2024 Core Leader Pilgrimage to France
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Walking Tour of Le Puy for Sisters of Saint Joseph and Associates
Text by Sheila Holly, SSJ (Philadelphia, 2008)
There is a wonderful book that is called Le Puy-en-Velay: Excitement, Colors, and Fun which is sold in Le Puy in a number of different languages. The photos by Francis Debaisieux are extraordinary. The cost is reasonable (15.00 € for the larger version, and 7.50 € for the smaller version). I would suggest that people buy a copy for themselves for referencing and remembering the city, but there are aspects of our history and sites important to us that won’t be recorded there.
Of course, the first of those sites is the former Motherhouse of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Le Puy. Since 1994 when seven Congregations reconfigured to become what is now known simply as Institute Saint Joseph, that building has been renovated to become a Maison de Retrait, the French term for a house of retirement. Aged and infirm sisters live there, and the building houses several small semi-retired communities, as well. This building is presently operated by a Lay Association, and Simone makes the arrangements for visits to the Kitchen and Archives.
To get to this building from Centre International Saint Joseph follow these directions.
Leave our driveway and turn right. At the YIELD sign cross the street (chemin du Jalavoux) and walk in back of Super U, our local supermarket. At the end of that building, turn left and go over the Crooked Bridge (Pont Tordu, pp. 101-102). You are crossing the River Borne which flows into the longest river in France. It flows northward then westward, emptying into the Atlantic! Back to the directions!
At the somewhat busy street (rue de Bonneville), turn right. Proceed past the Florist and the Cave (Wine Shop). At the Pharmacie, there is a traffic light which is usually just blinking. Push the button for the light to turn green, and cross the street. On your left you will see a sign for the Public School of Aiguilhe (L’Ecole Publique d’Aguilhe). There are also some tennis courts and the Salle Polyvalente on your left. You will see the renowned Chapelle St. Michel on your right. (Consult pp. 94-99).
Halfway up the hill, turn right toward St. Michel. Right beside the pavement you are on is another pavement with steps. This is a good marker that you are in the right place. Almost as soon as you notice these steps, you are crossing rue Crozatier (at the fountain), and stepping onto rue Chosson right in front of you. Take rue Chosson to the front entrance for St. Michel (about 10 feet!). Right in front of that entrance, turn left on rue de Rocher, a lovely crooked old little street. Walk one block on rue de Rocher, and you will be facing Bar du Rocher Bar/Tabac/Presse.
(You might want to read the signs on your left that give historical facts about Aiguilhe, stop into the St. Clair Chapel (pp. 100-101), or see the “magic square” just to the left of St. Clair Chapel.)
As you face the Bar, you will see signs for the schools: Collège St. Joseph-Le Rosaire, Lycee Jacques de Compostello. There are also signs for the Cathedral and the Notre Dame Statue. These signs are directing you left onto Boulevard Montferrand. So cross the street (Place St. Clair) and follow those signs.
As you walk along Blvd. Montferrand, notice the views to your right. You will see a huge statue of Saint Joseph atop a chateau-like building. This is a special shrine to Saint Joseph in the little area known as Espaly (p. 134). You will see the steeple for St. Laurent Parish Church off to the right, too (pp. 92- 93).
On your left are the school buildings. These buildings and the ones they are connected to all belonged to the Sisters of Saint Joseph at one time. The present parking lot for the school was the former cemetery for the Sisters. Near to the corner of Blvd Montferrand, you will see a small nondescript doorway, address #2, which is the entrance for one of the small communities of sisters living in that part of the building. Right next to it, notice some of the plaster has been chipped away to reveal the date of the building—1705.
At the corner, go left on rue des Farges and proceed to rue des Tables. As you walk up this block, notice some of the religious statues above doorways, as well as the dates on some of the buildings.
