The original shrine was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Help of Christians dating back to the thirteenth century.

Pope Pius IX granted the decree of pontifical coronation to the venerated Marian image enshrined within on 15 July 1870.

Pope Benedict XV raised the Marian shrine to the status of Minor Basilica by Pontifical decree Illustriores Inter Sacras on 27 March 1919.

The basilica's design and construction were carefully supervised by the Abbé Victor Godefroy (1799–1868), the Bonsecours parish priest, who chose the Gothic style and raised the funds.

Godefroy and the donors may have been drawn to this style from the time of King Louis IX of France (1226—1270) because it represented a society they thought was organized on a Christian basis.

His fundraising efforts were helped by his close friendship with the future Archbishop of Rouen, Cardinal Gustave Maximilien Juste de Croÿ-Solre.

He made his design before Eugène Viollet-le-Duc first published his Gothic architectural theories in 1844, and before the Corps des architectes diocésains was established in 1848.

[8] The extensive and coordinated decorations were part of a revival of religious art under the July Monarchy and include murals, sculpture, stained glass windows and liturgical furnishings.

[10] Godefroy allowed the wealthy donors to pay for particular parts of the basilica, and to include their coat of arms and name or initials, either painted or engraved.

[11] After Henri Barbet converted to Catholicism he and his wife donated two stained glass windows to the Basilique Notre-Dame de Bonsecours.

Below this is a relief of Mary with the infant Jesus on her lap on the main tympanum flanked by two angels donated by Pascal Auguste Joseph Baudon de Mony, former Receiver-General.