With inaugural Mass, Notre Dame reveals “the Lord does not abandon his own”

Chilling rain and the “City of Lights” completely locked down due to high profile guests did not stop the crowds from arriving as close to Notre Dame Cathedral as possible for its inaugural Mass celebrated 8 December.

The beloved Paris icon also opened its doors to the public for the first time after the devastating fire in 2019, with the second Mass that Sunday for Parisians and tourists.

The first solemn Mass witnessed the consecration of the cathedral’s new bronze altar by Archbishop Laurent Ulrich of Paris, who invited all attendees to “participate in the joy of the believers here who give glory to God for having found their mother church.”

A procession of 170 bishops entered the cathedral in the morning, followed by more than one hundred banner bearers representing all of Paris’ parishes, and seven priest-representatives of the Eastern Catholic churches.

The bishops wore vestments adorned with golden crosses, created by star French designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, who was inspired by the large golden cross at the back of the cathedral over its Pieta.

Castelbajac is known for his friendship with the late Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, longtime archbishop of Paris.

The celebrants took their places in the carved oak stalls of the cathedral’s canons’ choir, whose 18th-century upper panels depict scenes from the life of Virgin Mary. They were placed on either side of the group of children of the Maîtrise Notre Dame de Paris choir, dressed in blue albs.

As President Emmanuel Macron with his wife, first lady of France Brigitte Macron, sat in the first row with Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg, the cathedral was filled with invited guests, including presidents of French fashion companies and top politicians.

Outside, on the quayside behind the Seine River, hundreds of worshippers gathered near the picturesque second-hand bookshops, closed at the time, to follow the Mass on a big screen, despite the rain.

“Whether you are in this building or in front of a screen, or outside in the rain, you are recipients of God’s benevolence,” the archbishop said at the beginning of Mass.

He also paid tribute to those “who face the rigors of war,” and prayed for France, “which scans its future with concern,” referring to the political crisis the French are experiencing these days.

The consecration of the new altar was a central part of the ceremony, with the placement of relics of five holy men and women inside the altar, whose history is linked to the church in Paris, including those of St Marie Eugénie Milleret, St Madeleine Sophie Barat, St Charles de Foucauld, Blessed Vladimir Ghika and St Catherine Labouré.

“Generation after generation—believers experience it—the Lord does not abandon his own,” Archbishop Ulrich said.

Even if “distress and violence do not cease throughout the history of men,” it is God and his disciples “who feed on his strength to show the way to the victory of life.”