MOBILE TOUR GUIDE
SAINT-ANTOINE CHAPEL
(formerly Chapel of the Immaculate Heart of Mary)
Today dedicated to Saint-Antoine, this chapel was built in 1871 by Abbé Lecoutre thanks to the collections made by him (medallion on the left wall) for the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary linked to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (chapel facing it) took on particular impetus in 1854 with the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception by Pope Pius IX. Abbé Lecoutre once again inscribes his church in a modern faith.
The altar, inscriptions and stained glass windows are dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
The base of the altar includes three sculptures which represent high places of Marian worship in the 19th century: Notre-Dame de la Salette, Notre-Dame de Boulogne and Notre-Dame de Lourdes.
On the retable of the altar are inscribed in golden letters the 4 Latin words Ave, Sponsa, Mater, Filia, which can be translated as "Hail to you Wife of God, Mother of God, Daughter of God"
Also depicted are representations of the Immaculate Heart of Mary crowned with a flower and the Sacred Heart of Jesus crowned with a cross.
The stained glass windows represent in particular the Council of Ephesus in 431 which defined the two natures, human and divine, of Christ and fixed the dogma of the Virgin Mary "Mother of God".
In the cul-de-lamp on the ceiling are inscribed "To my mother" and "My heart"
On the ceiling of the chapel is reproduced in Latin a text probably on the Virgin Mary but difficult to read.
On the left wall is a painting depicting Our Lady of Boulogne.
Abbé Lecoutre created a mosaic labyrinth on the left wall which takes up the design of the labyrinth of the Saint-Bertin Abbey of Saint-Omer, since destroyed but whose design was preserved and reproduced in the 19th century in the Cathedral of Saint -Omer.