The first part of the wall on your left is still part of the former Motherhouse buildings. You will see several green doors that are entrances into the sections of the building where the Sisters live. The old tower right across from these doors has the date 1631 on it. The door to that building is exquisitely carved.
After about 2 short blocks, you will be at rue des Tables. Turn left. You will be facing The Cathedral. About halfway up this street, turn left. (The first street is rue Boucherie Haute. The second street is rue Anatole France. But you are taking the third street. At that corner, there is no sign, but farther along you will see the sign for rue L’Ancienne Four a Poissons: the Old Fish Oven).
Walk straight ahead and you will see a large brown door with a circular clear glass window above it. That is the marker that you are at Soeurs de Saint Joseph, 13 Place Saint Maurice. Simone will be at the door to greet you. Place St. Maurice is on your right. (This is a sandbox-like parking lot!).
After you have visited the Kitchen and Archives, when you leave that building, you will proceed straight back on the small street you used to get back to 13 Place St Maurice. You come to rue des Tables again.
This wider street is so named for the tables that used to be set up there for selling lace and other items made by crafts people. When you look to the left, you will be looking at the façade of the Cathedral again. But you will turn right and proceed back to rue des Farges where you will turn left. Be sure to notice again the dates of the buildings.
And notice the shops you may want to return to. This street rue des Tables has a number of lovely lace shops. The one with the mannequin outside is one that we frequent. Martine, the lacemaker, is a friend of ours. Tell her that you are connected with the Center. Martine speaks some English, so that is a help. On the corner where you turn left is Souvenirs du Puy, another lovely shop that we frequent. It is painted a greenish color. This shop is larger and has a large variety of gift ideas. These ladies know us, too, and even though they don’t speak much English, we and our visitors always manage.
Left at rue des Farges. This street changes its name several times. At this point, it is rue Raphael for about a stone’s throw. Then rue Raphael bears left, exactly at the Lace School (l’Ecole Dentelles). Here it becomes rue Chenebouterie. Just keep following this crooked street with many names for about three block until you come to Place du Plot, a large square with a lovely fountain. Here you will turn left again.
Now you will be on rue Panessac, another street that changes its name a lot. If you turned right and proceeded along the main street, you would be at what remains of one of four entrances to Le Puy when it was a walled city (pp.90-91, 106).
On this street when the first women were beginning to come together to form the new Congregation, Madame Lucrece de la Planche housed them temporarily in a property that she owned. We do not know which house that was but it was toward the entrance gate to the right. But remember you are going left.
All along this street are lovely little boutiques, cafes, and restaurants some of which you will see as you continue on rue Panessac (Well, now it is called rue Courrerie and will change its name several times, too!) until you come to the next open square, Place du Martouret. The word “martouret” is derived from an old Latin word that was used for cemeteries. At one time there was a hillside cemetery located just to your left. Right now there is construction for a new building on that spot. It sounds like “martyrs” but that is not what it means.
Stand right in front of the Hotel de Ville (City Hall), and you will be facing a lovely tree. There is a memorial marker there that commemorates the war dead who came from Le Puy. But tradition has it that this is the spot where the guillotine was brought for executions during the French Revolution. This makes sense because the Hotel de Ville was built in 1766 and existed at the time of the Revolution. Officials would have had to witness the executions of the condemned.
To our knowledge, two sisters were guillotined here on June 17, 1794: Sister Jeanne Marie Aubert, and Sister Marie Anne Garnier. They were accused of harboring priests who had not signed the Constitutional Oath and who were thereby considered outlaws. We had three other sisters guillotined in a town called Privas: Mother St. Croix, Sister Madeleine, Sister Toussaint. These sisters were executed on August 5, 1794, days after the Revolution ended on July 27, 1794. Their crime was the same: helping “outlawed priests.”
