Eglise Notre-Dame de Sainte-Croix

The chapel is located in the Sainte Croix district, one of the oldest districts in the city of Le Mans. The current building replaces an earlier chapel, which was probably the chapel of a hospice founded by Saint Bertrand in the 6th century.
It was probably in the 10th century that it was established as a parish, after the ruin of the hospice; this chapel then depended on the Couture abbey. The original chapel was destroyed in 1794. It rose from the ashes thanks to Basile Moreau, who in 1835 was entrusted with the congregation of the Brothers of Saint Joseph. Abbé Moreau was commissioned to build several buildings on land donated by the parish, to house the fledgling community of the Holy Cross Fathers.

In 1908, the church was decommissioned and all the abbey buildings were assigned to the army.
In 1931, it was returned to worship, having been acquired by the Congregation, which had enjoyed a major expansion in Canada.

Basile Moreau died in 1873 and was beatified by the Church in 2007. To mark the 150th anniversary of his death, the mass on Sunday 7 April 2024 was broadcast live on "Le Jour du Seigneur" on France 2.

Gratuit