Sightings - Paris, France

The following series of slide shows were sent to us with descriptions written by Henry Bludau

. These were taken on his pilgrimages to Ars

, La Salette

, Loreto

, Lyon

, Mugnano

, Paris

and Rome

Paris, France

Paris is known in the books about our saint as being the place where a famous shrine of St. Philomena was set up in the Church of St. Gervais, just a stone's throw from Notre Dame itself. It was from here, at St. Philomena's altar that the French National Pilgrimage set out for LaSalette.

Here I found only the dismantled remains of this side chapel, victimized by the uncertainties of the twentieth century. There is a wooden altar still in the last chapel to the right of the organ. On it are six hexagonal-shaped paintings of St. Philomena, depicting the Virgin Mary and Infant Jesus appearing to her in her prison cell; St. Philomena being taken by angels to Heaven; St. Philomena refusing the imperial crown; St. Philomena relating her story to Mother Luisa in 1833; St. Philomena being received by Jesus in Heaven; the martyrdom of St. Philomena. Because the lighting was so poor and there was an iron gate blocking entrance to this side chapel, photographing this altar is very difficult, especially the far right side pictures. The pictures of the entire altar itself, and bright colorful ones with French writing are not mine, but are from the website of a French woman who went around and documented and photographed every remaining St. Philomena shrine, altar, statue she could uncover in France.

The colorful stained-glass window images of St. Philomena are found above the organ itself at St. Gervais.

At Notre Dame de LaSalette Church, in the south of Paris, are the remains of another former side altar to St. Philomena. All that is left is a tall white statue of the saint, in the left front corner next to the altar of St. Jean Vianney. Here to photograpphy was difficult and a clearer stand-in photograph taken from the French lady's website is substituted for the one I took. Right next to this statue, on the right wall, is a stained-glass window depicting St. Philomena in chains as France itself, in the aftermath of the destruction of the Commune uprising in Paris in 1872(?) Our Lady appears to her as Our Lady of LaSalette, whose apparition was in response to the depths France had descended spiritually since the time of the French Revolution. It was at this church, on rue Danzig, that the Archconfraternity of St. Philomena was first started in the late 19th century.