The cathedral was devastated by fire on April 15, 2019, and since then, has not hosted these Nativity masses celebrating, for Christians, the birth of Jesus.
For the first time since the fire in 2019, Notre-Dame de Paris is celebrating Christmas again on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the traditional Nativity masses that should attract many faithful.
“We are now back at Notre-Dame, which has just been returned to worship and visits. Our hearts are celebrating!” said the Archbishop of Paris Laurent Ulrich in a Christmas message broadcast on Tuesday. He paid tribute to the “talents deployed on the restoration site” which allowed “that the pain of the fire and the five years of separation be erased to leave only the joy of reunion, the joy of living together again in this common house, the house of God”.
The cathedral had been devastated by the flames on April 15, 2019 and, since then, had not hosted these Nativity masses celebrating, for Christians, the birth of Jesus. For the first Christmas under the cleaned vaults of this masterpiece of Gothic art over 860 years old, several masses were planned at 4 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. After a musical vigil starting at 11 p.m. with the choir of Notre-Dame, the traditional Midnight Mass will begin at midnight, presided over by Mgr Ulrich.
On Wednesday, Christmas Day, the Archbishop of Paris will preside over the 11 a.m. mass, also broadcast by France 2. Two other services are planned, at 8:30 a.m. and 6 p.m.
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How to attend? “No booking is possible for Christmas masses” and access to the cathedral will be “within the limit of available places”, specifies the diocese of Paris. The Notre-Dame website therefore advises arriving 30 minutes before the time of the celebrations, “keeping in mind that the queues can be long, with a risk of not being able to access the cathedral”.
Access to the cathedral remains subject to a strict gauge of 2,700 people, while the craze remains strong to access this building magnified by Victor Hugo and celebrated in various films, novels and musicals.
Access to the cathedral remains subject to a strict gauge of 2,700 people. EPA – YOAN VALAT
After five years of colossal work, on a construction site costing nearly 700 million euros, Notre-Dame de Paris reopened in early December, with a ceremony on the 7th of this month in the presence of several personalities including the American president-elect Donald Trump and the Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, broadcast worldwide.
“Charity” and “generosity”
Since then, the ticket office, which is free, has been stormed, even if it is still possible to show up without a reservation and queue to try to get in. “This Christmas time is a time to express charity and generosity” but also “the hope that God will not abandon us”, Laurent Ulrich stressed on Sunday on Radio Notre-Dame, at the end of a year 2024 filled with situations “that worry us all, that darken the horizon, that for many do not allow us to live serenely”.
“We are well aware of the difficulty and complexity in which we live”, he added, emphasizing in particular the political situation “inextricable, difficult”, the “extremely dramatic” in Mayotte, without forgetting “Palestine, Lebanon, and many other countries that are in chaos, Ukraine…”
For Catholics, this Christmas also marks the beginning of the Jubilee, the “Holy Year” 2025 of the Catholic Church, which will be launched Tuesday evening by Pope Francis from the Vatican. This great international pilgrimage organized every 25 years should attract more than 30 million faithful to Rome.