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Origin and history

The Church of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, originally named Church of the Immaculate Conception, is built in the 19th century in the hamlet of Mas Rillier, in Miribel (Ain). Before its construction, the inhabitants had to go to the Saint-Martin church or to the Saint-Romain chapel, a route made difficult in winter by the elevation of the Chemin de la Vacherie. The decision to build a local church was taken in 1856, financed by the villagers themselves.

Work began on 6 June 1856 after obtaining prefectural authorizations (prefect Louis-Charles-Emmanuel de Coëtlogon) and ecclesiastical (Bishop Chalandon). The church was completed on 22 September 1857 and delivered to worship on 12 September 1858 under the name of the Immaculate Conception. It became a branch of Saint-Romain in 1862 by imperial decree. Its architecture, in the shape of a Latin cross, includes a nave of 13 meters, a transept and a choir with apse.

In 1931, Abbé Pierre Thomas arrived in a parish weakened by the 1870 wars and tensions of 1904. He renamed the Church of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart on 5 June 1932 and initiated the construction of a statue of the Virgin and a carillon. Inside is a carved reproduction of the Virgin of Mas Rillier and a painting by Tony Tollet depicting Virgin and Child Jesus.

The building, facing east-west, has a square bell tower surmounted by a hexagonal roof, similar to that of the Saint-Roman church. Since 2012, it has been served by the Mas Rillier centre stop on lines 1 and 3 of the Colibri network. Today, it depends on the diocese of Belley-Ars, in the ecclesiastical province of Lyon.

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