Maison Mère: The Vincentian Motherhouse Renovation Project
This sprawling building with its four floors and very long hallways, is the international home of the Congregation of the Mission, where Vincentian priests and brothers have lived, prayed, studied, served, and more since the early 19th century.
Paris is our spiritual home. It is the city where St. Vincent lived and worked for many years. This house, our Maison Mère is the place where his legacy is preserved, his history displayed, and where he still seems to preside.
While we built this house for ourselves, we long have been welcoming guests to join us. Many groups use our meeting facilities, dining room, and guest rooms. Visitors find it to be exactly what they need, a place to gather to talk, to rest, and to make decisions about the future and how they are being called to serve.
Similarly, others come to make a retreat or to have study days. There is something delightful about seeing people spill out of our meeting rooms and dining room into our garden where they all admit the busy life of the city seems far, far away. There is a quiet here we all enjoy.
We are in the midst of an extensive renovation of our Maison Mère. This house is a treasure, and we want to make sure that 400 years from now, when the Congregation is celebrating 800 years of service to God’s beloved poor, it is still here and still a place where people grow in holiness.
Our renovation is a slow and careful process. We are preserving and protecting the reasons why people come here while also making the place accessible to everyone, comfortable for our overnight guests and those who come for meetings and more. In the end, this house will be better, not different.
Will you help us make this possible? Will you help us ensure this treasure that carries so much of our history has a long future? We welcome your gift and your presence.
To read more about Maison Mere, please visit our blog here.
If you’d like to make a donation in a currency that isn’t listed, please email ladams@vims1617.org.