St. Vincent de Paul

Paris, France Relics enshrined in 1830 Wax face and hands

Shrine location

Maison Mere, Paris

The Congregation of the Mission preserves Vincent de Paul’s remains at 95 Rue de Sevres in Paris.

Translation date

April 25, 1830

The official chapel history dates the solemn transfer of the relics to the motherhouse chapel to April 25, 1830.

Visible presentation

Wax face and hands

The chapel description explicitly states that the visible face and hands in the shrine are wax restorations.

Reliquary maker

Charles Odiot

The official history attributes the silver shrine to Charles Odiot and says it was donated in the name of the Diocese of Paris.

Primary-source file

Official chapel history The chapel

Official Maison Mere history of the chapel, the translation of the relics, and the present reliquary presentation.

cmmaisonmere.org Official motherhouse presentation Priests and Brothers of the Congregation of the Mission

This Maison Mere page presents 95 Rue de Sevres as the shared motherhouse where visitors experience the continuing legacy of St. Vincent de Paul.

cmmaisonmere.org Official motherhouse site Maison Mere home page

The official motherhouse site presents the present-day house, chapel, and Vincentian legacy preserved in Paris.

cmmaisonmere.org

Publicly documented chronology

Year	Development
1817	The Congregation of the Mission moved its motherhouse to Rue de Sevres.[1]
1826	The foundation stone of the chapel was laid.[1]
1827	The chapel was completed and consecrated.[1]
1830	The relics of St. Vincent de Paul were translated in solemn procession to the chapel.[1]
1854	The monumental altar and easier access to the reliquary were added.[1]

What visitors see in Paris

Visitors to the Vincentian motherhouse in Paris do not walk up to a simple coffin or bare tomb. They see a large silver shrine above the main altar, containing the remains of St. Vincent de Paul.^[1] The official chapel history is unusually clear about what pilgrims are looking at: the remains are inside the shrine, but the face and hands visible from outside are wax reconstructions.^[1]

That matters because people sometimes speak about this case as if pilgrims were simply looking at Vincent’s untouched body. The official shrine description gives a more careful picture. What visitors see today is a formal shrine presentation of preserved remains, transferred to Rue de Sevres on April 25, 1830, and displayed in a chapel built around Vincent’s memory and mission.^[1]

Vincent file

1. Remains Reliquary, not bare body Pilgrims see a formal silver shrine, not an untouched body displayed in the open.
2. 1830 Public translation The relics were carried in solemn procession through Paris to the motherhouse chapel.
3. Today Wax and relics together The official chapel page openly says the visible face and hands are wax while the remains rest within the shrine.

Open full graphic

St. Vincent de Paul’s public file is a shrine-and-reliquary record: preserved remains, solemn translation to Rue de Sevres in 1830, and a present display that openly includes wax restoration. Site explainer graphic

Official chapel description The most important public clarification in this case is simple: the shrine itself says the visible face and hands are wax, while Vincent’s remains are preserved within the reliquary.

That makes the page more concrete and more honest. Readers are not being asked to imagine an untouched visible body when the official chapel page itself describes a restored reliquary presentation.

Maison Mere chapel history Open source

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The chapel and reliquary setting

The current shrine belongs to a larger 19th-century building project at the Vincentian motherhouse.^[1]

• the Congregation moved its motherhouse to Rue de Sevres in 1817^[1]
• the foundation stone of the chapel was laid in 1826^[1]
• the chapel was completed and consecrated in 1827^[1]
• the monumental altar and easier access to the reliquary were added in 1854^[1]

The same source says the silver shrine was made by Charles Odiot and donated in the name of the Diocese of Paris.^[1]

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The 1830 translation

One reason this case is well documented is that the transfer of the relics into the present chapel was a public event. The Maison Mere history says that on April 25, 1830, the shrine was carried in solemn procession through Paris from the square in front of Notre Dame Cathedral to the motherhouse chapel.^[1]

That procession included:

• a major public devotional display in Paris^[1]
• a thousand Daughters of Charity^[1]
• among them, the young Catherine Laboure, who had only recently arrived from Burgundy^[1]

So even before getting into later incorruptibility discussions, the shrine already belongs to a public, traceable Vincentian history in Paris.

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Documentation note

St. Vincent is often grouped among the incorrupt saints, but the official chapel description is careful about what pilgrims actually see today.

It says plainly that:

• the reliquary contains the remains of St. Vincent^[1]
• the face is wax^[1]
• the hands are wax as well^[1]

So this is not a case where the present shrine display can be described simply as an untouched visible body. The official public presentation is a shrine containing preserved remains, with wax used for the visible facial features and hands.

How this case is usually classified

St. Vincent’s remains have long been discussed in Catholic incorruptibility literature. The official shrine material also makes clear that what pilgrims see today is a reliquary presentation with wax restoration over visible features.

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What else the shrine preserves

The official description of the shrine is more elaborate than many quick summaries suggest.^[1] It notes:

• a painted and varnished wooden cross placed in the saint’s hands^[1]
• a small silver reliquary beneath the crucifix containing fragments of the True Cross and relics of St. Vincent^[1]
• a coral statue of the Blessed Virgin with the child Jesus and the child John the Baptist below the cross^[1]

These details show that the public object is not just a box holding remains. It is a carefully designed devotional shrine built around Vincent’s memory.

The current Maison Mere pages also present the motherhouse itself as a continuing Vincentian center where the memory of St. Vincent is still experienced through the chapel, community life, and preserved heritage at 95 Rue de Sevres.^{[2] [3]}

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Public shrine record

The official public record says that St. Vincent’s remains have been preserved and venerated in Paris since 1830, in a shrine that openly combines relic preservation with wax coverings over the visible face and hands.^[1]

The shrine presentation includes:

• preserved remains
• a public shrine setting
• a clear statement about what is original remains and what is later wax restoration

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References

1. Maison Mere, Congregation of the Mission. “The chapel.” Official chapel history describing the reliquary of St. Vincent de Paul, the 1830 translation of the relics, the wax face and hands visible in the shrine, and the wider chapel setting. Available at: https://cmmaisonmere.org/en/the-chapel/
2. Maison Mere, Congregation of the Mission. “Priests and Brothers of the Congregation of the Mission.” Official motherhouse page describing the continuing Vincentian presence and legacy at 95 Rue de Sevres in Paris. Available at: https://cmmaisonmere.org/en/priests-and-brothers/
3. Maison Mere, Congregation of the Mission. Official site of the motherhouse of the Congregation of the Mission in Paris. Available at: https://cmmaisonmere.org/