(Adoration Chapel)
17 rue Voltaire, Grenoble, France [ Map ]
Grenoble’s historic Adoration Chapel is located on the ground floor of a three-storey building fronting rue Voltaire (formerly rue Saint Vincent-de-Paul). The building dates back to the late seventeenth century, despite its appearance of more recent construction due to renovations in the early twentieth century. The interior of the chapel features fifteenth century wooden prieu-dieux and an imposing classical altar with a seventeenth century altarpiece.
The Adoration Chapel was originally built for the White Penitents of Our Lady of Gonfalon. Other religious societies to have been associated with this chapel over the years include the Confraternity of Mercy, the Society of Christian Charity, and the Brothers of the Christian Schools (also known as the De La Salle Brothers). When Eymard was alive in the mid-nineteenth century, the chapel was in the pastoral care of the Missionaries of La Salette. Today, the building is occupied by the Sisters of Our Lady of La Salette. The chapel also serves as a regular place of worship for the Russian Orthodox Church in Grenoble.
Significance
St Peter Julian Eymard celebrated his last Mass at the Adoration Chapel in Grenoble. Shortly before his death in 1868, Eymard made his final journey from Paris to La Mure via Lyon and Grenoble. At around 11.00am on 21 July 1868, he reached Grenoble. Partially paralysed from a stroke a few weeks earlier, Eymard was seriously ill and near to death. He went straight to the Adoration Chapel and asked the Missionaries of La Salette for permission to say Mass in their chapel. The resident priest Fr Pierre Archier saw that Eymard could not stand up and was barely fit to say Mass, but he recognised that Eymard could not be dissuaded. With Fr Archier’s assistance, Eymard completed the celebration that meant so much to him. Fr Archier said later: ‘I practically carried him in my arms when he left the altar’.
Eymardian Places 