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Origin and history

The building of the Congregation of the Mission of the Lazarists, located at 95 rue de Sèvres in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, is the heir of a religious and architectural history dating back to the 17th century. Founded in 1625 by Vincent de Paul, the Congregation of the Mission — also called Lazarists in reference to their installation in the former Saint-Lazarus enclosure, a leprosy — was first dedicated to the evangelization of the poor and the formation of priests. The present site, a former hotel of the Duke of Lorges (17th century), was awarded to them in 1817 by the French government, becoming their Mother House. The congregation, dissolved during the Revolution, found stability there after 1816.

The chapel, built between 1827 and 1858, houses major works such as the shawl of Saint Vincent de Paul (1827, by the goldsmith Odiot) and paintings by François Carbonnier, a pupil of Ingres. The buildings, organized around a paved courtyard with a neo-Renaissance pavilion, symbolize the Parisian anchor of the Lazarists. Partly classified as the Historical Monuments (1987 for the facades, 1993 for the chapel), this house remains an active spiritual place, welcoming pilgrims and members of the Vincentian Family, a network of 170 congregations inspired by Vincent de Paul.

The Congregation of the Mission swarmed around the world from the seventeenth century, with missions to Tunisia (1645), Madagascar (1648), or China (11th century), while suffering persecution (expulsions from Italy in 1871, from Germany in 1873). In the 19th century, the Parisian building embodied its resilience: after revolutionary spoliations and tensions with Napoleon, the Lazarists consolidated their role in the clerical formation and aiding the poor. Today, the site, owned by the congregation since 2006, perpetuates this legacy through renovations related to its 400th anniversary.

The architecture reflects this duality between history and modernity. The entrance, marked by a statue of Vincent de Paul, leads to a set where there are mixed aristocratic heritage (the former hotel of Lorges) and religious vocation. The Lazarists, present in 150 countries with nearly 4,000 members in the 21st century, celebrate their founder, canonized in 1737. The monument thus embodies both a material heritage (classified) and an international spiritual influence, linked to figures such as Louise de Marillac (co-founder of the Daughters of Charity) or the martyrs of the French Revolution.

Contemporary challenges, such as accusations of sexual assault against a priest in the congregation in 2024, recall the tensions between inheritance and current events. Yet the Mother House remains a symbol of Vincentian charity, a current that has inspired millions of people through educational, hospital and missionary works. Its monumental classification protects a place where art (paintings, shawls), history (Revolution, Restoration) and spirituality cross, while anchoring the Lazarists in the Parisian religious landscape.

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