Paray-Le-Monial, a town of Burgundy, France, in the department of Saone-et-Loire, 35 m. W. N. W. of Macon, and 180 m. S. E. of Paris; pop. about 3,500. It has a remarkable church and a Benedictine abbey founded in 973; but it is chiefly celebrated as having been the abode of Marguerite Marie Alacoque, whose tomb is in the chapel attached to the Visitation convent, in which she lived and died. As she was mainly instrumental in establishing the devotions of the Sacred Heart, which have of late spread so rapidly in Roman Catholic countries, the occasion of her beatification by Pius IX. in 1865 gave rise to numerous pilgrimages to her shrine, which have increased in frequency and numbers ever since. In 1873 and 1874, besides the crowds of pilgrims from France and Belgium, companies went from Great Britain, Ireland, and the United States, headed by distinguished prelates and laymen, their departure from home and their arrival at Paray-le-Monial being marked by impressive religious ceremonies.