As France headed towards a resounding victory in the World Cup final on Sunday night I was in the chapel of the Miraculous Medal at the Rue du Bac in Paris. We had rushed there in time for Vespers after a gruelling journey from out of town, caught up in the traffic heading home for the match.
I love this chapel. Though it is just through an arch at the end of a courtyard off a typical Parisian side street, it always feels like stepping into a different ambit altogether. It’s true that since Mary’s Child took flesh the threshold between the sacred and the profane is always to be found close by whenever I direct my own activity and affection towards the one who is God-With-Us. That there are particular physical places that invite and facilitate this, is part of the same lore of Incarnation. Rue du Bac is one such.
