The Martyrs of Lyon: THE INSPIRATION FOR OUR TOURS

In the 1st and 2nd centuries, Lyon then known as Lugdunum was the bustling capital of Gaul, one of only three cities in the Roman Empire to host a Praetorian cohort. By 177, its streets were home to a growing and very diverse Christian community—but their faith and unity would soon make them targets.

That year, a wave of violence swept through the city. What began as a popular riot against Christians, banning them from public spaces and arresting many, escalated into a formal, deadly persecution. From March to August, forty-eight Christians were executed. Others, unable to endure the torture, renounced their faith to survive—but many would later return to it, embracing martyrdom with courage.

  Roman citizens were beheaded—twenty-four in total, twelve women and twelve men—likely near the Forum, at Fourvière while six non-citizens including an extraordinary young slave woman named Blandine and five men, were thrown to the wild beasts in the Amphitheatre of the Three Gauls on the slopes of Croix-Rousse. Meanwhile, eighteen others—nine men and nine women—died from the harsh conditions in prison, probably near the Forum itself, at the heart of Roman authority. Saint Blandine is now Lyon's patron saint. 

  Thanks to Eusebius of Caesarea, we know the names of all these martyrs, now etched on the walls of the crypt of the L'Antiquaille Museum in Lyon, a major site of Christian memory in Lyon. 

  Among them was Saint Pothinus, the first bishop of Lyon, who led the community with unwavering faith. At ninety years old, he became a prime target of the persecution. A letter recounting his final moments survives. 

 Later on, in the 17th century, a converted underground cavity ("dungeon") was discovered beneath the Visitandine convent, a possible vestige from the Roman era. 

This is the site of the L'Antiquaille museum today. 

On November 1689, Saint Pothinus appeared to Mother de Riants in a dream where he promised her "assistance and protection for those who invoked him there." 

Devotion to the martyrs and the memory of the event would henceforth be focused primarily on this symbolic site. 

Converted into an oratory, the place received crowds of pilgrims. The "cachot" in which Pope Pius VII knelt was transformed into a chapel. 

There were several successive renovations in the 19th century, and the last (1877-1893) resulted in the current underground building. It then became the antechamber to the "cachot" and welcomed pilgrims. It is a very important stop point on our Christian tour of Lyon. 

The L'Antiquaille Museum's Crypt of Mosaics offers a profound and moving visual retelling of the courage, faith, and sacrifice of Lyon’s earliest known Christians and martyrs. Located next to St. Pothin’s “cachot,” it is a must-see for anyone interested in exploring this pivotal moment in Christian history. The mosaics celebrate the Church of Lyon’s sanctification by its martyrs, its antiquity, its link with the Apostle John, and its vitality as the “mother” of other churches—a lesson the designers intended to convey.

Commissioned between 1877 and 1893 by the Bishop of Lyon, the project took place during a period of intense conflict between the Church and anticlerical forces as France moved toward the separation of Church and State. The commission aimed not only to make the prison of Saint Pothin “better known and honoured” but also to reaffirm the Church of Lyon’s antiquity and celebrate the glory of its first martyred community. Architect Sainte-Marie Perrin, also involved in the development of the Fourvière Basilica, oversaw the project. The mosaics draw on Eusebius of Caesarea’s Ecclesiastical History (265–339), which records a letter from the Christian communities of Lyons and Vienne to the Christians of Asia and Phrygia, describing the trials of the martyrs.

Reflecting the letter’s contents, the mosaics focus on the 48 known martyrs, depicting their trials in prison, their suffering in the amphitheatre, and their persecution through richly detailed tesserae, marble, and gilded accents. The neo-Byzantine style reflects the period’s fascination with elaborate ecclesiastical art. Opened to pilgrims in 1893, the crypt offered a contemplative space to honor St. Pothin and reflect on the courage and faith of Lyon’s earliest Christians.

