Paris No. 8 / Lutetia Parisiorum

INFORMATION

FontID: 03630PAR
Church/Chapel: Baptistery near the oratoire de St-Benoît [disappeared]
Country Name: France
Location: Ville de Paris, Île-de-France
Directions to Site: [exact site nor located]
Ecclesiastic Region: Archidiocèse métropolitain de Paris
Century and Period: 3rd century (?), Early Christian
Corblet (1881-1882) refers to a story from the "Actes de saint Denis" according to which the saint acquired from Lisbius, a substantial citizen of Lutèce, "un champ où il construirait un baptistère". As Corblet explains, the ancient historians of Paris attributed the foundation of three churches to St-Denis, one of them being the "oratoire de Saint-Benoît". Du Saussay [cf. Notes on Authors] determined that the baptistery in question must have been built near this oratoire in which building could, in the past, be read the following inscription: "'In hoc sacello S. Dionysius coepit invocare nomen sanctissimae Trinitatis', ce qui voudrait dire qu'il baptissait là au nom de la Trinité". (In Corblet, 1881-1882, v. 2, p. 69-70)

INSCRIPTION

Inscription Language: Latin
Inscription Notes: No longer in existence [cf. De Saussay: "on lisait jadis"]
Inscription Location: In the baptistry
Inscription Text: "IN HOC SACELLO S. DIONYSIUS COEPIT INVOCARE NOMEN SANCTISSIMAE TRINITATIS"
Inscription Source: Du Saussay, De myst. gall. script., p. 179, in Corblet, 1881-1882, v. 2, p. 69-70

REFERENCES

Corblet, Jules, Histoire dogmatique, liturgique et archéologique du sacrement de baptême, Paris: V. Palme, 1881-1882