As you face the tree and look up the hillside to your left, you will see the Office of Tourism. This is a good place to get information and maps about the city, and it is a great landmark for finding your way around town. The street to the left of the tree is rue Meymard. On the corner is a jeweler’s shop. Next to that is SUD Express, a clothing shop. Then there is Café du Velay. Right there, there is a little street between that café and the TamTam Café. That little street is rue du Collège. There is a sign high up on the wall on the right, which you cannot see from where you are—of course Actually, this street looks like an old driveway rather than a street, but that just attests to its antiquity!
As you face the tree and look up the hillside you will see the Office of Tourism. This is a good place to get information and maps about the city, and it is a great landmark for finding your way around town. The street to the left of the tree is rue Meymard. On the corner there is a jeweller’s shop. Next to that is SUD Express, a clothing shop. Then there is Café du Velay. Right there, there is a little street between that café and the TamTam Café. That little street is rue de Collège. There is a sign high up on the wall on the right. Actually, this street looks like an old driveway rather than a street, but that just attests to its antiquity!
Turn right on that street between the two cafés and make your way for one block and you will be in front of the Eglise de Collège. This was the church run by the Jesuits for their college (high school age students). Jean François Regis, SJ, who was a contemporary of Jean Pierre Medaille, SJ, worked here and was very highly thought of because of all that he did to help persons who were poor.
Here is an example. Lace making has always been an important industry to Le Puy, but there was a time when it became such a craze among the very rich, that the King put a stop to it. People were selling off whole kingdoms to buy more and more lace! To help his people who depended on selling their lace to keep starvation away from their doors, Jean François Regis kept the art form alive by selling pieces to other Jesuits in mission lands around the world and eventually pleaded with the King to restore lace making. The King listened to him, lace making was restored, and when Jean François Regis was canonized, he was named the Patron of Lace Makers. You can see the devotion of the people to this present day when you look at the side altar which is dedicated to Saint Jean Francois Regis.
Back to Eglise de Collège. This church, done in true baroque style, has pretty much remained unchanged since the time of Regis. Actually, it was the first baroque church built in all of France, and it was modeled after the Gesu in Rome, the Jesuit church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. When the lights are on in the church, you can see how exquisite it is, but usually the lights are not on.
As a missionary working in Le Puy, Jean Pierre Medaille would have celebrated Mass in this church, and would have preached here as well. It is this fact, and the fact that most likely many of our Sisters worshipped here, that touches the hearts of our Sisters, Associates, and Friends.
When you leave l’Eglise de Collège turn left on rue du Bessat to go about a block. You are back on the main street just down a little from the Martyrs’ Tree. Here it is called rue Chaussade. Turn left and continue for about a block to Place de Theron. Here you will make a right. On the corner is a GREAT coffee/tea shop called La Brulerie. A few doors down is Le Coin Gourmand which sells GREAT chocolate! Continue for about a block and you will be at the traffic light for the main street called Boulevard Marechal Fayolle. Look left, and VOILA! You are at the Hotel Regina!
This main street which is quite wide goes entirely around the Old City. This is where the fortified protective wall was located when Le Puy was a walled city. Staying on this street, you could walk entirely around the Old City, keeping your eye on the Statue of Notre Dame de France as your guide. This street also has several name changes as you will see on your maps.
The information markers that dot the city are very informative. They were put in place in 2005 to help pilgrims get around in the Jubilee Year. (Jubilees, p. 72)
The Cathedral
Much of the material for the Cathedral is found in the above cited work, pages 16 to 61. This account covers the art, the architecture, the murals, the frescoes, the cloister and chapter house, the chapel of relics and the sacristy/treasury, as well as a brief history of the Black Madonna. The facts and the photos are extraordinary to anyone reading this.
The introductory material to Le Puy found on pages 12 and 13, I think, are important to our pilgrims because those pages situate this city in its long and varied history. From other sources, I have gathered these facts that I love and love to share. Remember, I am not an expert, just someone who loves all this.
