François de Pâris
François de Pâris (French pronunciation:
Life
He was born in Paris into a wealthy family,[1] the son of Nicolas de Pâris, Lord of Branscourt, Machault and Pasquy (1658–1714), and a member of the Parlement of Paris.[2] His mother, Charlotte Rolland, was the daughter of the mayor of Reims.[3] According to biographies published after his death, he was tutored as a young boy by Augustinians at Nanterre. Originally destined for a career in law, he went against his father's wishes and chose a career in the Church instead. In 1712 a bout of smallpox left his face horribly scarred, "an affliction for which he thanked God".[4] In 1713, at the age of 23, three months after the death of his mother in April,[5] he entered the seminary of the Oratory of St. Magloire, where he studied the scriptures.[4] In December 1713, his father Nicolas de Pâris made a will deposited with a notary before he died in March 1714.[5] François opposed the bull Unigenitus, which condemned Pasquier Quesnel's annotated translation of the Bible. He then gave further support to the Jansenists.[6] After three years at the Oratory, Pâris was ordained a deacon.[4] During his time there he gave to the poor his annual family pension, and there is evidence to suggest that he turned down a position as canon of Reims Cathedral in 1718 or 1719 because of his humble stance. During his later career he was associated with the College of Bayeux in Paris, a haven for Jansenist priests and follows, disturbed by the Church hierarchy or the authorities.[5]
François de Pâris retired to a modest house Faubourg Saint-Marceau, Paris, where he led a very austere life. Indeed, his living condition was so lowly that he "lodged in a hutch of planks set up in a courtyard, wore a hair shirt, and ate one meal a day, all while knitting stockings for the poor and giving advice to those who asked for it.[4] He modeled himself after St. Francis and was apparently considered a local saint by many.[7] His life has been described as one of "heroic humility".[1]
During the final years of his life, Pâris became increasingly reclusive, and his ascetic lifestyle became increasingly severe, and he practised self-flagellation:
His bare feet became cut and bruised from walking on the paving stones ... He slept on an old armoire, covered himself with a sheet bristling with iron wires that tore his flesh ... He wore a hair shirt, a spiked metal belt, and a chain around his right arm. He beat himself with an iron-tipped lash until the blood ran down his back. He lit no fire for warmth even during the coldest winter days.[8]
Death and aftermath
Only 36 years old, Pâris died on 1 May 1727. Large numbers of people from across the social spectrum, including the
In 1731, a phenomenal series of events began being reported at the graveyard which reportedly brought about extraordinary cures, apparently after people visiting experienced "violent convulsive movements which overtook the patients soon after their bodies touched the marble of the tomb, sometimes even without approaching it, by swallowing, in wine or water, a small portion of the earth gathered from around it."[11] These people became known as the "Convulsionnaires of Saint-Médard". At least 800 were reportedly cured by the convulsions of 1731, amongst them were several prominent people such as Louis Basile Carré de Montgeron, a well-respected magistrate and Counsellor of the Parliament of Paris who converted to Jansenism on the 7 September 1731 after experiencing a miracle at the tomb of François de Pâris.[11] He began compiling a 3 volume book of some 1800 pages afterwards in a work which is described as "one of the most extraordinary works that ever issued from the press."[11] Lives was also published in 1731, by Pierre Boyer,[12] Jean-Louis Barbeau de La Bruyère,[13] and Barthélémy Doyen.[14]
However, several writers believed that the extraordinary events at the graveyard were grossly exaggerated.
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 978-1-85435-731-1. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
- ^ Frémont, Léon (1900). Revue de Champagne et de Brie: Histoire – Biographie – Archéologie – Documents Inédits – Bibliographie – Beaux-arts. H. Menu. p. 701. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
- ^ Doyen, Barthélemy (1743). Vie du Bienheureux François de Pâris: Diacre. p. 189. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-827004-1. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
- ^ a b c Gouzi, Christine (2005). "L'image du diacre Pâris: portraits gravés et hagiographie". Chrétiens et sociétés. pp. 29–58. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
- ^ Chisholm 1911, pp. 803–804.
- ^ Strayer (2008), 237–38; Garrioch (2002), 142.
- ^ Strayer (2008), 238.
- ^ a b Chisholm 1911, p. 804.
- ^ Strayer (2008), 238–239; Garrioch (2002), 142–5.
- ^ The Atlantic Monthly, featured at Romancatholicism.org. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
- ^ Pierre Boyer (1731). La vie de monsieur de Paris, diacre. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
- ^ Jean-Louis Barbeau de La Bruyère (1731). La vie de M. François de Paris, diacre. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
- ^ Barthélémy Doyen (1731). Vie de Monsieur de Paris, Diacre du diocèse de Paris. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
Attribution:
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Paris, François de". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 803–804.
Bibliography
- Garrioch, David. 2002. The Making of Revolutionary Paris. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Strayer, Brian E. 2008. Suffering Saints: Jansenists and Convulsionnaires in France, 1640–1799. Brighton, UK: Sussex Academic Press.
Further reading
- P. F. Matthieu, Histoire des miracles et des convulsionnaires de St Medard;
- M. Tollemache, French Jansenists (London, 1893).
External links
Media related to François de Pâris at Wikimedia Commons
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