On the Parisian left bank, in the artsy rue de Seine, there is a shop that sells only old advertising posters. There I saw this one displayed on the train line from Paris (at the Invalides) to Versailles from the late 19th century. The scenes depicted of the two viaducts and the little station are in Meudon, the leafy suburb halfway between Paris and Versailles where I live today; hence my interest in this poster. The interested reader can learn much more about Meudon at my Substack post.

The station house in the countryside is called Meudon Val Fleury, which is a 5 minute walk from my apartment. The electric train advertised is in the middle of the poster. This viaduct is still in use, but is largely hidden by buildings. The distant larger viaduct is also still in use for a different line between Paris and Versailles. This viaduct was built in 1840 and has been a symbol of Meudon; being photographed and painted many times such as the one by the well-known Mexican painter Diego Rivera.

From: Diego Rivera El sol rompiendo la bruma (El viaducto de Meudon) »(The sun breaking through the mist (The viaduct of Meudon)), 1913. – Le Petit Meudonnais

Another landmark of Meudon is the Château de Meudon. The chateau had many residents over the centuries, but the most important was the Dauphin, the son of Louis XIV. The long-lived king outlived his son who died in Meudon. The grounds were on the periphery of the large royal hunting grounds that stretched all the way to Versailles. The gardens were magnificent, with extensive water works for fountains designed by André Le Nôtre, who also designed the gardens for the dauphin’s father in Versailles.

The Château de Meudon from the entrance painted by Pierre-Denis Martin (1663–1742). The main building was destroyed by a fire in 1705. The building in the upper right corner was damaged during the Prussian war in 1871 and later that decade was transformed into an observatory, such that the lovely park is called L’Observatoire.

How the Catholic Churc... Thomas E. Woods Best Price: $8.00 Buy New $9.06 (as of 05:30 UTC - Details) France has been called the eldest daughter of the Church. However, religious belief has fallen steadily over the years, and in France more so for Catholics than Protestants, Jews, and Muslims. However, in this discussion Solène Tadié and Dr Gavin Ashenden explain that perhaps the remnant of Catholics in France will make it a more resilient and traditional Church. They remind the listener that it is normal for the Church to be struggling in difficult times. In the modern era the Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne during the Reign of Terror and the Catholic Martyrs of the Commune of Paris are prime examples of difficulties and resilience of the faithful. Tadié and Ashenden also discuss the French saint Charles de Foucauld for his example of the faithful in the wilderness.

Dear reader, you have probably lost patience with me. I have provided a little bit about Meudon and a tiny description of Catholicism in France. Finally here is my concise take on Catholicism in Meudon. First of all, the physical reality of Catholicism in Meudon is unlike many cities, towns and villages in France where the church is the focal point. Here the church Saint Martin was always architecturally inferior to the chateau or the viaduct. A church of this name has existed in Meudon since the 12th century. The current structure is largely from the 17th century. In the image below the town, including the church, is below and subservient to the chateau.

Today the main building of the chateau is gone but still the church is unassuming, dominated in the town, and it is difficult to see the church even from above at the Observatory.

The most famous Catholic priest who served in Meudon was François Rabelais, the Renaissance author, satirist and humanist. His name is ubiquitous around the town, including the name of my daughter’s high school. But in fact, his position in Meudon was a political tool to support his writing during the last couple of years of his life. He never officiated or resided there. Rabelais is described in the link above as “a writer molded by one tradition, the medieval Roman Catholic, whose sympathies lay to a greater extent with another, the Renaissance or classical. Yet when he writes in praise of the new humanist ideals—in the chapters on education, on the foundation of Thélème, or in praise of drinking from the “sacred bottle” of learning or enlightenment—he easily becomes sententious. His head is for the new learning, while his flesh and heart belong to the old. It is in his absurd, earthy, and exuberant inventions, which are medieval in spirit even when they mock at medieval acceptances, that Rabelais is a great, entertaining, and worldly wise writer.” He was one of the first modern men, a physician scientist who practiced vivisection, in continuing disagreement with the Church and the theologians of the Sorbonne. In sum, this most famous Meudon priest was not from Meudon nor a Catholic adherent, but one of the first renaissance humanists. Timeless: A History of... Weidenkopf, Steve Best Price: $6.15 Buy New $16.64 (as of 08:07 UTC - Details)

It is ironic to me that Catholicism was at its pinnacle in Meudon during the ultramodern period in Paris after World War I up until World War II. It was during this period that Jacques Maritain and his wife Raissa were living in Meudon and leading an eclectic Catholic salon. “Jacques Maritain (1882–1973), a French philosopher and political thinker, was one of the principal exponents of Thomism in the twentieth century and an influential interpreter of the thought of St Thomas Aquinas.” One special visitor in Meudon was the philosopher Edith Stein who visited Meudon in September of 1932 for a Thomist conference, maybe her sole voyage outside the German speaking world before being sent to die in Auschwitz in 1942. When I pass in front of the Maritain house I think of the beatified Stein who probably walked on the same street.

As shown in my photos above, the church Saint Martin does not have a prominent place in the town. But the parish seems to me to be relatively thriving in these days of general Catholic decline. The parish is served by two vibrant young priests originally from the Paris region. The significant Portuguese population contributes to the vibrancy of Meudon and the church there. Every year there is a procession of Our Lady of Fatima that otherwise resides in a special dwelling in the parking lot of the nearby Catholic youth center.

One notable feature of the church interior are the paintings of the stations of the cross by Ángel Zárraga (1886-1946); a lesser known Mexican painter who spent most of his adult life living in France.

So catholicism in Meudon has long been present but overshadowed by Paris and Bourbon royalty. Yet, in so many ways life was and is good here.

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