Background
The Massif Central is a wild and rugged and beautiful area that covers one-fifth of all of France. It is an area that is over 250 million years old, and one that has experienced millennia of light and darkness, beginning with its coming into being in the fiery outpourings of volcanic eruptions. (If the pilgrims get to visit St. Michel, they will see a film at the end/beginning of their visit that will highlight some of this.)
The Crozatier Museum in town and the Museum at the Cloisters contain artifacts that show that this area, a lush volcanic core, had been inhabited since the Paleolithic Age. There were ancient Celts or Gauls here, who under the leadership Chief Vercingetorix, defeated Caesar in his first attempt to invade Gaul. When this Chief was eventually defeated, Gaul became Roman-Gaul. (Personally, I LOVE this part of the story!)
An ancient place of pagan worship in these earliest times, Le Puy becomes a place of Christian worship. There are proofs of Christian presence here dating from the third and fourth centuries. By most accurate accounts, it is said that Bishop Scutarius was the first Bishop here. He moved to the area near the present Cathedral after a series of miraculous events took place.
A Roman Christian woman of some importance was suffering from a fever. She was led to Mount Anis and lay on a dolmen stone that was believed to have curative power. There she had a vision of Mary who requested that a church be built on that site in her honor. The woman’s fever was miraculously cured. More signs followed, and the Bishop began building the church between 415 and 430 AD.
That church was the beginning of the present day Cathedral, a far more elaborate structure that became necessary because of all the pilgrims who began to come to this site for prayer and for healing. The Cathedral has also been—and still is today—one of the four departure points for the pilgrims en route to Santiago de Compostella. (If your pilgrims go to the 7:00AM Mass at the Cathedral, they may witness a group of pilgrims being blessed and sent on their way.)
Thirteen kings have visited Le Puy including Charlemagne in the eighth century. Six popes have been to Le Puy and many saints, including St. Dominic and St. Anthony of Padua. In 1429, Isabelle Romèe, the mother of St. Joan of Arc, came here to pray for her daughter who was then in prison. St. Thérèse of Lisieux, along with her father, passed through Le Puy on their way back from Rome after Thérèse had asked the Pope’s permission to enter Carmel. And did you know that a Bishop of Le Puy wrote the Salve Regina? Bishop Adehmar de Monteil was that person.
One historian has said that Le Puy was the Lourdes of the Middle Ages. In both places Mary appeared and wanted shrines built in her honor. In both places there were springs of healing waters and many cures. (The Le Puy spring has been covered over for some reason.) To both places, people continue to come to this very day: to Lourdes, for 150 years (This year is the anniversary year); to Le Puy for over 1500 years! Along with Chartres, Le Puy is the oldest Marian shrine in all of France.
Some Cathedral Facts Pertinent to Our History
I mention all this to highlight some important history of this town of Le Puy where the Sisters of Saint Joseph were founded and of this Cathedral located so close to the original Kitchen. We can assume that our sisters worshipped here, and some accounts tell us that Medaille was invited by the Bishop to preach here, as well.
As you face the main altar, on your left you will see a large wooden crucifix. Go to that part of the Cathedral. On the floor you will see the healing stone, the large black stone that was part of a dolmen. It was on this stone that Mary appeared, cured the Roman Christian woman, and asked that a church be built on this site in her honor.
Next, look on the left wall. There is a large plaque there listing the names of every Bishop who has served in the diocese of Le Puy-en-Velay from early Roman times to the present. Since they are listed chronologically, you will find the name of Henri de Maupas in the 17th century area of the plaque. The Bishop’s full name is a rather long one: Henri Cauchon de Maupas du Tour, and the dates of his ministry were 1641- 1661. You will remember that Bishop de Maupas gave official church recognition to the new little Congregation, the Sisters of Saint Joseph, in 1650, a few years after his ministry began.
All of the other things about the Cathedral are important and its interior is exquisite, but to Sisters of Saint Joseph, our Associates, and Partners in Mission this piece of history is profoundly significant.