My Journey

Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal

The small Daughters of Charity chapel at 140 rue du Bac where Saint Catherine Labouré received the apparitions of 1830, where the Miraculous Medal devotion began, and where pilgrims now pray before her body.

FRANCE · PARIS 48.8505° N · 2.3236° E
Location
Paris, France 48.8505° N · 2.3236° E
Type
Marian Shrine / Relic Chapel An intimate 19th-century convent chapel shaped by later enlargement and sustained pilgrim use
Dedication
Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal The 1830 apparitions, Saint Catherine Labouré, and the Miraculous Medal within the Daughters of Charity motherhouse
Time Needed
30 minutes to 1 hour
Why Go

A Small Chapel With Global Reach

The passage from rue du Bac leads into a chapel far smaller than its worldwide devotion suggests. Pilgrims come here for the place itself: the altar associated with the apparitions, the body of Saint Catherine Labouré, the heart relic of Saint Vincent de Paul, and a living chapel where Mass, the Rosary, Confession, and the work of the Daughters of Charity remain close together.

The Apparitions and the Medal

In 1830, while Catherine Labouré was a young Daughter of Charity in formation at this motherhouse, she reported a series of apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. On 27 November she received the design that became known as the Miraculous Medal. The first medals were struck in 1832 and spread rapidly through Catholic life. The Church has received and encouraged this devotion, while maintaining the ordinary Catholic distinction: these events belong to private revelation and do not add to the definitive Revelation given in Christ. Catherine spent the rest of her life in hidden service to elderly and poor men at Reuilly. Her body was translated to this chapel in 1933.

The chapel was built in 1815 and later enlarged as pilgrimage grew. Its scale remains conventual rather than monumental. The altar, side shrines, reliquaries, and steady movement of worshippers make the interior read as an active devotional place, not as a gallery.

Rue du Bac is modest in scale but global in devotional reach.

It pairs naturally with the nearby Chapelle Saint-Vincent-de-Paul.

Spiritual Significance

Rue du Bac holds apparition, devotion, relic, and Vincentian service together. The medal is not a charm and the chapel is not a spectacle. Catholic devotion here turns toward Christ through Mary's intercession, then outward toward the charity embodied by Catherine, Vincent, Louise de Marillac, and the Daughters of Charity.

Do Not Miss · 3 stops

What to notice.

  1. The chapel’s quiet devotional atmosphere

  2. The connection to St. Catherine Labouré

  3. The proximity to Vincentian Paris

What to notice
  • How small the chapel feels compared with its global devotional reach.
  • The Vincentian context of the Daughters of Charity.
  • The difference between pilgrimage prayer and religious tourism.
Visit Plans · 2 plans

How much time, and what to do with it.

  • Duration 30 Minutes

    Enough for a focused prayer visit if the chapel is accessible.

  • Duration 1 Hour

    Better for prayer, context, and a slower visit.

How to Visit

Entering as a pilgrim, not a tourist.

Enter through 140 rue du Bac and expect an active, often crowded place of prayer. Check the official chapel site before relying on access or liturgy times, keep circulation quiet, and allow the chapel's celebrations and pilgrim flow to set the pace.

  • Daily Mass and common prayer according to the chapel schedule
  • Marian prayer and the Miraculous Medal devotion
  • Veneration of Saint Catherine Labouré and Saint Vincent de Paul
  • The living Vincentian charism of the Daughters of Charity
Current Practical Information · reviewed July 12, 2026

Plan around a living pilgrimage chapel.

The chapel publishes current access and celebration information. Verify the day before relying on a specific time.

Entrance
140 rue du Bac; Sèvres-Babylone is the nearest Métro
Character
Active chapel of prayer and pilgrimage
Public access
Open daily, with a regular midday closure except on Tuesdays; verify current notices before visiting.
Groups
Organized pilgrimages should arrange their visit through the chapel's pilgrimage reception service.
Relics, Tombs, Sacred Objects

What pilgrims come to venerate here.

Tomb and Burial

  • The body of Saint Catherine Labouré has been venerated in the chapel since its translation here in 1933, beneath the altar of Our Lady of the Globe.

Relics and Sacred Tradition

  • Pilgrims come to pray before the body of Saint Catherine Labouré in the chapel where she received the apparitions of 1830.
  • The heart of Saint Vincent de Paul is venerated separately here; his bodily relics are kept at the nearby Chapelle Saint-Vincent-de-Paul.

Sacred Objects

  • The altar associated with the apparition of 27 November 1830 keeps the origin of the Miraculous Medal devotion within the chapel's lived prayer.
  • The Miraculous Medal is a blessed devotional object whose imagery directs the faithful toward Christ's redemption and Mary's maternal intercession.
Connected Saints

How this place gathers the saints.

Saint Catherine Labouré The chapel of the Daughters of Charity at 140 Rue du Bac, where Catherine received the apparitions of 1830 and where Catholics have venerated her body since its translation there in 1933. Saint Vincent de Paul Heart relic The Daughters of Charity motherhouse chapel, within Vincent's own religious family, where his heart is venerated.
Continue Your Pilgrimage · Continue the day

Within walking distance.

Map · Paris, France

Plan around this place.

Editorial sources

Edited from the official Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal history and pilgrim guidance, the Holy See's Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, the Catechism's teaching on private revelation, and existing Eternal Roam saint and destination records.

Official

chapellenotredamedelamedaillemiraculeuse.com

Image credits
All photography credits
Last reviewed

July 12, 2026