Five years after the fire at Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, the building reopens its doors. Two days of ceremonies and celebrations are planned for Saturday December 7 and Sunday December 8.
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Bet held. In Francefive years after the fire of April 15, 2019, the cathedral Notre-Dame of Paris is preparing to reopen its doors. Images of the interior of the building have already been revealed on November 29, during a final site visit by the French president Emmanuel Macron. We discovered a very bright cathedral thanks to the major cleaning carried out on the blond stones of the monument.
Saturday, a three-part ceremony
This Saturday, December 7 is therefore the big day. The official ceremony of reopening will begin at 7 p.m. and will take place in three stages. First of all there will be a secular and republican time. It will begin with a video which will pay tribute to the artisans who mobilized, but also to the donors, or to the firefighters who managed to stop the Notre-Dame fire on April 15, 2019. A text by the French poet Louis Aragon will be read , just before a musical interlude.
French President Emmanuel Macron will then speak for around fifteen minutes, on the square in front of the cathedral, and not in the cathedral, in order to respect the principle of separation of Churches and State. Emmanuel Macron, who has invested a lot in this project, will certainly not fail to recall that the reconstruction timetable and the promise to rebuild Notre-Dame in five years, has been kept. This speech will also be an opportunity to send several thanks to the 2,000 people and Companions who participated in the construction site.
The second part of this ceremony on December 7 will be religious and secular. It will begin with the rite of opening the doors of the cathedral. The Archbishop of Paris will strike with his crosier the closed door of Notre-Dame. The cathedral will “respond” to him with the singing of Psalm 121, three times, intoned by the singers of the Master of Notre-Dame.
At the third time, the doors will open, and the service can begin. It will itself take place in three stages. The first will be dedicated to the awakening of the organ, previously blessed by the archbishop, which will resonate again. The organ will “respond” to the archbishop eight times. Little affected by the fire, the great organ of Notre-Dame Cathedral was nevertheless dismantled and then reassembled, during a necessary renovation due to lead dust and soot. This will be followed by a liturgical celebration including a blessing and a Magnificat, and finally the final blessing by the archbishop with the singing of the Te Deum.
Trump present, the Pope absent
Inside the cathedral, between 2,000 and 3,000 people are expected, including 35 heads of state and foreign governments, the Élysée said on December 5. This is the case of the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trumpwho confirmed his presence. Joe Biden will be absent but represented by his wife, Jill Biden. Another notable absentee is Pope Francis. On the other hand, he will be present in France a week later during a trip to Corsica to attend a conference on “popular religiosity in the Mediterranean”. Once announced, Ursula von der Leyen will ultimately not be present at the reopening of Notre-Dame.
On the other hand, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected in the French capital. “ Zelensky is expected in Paris “, one of the diplomatic sources told AFP. Another indicated that its presence had been confirmed, provided that security conditions were met. “ He will meet President (French Emmanuel) Macron. Other meetings are also possible, notably with President-elect Donald Trump, who will also attend the event “, a senior Ukrainian official also told AFP.
Several patrons, who helped finance the reconstruction, will have a place in the cathedral, as will representatives of all the parishes of Paris. Notre-Dame Cathedral will be considered reopened following the religious ceremony.
Finally, the third part of this Saturday day will begin, at 9 p.m., with a concert which will pay tribute to those who saved and rebuilt Notre-Dame. Among the artists who responded, there will notably be the violinists and cellists Renaud and Gautier Capuçon and the Franco-Beninese singer Angélique Kidjo.
First mass open to the public on Sunday
On Sunday, the festivities will continue with a first mass in the morning at 10:30 a.m. This will be the mass of consecration of the new bronze altar of the cathedral. President Emmanuel Macron will participate. It will bring together 170 bishops. Another mass is to be held at 6:30 p.m. This will be the first mass that the public will be able to attend. Registrations have been snapped up, to the point that this mass is sold out – just like those which will follow during the week.
Other meetings will take place until December 15. On the 13th, for example, the cathedral will see the solemn return of the Crown of Thorns. According to Christian tradition, it was placed on the head of Jesus, just before the crucifixion. She had escaped the flames of the fire. From December 16, the cathedral will return to normal, since it will be open from 7:45 a.m. to 7 p.m.
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