First Mass celebrated in restored Notre Dame cathedral

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 9, 2024 / 15:10 pm (CNA).

The archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, on Dec. 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, celebrated the first Mass during which the altar of the restored cathedral was consecrated following the fire that ravaged the church in April 2019.

At the Eucharist, which was attended by the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, some 170 bishops from the country and from around the world concelebrated with Ulrich as well as one priest from each of the 106 parishes of the Archdiocese of Paris and one priest from each of the seven Eastern-rite Catholic churches.

The clergy wore chasubles designed by Jean-Charles Castelbajac, the 74-year-old Frenchman who was entrusted with the task and who has designed clothing for such celebrities as Madonna, Beyoncé, and Rihanna.

One of the bishops in attendance was the archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who was also present at the Dec. 7 opening ceremony.

In a post on X, Dolan said he was grateful to participate in the first Mass in the cathedral and highlighted the generosity of the many Americans who contributed to the restoration of the emblematic cathedral.

Before proceeding to the consecration of the altar, the relics of five saints — three women and two men — “whose history is linked to the Church of Paris: St. Marie Eugenie Milleret, St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, St. Catherine Labouré, St. Charles de Foucauld, and Blessed Vladimir Ghika” were placed in a recess in it, according to the archdiocesan website.

The Parisian prelate then read the prayers for the consecration of the altar and anointed the entire altar with chrism (blessed oil), which he spread with his hands as the ritual requires. Five small containers holding lit coals were set on the corners and center of the altar and the archbishop then placed incense on them, releasing the fragrant smoke heavenward.  

After the containers were removed, deacons wiped off the excess chrism from the altar with towels and placed the altar cloth on the altar. Finally, altar servers placed six candles on the steps to one side of the altar and a priest placed one candle and a plain hammered metal cross on the altar itself.

In his homily, the archbishop of Paris proclaimed: “This morning, the pain of April 15, 2019, is taken away,” adding that “in a certain way, and even if the shock caused by the fire has been lasting, the pain was already overcome when prayer rose from the banks of the [River] Seine and from hundreds of millions of hearts throughout the world.”

After stating that he would soon consecrate the altar so that it may be “the table of Christ’s sacrifice, the place where he gives his life for all,” Ulrich noted that “the material chosen by the artist [for the altar], bronze, enters into a frank dialogue with the stone building.”

“And this altar block,” he continued, “as if taken from the earth for the sacrifice, is prepared as a fraternal table for the Lord’s supper.”

The prelate then encouraged all the faithful present to not be simply “dazzled by the rediscovered beauty of the stones, but let yourselves be led to the greatest joys, to the most beautiful gift that God gives you and gives us of his loving presence, of his closeness to the poorest, of his transforming power in the sacraments.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.