Paray-le-Monial


Paray-le-Monial

(pärā`-lə-mônyäl`), town (1990 pop. 10,568), Saône-et-Loire dept., E central France. Ceramics and hosiery are produced. In the 17th cent. St. Margaret Mary founded the cult of the Sacred Heart of Jesus there. With the growth of the cult in the 19th cent. Paray-le-Monial became second only to LourdesLourdes
, town (1990 pop. 16,581), Hautes-Pyrénées dept., SW France, at the foot of the Pyrénées. It is famous for its Roman Catholic shrine where Our Lady of Lourdes (Feast: Feb. 11) is believed to have repeatedly appeared (1858) to St. Bernadette.
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 as a pilgrimage site in France. The town's Romanesque Church of Notre Dame dates from the 12th cent.