Pray the Our Father in French with Pope Leo XIV
Description: During his visit to the Catholic Institute of Paris, Pope Leo XIV paused to pray in the historic Church of Saint-Joseph-des-Carmes, before following the path of the Carmelite Martyrs of 1792.
On September 2, 1792, more than 100 priests and bishops were killed at the former Carmelite convent during the September Massacres after refusing to renounce their fidelity to the Church and the See of Peter.
But this place also has a remarkable personal connection to Pope Leo.
Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection lived in this Carmelite convent until his death in 1691. His conversations and letters were later collected in the spiritual classic The Practice of the Presence of God.
Pope Leo himself recommended the book during the return flight from his first Apostolic Journey, to Türkiye and Lebanon, in December 2025. Asked about a book that could help people understand him, Leo chose The Practice of the Presence of God, explaining that its spirituality of giving one’s life to the Lord and allowing Him to lead had been his own spirituality “for many years.”
More than three centuries after Brother Lawrence lived here, Pope Leo XIV prayed the Our Father in the very same Carmelite complex. Close description
On September 2, 1792, more than 100 priests and bishops were killed at the former Carmelite convent during the September Massacres after refusing to renounce their fidelity to the Church and the See of Peter.
But this place also has a remarkable personal connection to Pope Leo.
Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection lived in this Carmelite convent until his death in 1691. His conversations and letters were later collected in the spiritual classic The Practice of the Presence of God.
Pope Leo himself recommended the book during the return flight from his first Apostolic Journey, to Türkiye and Lebanon, in December 2025. Asked about a book that could help people understand him, Leo chose The Practice of the Presence of God, explaining that its spirituality of giving one’s life to the Lord and allowing Him to lead had been his own spirituality “for many years.”
More than three centuries after Brother Lawrence lived here, Pope Leo XIV prayed the Our Father in the very same Carmelite complex. Close description