The mosaics are laid out like a narrative, grouping martyrs according to the tortures they endured: nine men and nine women “suffocated” in prison, twelve men and women executed by the sword, and six others killed in the amphitheatre in August. At the dungeon entrance, Pothin is depicted as a nineteenth-century bishop, while Blandine, “fed to the beasts” at the Croix-Rousse amphitheatre, is shown alongside lions imagined in popular tradition. The mosaics also honour the Apostle John’s influence: Pothin, sent by Polycarp (John’s disciple), carries forward his mission, while the praying Virgin bears the inscription, “Behold your son, behold your mother.” Reflecting the Church of Lyon's missionary role, we see Marcel and Valerian, miraculously freed, who would go on to found new Christian communities in Chalon-sur-Saône and Tournus.

Fully restored in the 2010s, the mosaics remain a striking testament to Lyon’s spiritual heritage, making the Antiquaille Museum a key destination for those interested in early Christian history and sacred art. Discretely positioned on Montée Saint-Barthélémy, the museum blends centuries of architecture—from its origins as a sixteenth-century residence to a convent and the former Antiquaille Hospital—built on foundations dating back to Roman Lugdunum.

A visit to the Antiquaille offers not only the chance to admire exceptional art but also to connect with the enduring legacy of Lyon as a major center of Christian life in Europe. It provides a unique, visual journey through the history of Christianity in the city.

At the base of Fourviere basilica is the home of Blessed Pauline Jaricot, a woman of extraordinary faith and vision.  

Pauline was born in Lyon, on July 22, 1799, into a family of 7 children, deeply rooted in the silk-working community where her father owned a silk factory. 

Growing up between the parishes of Saint Nizier and Saint Polycarpe, her family were deeply attached to the Church and had Pauline baptized at home by a refractory priest—a clergyman who refused to swear allegiance to the revolutionary government—demonstrating their courage and commitment to the Church. 

She shared a profound bond with her brother Phileas, and together they dreamed of becoming missionaries. Her childhood was filled with love, laughter, and the lively faith of her family, and at  the age of 15 she was introduced to the city's social life. But, 2 years later aged 17, she had a deep conversion experience and felt a profound calling to dedicate herself entirely to God. She took a vow of perpetual virginity at the Chapel of the Virgin of Fourvière, on Christmas Day 1816, while remaining a laywoman. Afterwards, she felt liberated and renewed and began to take upon herself multiple works of charity.

Driven by a missionary desire to share Christ’s love, she sought to reach those who had not yet encountered Him and to awaken faith in those who had drifted away.

Both contemplative and active, in 1819, at the age of 20, she laid the foundations for the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, officially recognized in 1822, to support missionary work around the world. The idea was inspired by a letter from her brother Phileas, now a missionary priest, describing the poverty of missionaries in Asia. Her idea was simple but highly effective - She organised women from her family’s silk factory into a network of prayer and charity. Her “Pauline’s penny” system encouraged small weekly donations collected personally, supporting missions abroad. 

In 1826, at 27, she founded the Living Rosary to revive Marian devotion and offer prayer support to the missions through the recitation of the rosary.  She organized groups of fifteen, each person praying one decade of the Rosary daily, so the entire Rosary was completed collectively, fostering spiritual unity and accessibility. Pauline saw the Rosary as a meditative journey into the life of Christ, simple enough for anyone to join, yet powerful in its communal effect: “Fifteen pieces of coal… put the fifteen together and you have a furnace!” From Lyon, the Living Rosary quickly spread across Europe, creating a vast network of prayer that continues to thrive today.

Deeply concerned about the harsh working and living conditions of Lyon’s silk workers, she stood with them during the Canut uprisings of 1831 and 1834. This commitment inspired her to create a model factory in Rustrel in 1845, prioritizing respect for human dignity, while continuing her mission to evangelize the working world and combat social injustice.

Suffering with poor health, she passed away on 9 January 1862, in financial ruin. 

Her extraordinary life of faith and action has inspired generations—and in May 2020, the miraculous healing of a young girl, recognized by Pope Francis, set the stage for her beatification. 

