PARAY-LE-MONIAL, SANCTUARY of. - This city belongs to the diocese of Autun; it was an ancient Benedictine priory (10th cent.) and is one of the most important holy places in France. The piety emanating from it and the enduring memories of s. Margherita Maria Alacoque (v.) draw numerous pilgrims there every year. There, in 1673, Our Lord asked the Saint to spread devotion to His Most Sacred Heart. In 1688 the first chapel dedicated to the Sacred Heart was blessed there, and in 1873 the great pilgrimages began. In Jan. 1875, Card. Perraud obtained from the Pontiff the title and privileges of a minor basilica for the ancient Benedictine church of P.-le-M., and also obtained that the feast of the Sacred Heart be declared its patronal feast.
BIBL.: U. Chevalier, Chartularium prioratus B. M. de Paredo Monachorum, Montbéliard 1891; C. Oursel, P.-le-M. et Chouv, Digione 1926; J.-M. Tissier, Grands sanctuaires de France, Parigi 1928; Cottineau, II, cols. 2188-89. Romualdo Souran