Earlier this year the French Province exhumed the remains of 127 deceased Sulpicians who had been buried in the small courtyard cemetery of “La Lorette,” the name given to the philosophy seminary built just behind Le Grand Séminaire at Issy-les-Moulineaux.
The exhumation and transfer of the remains to a new tomb in the garden of the Sulpician retirement home (La Solitude) at Issy-les-Moulineaux was required so that La Lorette could be renovated and prepared for rental in about another year. The building had been sitting empty for several years, after having served for a time as a temporary residence for immigrants to France.
The Institut Catholique de Paris will take over the entire building as the new location for its engineering school, l’Institut Supérieur d’Electronique de Paris (ISEP). The rental will help provide much needed income for the French Province and will also safeguard the future of property, which still houses a small chapel and crypt.
In March 2013 the outgoing French Provincial, Father Bernard PITAUD, pss, led a small group of Sulpicians in a service of “de-consecration” of the former burial site, and a consecration of the new tomb at La Solitude. Among the remains of the confreres transferred were several Superiors General, including the beloved Jacques-André EMERY, who essentially protected the Society through the difficult period of the French Revolution and its aftermath.
Below are some photos from the event. For our ancestors in faith, we pray simply: Requiescat in pace!