Founder of the Blessed Sacrament Congregation, Saint Peter Julian Eymard, from a young age,  felt drawn to the presence of Christ in the Eucharist. At just five years old, he went missing from home and was found in the parish church, standing on a stool near the tabernacle. When asked by his frantic sisters what he was doing, he replied simply, “I am here listening to Jesus.” 

Ordained in 1834 after overcoming illness and opposition, he became a gifted preacher whose devotion to the Blessed Sacrament transformed countless lives. 

On 16th Nov. Saint Eymard made an ‘act of abandonment’ in Our Lady's Chapel in Fourvière (the new bascilica was not yet built at that time). He wrote: "Today . . . I placed in the hands of my dear Mother at Fourvière my health, my cares and my work: everything . . ."

During a Corpus Christi procession in Lyon in 1845, he had a powerful experience that inspired his lifelong mission: to bring all people to the love and adoration of Christ in the Eucharist.

On 21 January 1851, Eymard was again praying at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fourvière when he experienced what he called the ‘grace of vocation’ - a clear conviction that emerged within him after much uncertainty and reflection. His thoughts related to the spiritual neglect of priests and devout lay people, and to his perception of the indifference and lack of devotion shown to the Blessed Sacrament. Soon after this grace, he moved to establish a community with a Eucharistic mission within his Marist order.  His superiors disapproved, so eventually, in 1856, he took the painful decision to leave the Marists to found the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament, dedicated to spreading Eucharistic devotion and prayer and a spirituality that empasised the love of Christ. 

Saint Eymard was encouraged in his mission by some friends and contemporaries including St Jean Marie Vianney, and Pauline Jaricot . The Curé St Jean-Marie Vianney, was so supportive he even agreed to become a member of Eymard’s Third Order of Mary. Indeed, he recognised Eymard as a ‘great saint’. In a meeting with Marguerite Guillot at Ars in 1858, the Curé said of Eymard’s work: ‘The world opposes and hinders it, and does not understand. But it will succeed; it will persevere’.

Shortly before the Curé’s death in 1859, Eymard visited him at Ars, precoccupied with the lack of vocations to his new religious order. Eymard made an emotional plea for the holy Curé’s prayers, somewhat pointedly reminding him: ‘You started me on this project . . .’

It was a cry from the Cross, and the Curé cried on hearing Eymard’s words. And then the wise old priest reminded Eymard that he did not need his prayers to God.

‘You yourself, you have him’, the Curé said. ‘You have him always before you!’

The two men embraced. It was the last time that Eymard ever saw his friend alive. He died at the age of 57  in La Mure on 1 Aug 1868, of complications from a brain haemorrhage. His remains were eventually moved to the Blessed Sacrament Congregation's Corpus Christi Chapel in Paris. He was canonized by Pope John XXIII on 9 December 1962. His feast is celebrated 2nd August. St. John Paul  II named him “Apostle of the Eucharist.”  

Saint Peter Julian Eymard remains a radiant model of total self-giving to Christ, whose love he called “the great mystery that transforms the soul.” 

“Go to the good Lord very simply, with the surrender of a small child. Tell the good Lord what you are thinking, what you want, what is upsetting you. Oh! How happy we become when we discover this interior conversation with our Lord. We carry our treasure [with us] everywhere. He becomes the centre of our heart and life.”

Taken from a letter dated Jan 29, 1848, he wrote to Miss Stephanie Gourd 

Founder of the Institute of the Prado 

A humble priest born in Lyon, Antoine Chevrier dedicated his life to serving the city’s poorest families and abandoned children. After a profound spiritual awakening on Christmas Eve in 1856, he transformed a disreputable ballroom — Le Prado — into a refuge of faith, education, and hope. His mission was simple yet radical: to know Jesus Christ and to make Him known among the poor. Beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1986, Blessed Antoine Chevrier remains a luminous figure of compassion, humility, and Gospel living in the heart of Lyon.

Let's dig deeper into this inspiration 20th century inspriging man. 

He was born into one of the many families who came to Lyon to work in the silk industry. His father worked as a customs officer, and his mother wove silk at home.

