Parisians welcome a new “brighter” Notre-Dame

This Saturday, we tore off the wrapping paper, today we open the box… If the glitter was out the day before, it was this Sunday morning that Notre-Dame de Paris reopened with the cathedral’s inaugural mass. Like the day before, cameras, a few prestigious guests (Emmanuel Macron, Anne Hidalgo, Valérie Pécresse, Michel Barnier, Bruno Retailleau, etc.), 150 bishops and priests, but Donald Trump and Elon Musk were replaced by parishioners from Paris.

In a parade worthy of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, they brought the banners of the 106 parishes of the capital into the cathedral. Happy to (re)discover their cathedral, seat of the Archdiocese of Paris and true representation of the Church in Paris.

The new cathedral is disorienting

“It’s a shock to discover it like this,” explains Hervé, who doesn’t yet know what to think of his “new cathedral”. Very attached to the building before the fire of April 15, 2019. He sometimes struggles to recognize it. “It’s her, no doubt, but she’s so changed,” he comments with the beginnings of tears in his eyes, “but it’s going to be okay…”

Like him, several of them seem a little disoriented after discovering the new interior of the cathedral. “It’s beautiful, there’s no denying it, it’s even magnificent. But it’s disturbing, I visited and I prayed for forty-two years in a dark church, even black. Finding it completely white and gold makes me feel a little dizzy,” smiles Mathilde, staring at the columns and the new ceiling of the transept.

“A true wonder”

Ignoring aesthetics, “after all, we’re not going to complain about having such a beautiful place, it’s even an incredible opportunity”, she still admits to having appreciated the sobriety and darkness of the blackened walls by centuries of dust, pollution, candles and other incense offered by the “old” cathedral, more favorable to meditation according to her. “I might have to wear a sleeping mask to pray,” she jokes, as if to show that it would finally “do it.”

“It’s very bright, a real wonder. I find that the entire cathedral is very well lit, it is lively, very welcoming, we will all end up getting used to it,” rejoices Serge, who came to represent the parish of Notre-Dame des Victoires (2nd arrondissement).

“The beauty of paintings and sculptures highlighted like never before”

According to Serge, we must rely on the consecration of the Altar to move on to the new cathedral. This ceremony, which consists of carrying out an anointing with sacred oil and burning incense to transform the altar into a sacred object suitable for celebrating masses, is the symbol of the renewal of the cathedral.

Barbara, who carries the banner of the parish of Saint-Joseph-des-Epinettes (18th arrondissement) is moved to have attended the first mass given this Sunday. She was “struck by the light”: “I realize that it was a little dark before. Look at the lights today. The beauty of the paintings and sculptures is highlighted like never before. It’s fantastic! »