Vincent de Paul. The saint’s waxed mortal remains inside a silver and glass coffin are elevated above the main altar of the Church of St. Vincent de Paul. His incorrupt heart is placed in a separate reliquary that is now inside the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal on Rue du Bac.
‘How do we become good Catholics?’
In his homily at the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Paris, Fr. Dave Concepcion, president of Catholic Travel Inc., asked the faithful: “How do we become good Catholics?”
Fr. Dave, before answering the question, explained that Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal is a title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary after she appeared to St. Catherine Laboure, a novice in the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, in Paris in 1830.
“The story is that Mary instructed St. Catherine Laboure to have a medal made based on the images she saw in the apparition. It came with a promise from the Blessed Mother that special graces would be given to those who would wear the medal with confidence in their hearts,” Fr. Dave said.
According to online sources, it was originally called the Medal of the Immaculate Conception. When numerous reported healings and favors among its wearers in France and around the world were heard and documented, it became widely known as the Miraculous Medal.
“Visiting the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Paris was a deeply meaningful and unforgettable experience for me. The moment I entered the chapel, after waiting for a few minutes outside its gate under the rain, I felt a profound sense of peace, calm, and reverence. Being in the very place where the Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Catherine Laboure made the experience feel especially sacred and personal,” said Edna de Ramos, a US-based Filipino nurse.
“Being baptized Catholics, we are obliged to worship God, preach the Gospel, and serve the poor,” Fr. Dave began to answer the question he asked at the beginning of his homily.
“Being a Catholic is a question of obedience. Jesus ascended to heaven because someday we will ascend with him,” he added.
Inside the serene Church of Our Lady of Miraculous Medal with pastel-toned walls decorated with classic divine images, Fr. Dave said, “To answer how you can become a good Catholic is to answer how you can become a good human being. You can’t be a good Catholic if you can’t be a good person.”
“In the twilight of our lives, God will not ask how much we made or where we traveled. He will ask how much love we’ve given,” he concluded.
In Paris, where more than a hundred chapels and churches abound, faith is served in style only the heart can fashion.