Ordained a priest in 1850, he was sent to a newly created parish on the left bank of the Rhône: Saint-André de la Guillotière.

At that time, Lyon was marked by deep social unrest — the Canut uprisings of 1831 and 1834, followed by the Revolution of 1848. The district of La Guillotière, then an independent commune, was home to the city’s growing industrial working class. It was known for its poverty, political unrest, and its left-wing municipal government.

The poverty he encountered profoundly affected him and he preached passionately against social injustice

Chevrier visited families in their modest homes, saw children leaving the factories exhausted, and comforted those living in destitution. The devastating floods of 1856 brought him even closer to the suffering of his parishioners.

On Christmas Eve 1856, while praying before the Nativity scene, Father Chevrier experienced what he would later call his conversion.

Meditating on the words of the Gospel of Saint John —

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us,”

— he was overcome by a new understanding of Christ’s incarnation. He later wrote:

“The Word made flesh is the principle of all things. He is the foundation on which everything must rest, the root from which we must draw the sap that must give us life, the centre toward which everything must converge, the end toward which everything must lead. He is the resurrection and the life. This is Jesus Christ!”

Inspired by his Christmas revelation, Father Chevrier rented — and later bought — a former disreputable ballroom known as “Le Prado” in 1860. There, he created a place of refuge for the most vulnerable.

He converted the dance hall into a chapel and a home for:

“young, wandering and abandoned adolescents of both sexes whose age and ignorance excluded them from participating in school lessons and those of the parish.”

(Report of the Academy of Lyon, 1861)

Unlike most institutions of the time, Father Chevrier refused to allow the children he welcomed to work. He lived by faith, relying entirely on Divine Providence and the generosity of the poor themselves.

While major repairs were sometimes supported by wealthy donors, it was the local working people — silk weavers, mothers, and factory women — who kept the Prado alive. Many saved a coin or two from their wages and brought them to Father Chevrier each Sunday.

Founding of the Prado Priests: 

In 1866, Father Chevrier opened a clerical school at Le Prado to

“create a nursery for priests who would be raised with my children, so that they would understand them well.”

From this grew the Association of Prado Priests, which, at his death in 1879, counted four priests and a few sisters.

Today, however, the Prado Family serves in over forty countries, including priests, sisters, consecrated laypeople, permanent deacons, and lay associates — all committed to Father Chevrier’s mission of living the Gospel among the poor.

Despite his influence, he remained profoundly humble:

“And on the other hand, I feel so much my powerlessness, my inadequacy, that I often say to my God: My God, have you not made a mistake in placing at the head of a great Work a poor being as frail as myself?”

He died at the age of 53, and was buried in the chapel on the street that now bears his name. His funeral drew 50,000 people from across Lyon.

Father Chevrier devoted his life to studying and teaching the Gospel. His writings reveal a man whose only desire was to draw closer to Jesus Christ and help others do the same:

“Knowing Jesus Christ is the only true science. Loving Him is the deepest happiness. The more we know Jesus Christ — His beauty, His splendour, His riches — the more our love for Him grows.”

He summarized his mission in one simple truth:

“Are we not here for this alone: to know Jesus Christ and his Father and to make Him known to others?” (L, 181)

Antoine Chevrier was beatified in Lyon by Pope John Paul II on October 4, 1986, before a crowd of 350,000 people — a moving tribute to his life’s work.

Today, Le Prado continues his mission, standing as a living witness to his conviction that the Gospel must be lived among the poor, with simplicity, humility, and love.

🔗 Learn more: https://leprado.net/

The Curé of Ars, St. Jean-Marie-Baptiste Vianney, devoted his life to guiding souls with humility, compassion, and unwavering faith. Celebrated today as the patron saint of priests, he was renowned in his lifetime as a confessor, saintly man and for many healing miracles attributed to him.

