Our Lady of Good Deliverance

This Black Madonna's history spans nearly a millennium, from medieval Paris through Revolutionary danger to her current home in Neuilly. Her most famous pilgrim, Francis de Sales, became a saint; her most necessary savior, Madame de Carignan, preserved her for future generations.

The devotion began in the eleventh century at Saint-Étienne-des-Grès, a church on the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève in Paris. A Black Madonna there became known for granting safe deliveries, earning the title Notre-Dame de la Bonne-Délivrance. The cult grew; the Royal Confraternity established in 1533 eventually counted twelve thousand members.

In 1587, the young Francis de Sales—brilliant, devout, and convinced he was damned—knelt before this Madonna in desperation. His prayer, the Memorare, brought immediate relief. The experience shaped his life: he became a priest, then bishop of Geneva, then a Doctor of the Church, finally a canonized saint.

The French Revolution destroyed Saint-Étienne-des-Grès but not the Madonna. Madame de Carignan Saint Maurice purchased and concealed the statue. In 1806, she gave it to the Sisters of Saint Thomas of Villeneuve. When the Sisters moved to Neuilly in 1908, the Madonna came with them. The chapel built to receive her was blessed in 1910.