PARIS (OSV News) — Five years after Parisians lined the streets of their city, wiping their tears as Notre Dame Cathedral burned, the faithful will have their jewel back as it victoriously reopens Dec. 7 and 8.
While the reopening of Notre Dame takes place on the second weekend of Advent, the celebrations will span from December to Pentecost, on June 8, 2025, so that more faithful can participate in the joyous rebirth of the cathedral.
French president and top politicians will be there for the reopening, with other heads of state and President-elect Donald Trump joining, and nearly 170 bishops from France and around the world will travel to Paris for the special weekend, with the reopening Mass to be celebrated Dec. 8.
On Dec. 7, the reopening service, presided over by the archbishop of Paris, will take place late in the afternoon, with President Emmanuel Macron, officials, donors, representatives of all the parishes of Paris, members of the cathedral board and the Parisian clergy present.
During the rite of the opening of the doors, Archbishop Laurent Ulrich of Paris will strike the closed door of Notre Dame with his staff. The cathedral will “respond” with the singing of Psalm 121 three times.
“I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD.’ And now our feet are standing within your gates, Jerusalem. Jerusalem, built as a city, walled round about,” the psalm reads.
The cathedral, which has been silent for five years since the April 15, 2019, fire, “will once again resonate with the song of praise,” and the third time the psalm is sung, the doors will open, the official Notre Dame de Paris website said.
Following the initial door-opening rite, the service will unfold in three parts, according to the website.
First is awakening the great organ. After beginning the service with the Sign of the Cross, the archbishop will bless the instrument and address the great organ eight times, and the organ will respond each time.
Olivier Latry, one of the cathedral’s four organists, awakened the organ a few times in his career before, and said it’s something that “profoundly affects you. You need to improvise with your gut. You are left completely shaken,” he told the Financial Times.
Latry traveled around the world with organ concerts for the last five years and told the Financial Times that for him, ahead of the reopening, there’s something obvious: “I finally realized that Notre Dame de Paris is in fact Notre Dame du Monde.”
Vincent Dubois, Thierry Escaich and Thibault Fajoles will also play the great organ along with Latry, while Yves Castagnet will accompany from the cathedral’s choir using a temporary organ, until the original choir organ is restored, the Notre Dame de Paris website said.
Another part of the reopening ceremony will be chanting the Divine Office, which will consist of a hymn, a psalm, the Magnificat, prayers for the world and the Lord’s Prayer.
Finally, the archbishop will give the final blessing, followed by the singing of the “Te Deum.”
The reopening service will be accompanied by the La Maîtrise Notre Dame de Paris choir.
The Maîtrise choir that “found itself orphaned” after the devastating fire that collapsed the spire and part of Notre Dame’s roof will now be back and for eight days, Paris’ famous musicians will be mobilized for a packed schedule of ceremonies, including a special concert on Dec. 17 and 18, featuring Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Magnificat.”
“We have sung in a lot of beautiful places in recent years,” Henri Chalet, a qualified organist and director of the choir, told OSV News.
“But at Notre Dame, there is ‘something extra.’ It is a place that speaks to everyone, and to the whole world. It is going to be a great thrill to be able to return there,” he said.
On Dec. 8, the second Sunday of Advent, the inaugural Mass, with the consecration of the high altar, will take place at 10:30 a.m., presided over by Archbishop Ulrich with President Macron attending.
Nearly 170 bishops from France and around the world will participate in the celebration, along with one priest from each of the 106 parishes in the Archdiocese of Paris, and one priest from each of the seven Eastern Catholic churches, accompanied by faithful from these communities.
The consecration of the altar will be carried out in five steps, the Notre Dame de Paris website said. First, the relics of five saints will be placed and sealed in the altar. These relics, belonging to three women and two men who marked the history of the Catholic Church in Paris, include those of St. Marie Eugénie Milleret, St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, St. Catherine Labouré, St. Charles de Foucauld and Blessed Vladimir Ghika.
The prayer of dedication will then be recited, followed by the anointing with oil, the central moment of the consecration. This will be followed by the offering of incense, before the altar is adorned and illuminated.
The Mass will be followed by a fraternal buffet to welcome the most disadvantaged and those who support them daily through charitable organizations in the Archdiocese of Paris.
Dec. 8-15 is the octave — eight days — of the reopening.
The consecration Mass marks the beginning of the octave, inviting the faithful of Paris in their great diversity, along with many individuals who helped make the reopening of Notre Dame possible, to join the services presided over by the archbishop.
Weekly concerts will take place on Tuesdays and numerous events will continue until Pentecost in June, “offering an opportunity for many to rediscover Notre-Dame,” the organizers said.
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