Though most closely associated with the village of Ars, he was born in 1786 in Dardilly, near Lyon, the fourth of six children.  During the French Revolution, when clergy loyal to Rome had to minister in secret, thirteen year old Jean-Marie, made his first Communion in nearby Écully under the guidance of Abbé Charles Balley, the secret parish priest.  Even in his old age, Vianney wept whenever he spoke of that unforgettable day, and he treasured for life the simple rosary beads his mother had given him on the occasion. 

Abbé Balley and Écully played a decisive role in shaping his future and his priesthood. When Jean-Marie eventually became a priest, he was overjoyed to be appointed as curate under his beloved teacher and friend, Abbé Balley, in Écully. Shortly after Balley’s death, he received his first pastoral assignment: the small, overlooked village of Ars —and the rest, as they say, is history!

Learn more about the extraordinary life of Saint John Vianney by clicking "Read More.” 

For a deeper experience, join our full-day guided tour at the famous Sanctuary of Ars and walk in his footsteps. 

Though often associated with Paris, where he founded the Society of St Vincent de Paul and is buried, Frédéric Ozanam was truly formed in Lyon, the city of his youth. It was here that he consecrated his life to God and service at the Basilica of St Bonaventure at age 17. Lyon was also central to his personal life: he married his great love, Amélie Soulacroix, at the Church of St Nizier, and often mentions praying at the Chapel of the Virgin in Fourvière. His parish church, Saint Pierre, now part of the Fine Arts Museum, nurtured his early faith.

Born in Milan on April 23, 1813, Ozanam returned to Lyon at three years of age. He excelled academically at the Royal College of Lyon, where he met Abbé Noirot, his teacher, mentor, and lifelong spiritual guide. With Noirot’s guidance, Ozanam navigated a teenage crisis of doubt and deepened his Christian commitment. At eighteen, he moved to Paris to begin his law studies at the Sorbonne.

In 1833, Frédéric in response to criticisms of Catholicism, asking, “What is the Church doing for the poor today?”  founded the Society of St Vincent de Paul, starting with small groups of students visiting Parisian families in need, receiving guidance  from Sister Rosalie Rendu (Daughter of Charity).

Frédéric married Amélie in 1841, and their life together was marked by love, devotion, and one daughter, Marie. Despite fragile health, he balanced family, scholarship, and service until his death, aged just 40,  in Marseille on September 8, 1853. He was buried in Paris at the Church of St Joseph des Carmes, remembered as a man of intellect, faith, and enduring charity.  

By the time of Frédéric’s death, the Society had spread internationally, Today it is present in 150+ countries with 800,000 members serving the poor.  

 Jean-Claude Colin (1790–1875), founder of the Marist Fathers, was born on August 7, 1790, in Saint-Bonnet-le-Troncy, in France’s Beaujolais region. Growing up during the upheaval of the French Revolution, he witnessed persecution of the Church; his father had been imprisoned for his faith, and both parents died when he was only two. Despite these early hardships, Colin felt a deep calling to the priesthood.

During his seminary studies in Lyon, Colin and a small group of like-minded seminarians, including his brother Pierre Colin and Saint Marcellin Champagnat (canonized April 18, 1999), gathered at the chapel of Our Lady of Fourvière. On July 23, 1816,  they made a solemn vow to dedicate themselves to Mary and to establish a Society of Mary. This moment planted the seed of a religious family that would grow into priests, brothers, sisters, and lay collaborators, all united by a Marian mission.

Ordained later that year, Colin began his ministry in Cerdon, gradually attracting followers and drafting plans for the Society of Mary. By 1824, he and a small group were authorized by their bishop to preach missions as the Marist Fathers, while parallel foundations of the Marist Sisters, Marist Brothers under Saint Marcellin Champagnat, and Marist Laity also developed.

In 1836, Rome formally approved the Society of Mary, and Colin was elected its first Superior General, sending the first missionaries to Oceania. Retiring in 1854 to La Neylière, he dedicated his final years to shaping the Constitutions of the Marist Fathers. He died on November 15, 1875, leaving a worldwide legacy of Marian service. His cause for beatification was reopened in 2017.