THE VOW CHAPEL

1916...: it's already two years since France suffered the horrors of a cruel and violent war. Faced with horror and destruction, the people were afraid and prayed for salvation. On June 30, 1916, the Catholics of Tourcoing made the following promise: "If it pleases His Infinite Goodness to preserve us from fire and ruin, if it pleases Him after the scourge of war and occupation to allow us to return to work and support our working population, we promise to build a memorial chapel for Him within a few years". Was it thanks to this prayer that Tourcoing was spared? No one knows. But the people of Tourcoing never forgot their promise. So, in 1921, Jean-Baptiste and Henri Maillard built the Chapelle du Vœu, a place of perpetual adoration. The Blessed Sacrament was presented there every day, and the Benedictine Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, then in exile in Great Britain, returned to Tourcoing and organized their monastic life around the chapel. The chapel is unique in both its history and its architecture. You enter the first chapel, surrounded by astonishing corbels. You are now behind the altar. A small doorway leads into the heart of the chapel, overlooked by a superb glass roof with golden reflections. The same corbels can be seen again, including a beautiful balcony. The sacred objects shine in the light of superb lighting fixtures. The noisy boulevard Faidherbe is only a few steps away, yet the peace and quiet here are unparalleled. Only the ticking of a clock, the sole witness to the passage of time, disturbs this silence. Whether you're a believer or not, this chapel is one of Tourquen's heritage treasures not to be missed.