PARIS (OSV News) — Five years after Parisians walked the streets of their city, wiping away their tears during the fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral, the faithful will rediscover their jewel during its victorious reopening on December 7 and 8 .

While the reopening of Notre-Dame takes place on the second weekend of Advent, the celebrations will extend from December to Pentecost, June 8, 2025, so that more faithful can participate in the joyful rebirth of the cathedral .

The French president and senior politicians will be present for the reopening, along with other heads of state and President-elect Donald Trump, and nearly 170 bishops from France and around the world will visit Paris for the weekend special, with the reopening mass which will take place. celebrated on December 8.

On December 7, the reopening mass, chaired by the Archbishop of Paris, will take place at the end of the afternoon, in the presence of President Emmanuel Macron, officials, donors, representatives of all the parishes of Paris, members of the cathedral council and the Parisian assembly. clergy present.

During the rite of opening the doors, Mgr Laurent Ulrich, Archbishop of Paris, will strike the closed door of Notre-Dame with his staff. The cathedral will “respond” with the singing of Psalm 121 three times.

“I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’ And now our feet stand within your gates, Jerusalem. Jerusalem, built like a city, surrounded by walls,” we read in the psalm.

The cathedral, which has remained silent for five years since the fire of April 15, 2019, will “resound again with the song of praise”, and the third time that the psalm is sung, the doors will open, according to the official press release from Notre-Dame. Lady of” indicated the Paris website.

After the initial rite of opening the doors, the service will take place in three parts, according to the website.

It is first of all a matter of awakening the great organ. After beginning the service with the sign of the cross, the archbishop will bless the instrument and address the grand organ eight times, and the organ will respond each time.

Olivier Latry, one of the cathedral’s four organists, has awakened the organ several times during his career and said it is something that “touches you deeply.” You have to improvise with your instinct. You are completely shaken,” he told the Financial Times.

Latry has traveled the world with organ concerts for the past five years and told the Financial Times that for him, before the reopening, there is something obvious: “I finally realized that Notre Dame de Paris is in fact Notre Dame du Monde.

Vincent Dubois, Thierry Escaich and Thibault Fajoles will also play the grand organ alongside Latry, while Yves Castagnet will accompany from the cathedral choir using a temporary organ, until the original choir organ is restored, indicates the Notre Dame de Paris website.

Another part of the opening ceremony will be the singing of the Divine Office, which will include a hymn, a psalm, the Magnificat, prayers for the world and the Our Father.

Finally, the Archbishop will give the final blessing, followed by the singing of “Te Deum”.

The reopening mass will be accompanied by the La Maîtrise Notre Dame de Paris choir.

The Maîtrise choir, “orphaned” after the devastating fire which collapsed the spire and part of the roof of Notre-Dame, will be back and for eight days, the famous Parisian musicians will be mobilized for a busy program of ceremonies, including a special concert. on December 17 and 18, with the “Magnificat” by Johann Sebastian Bach.

“We have sung in many beautiful places in recent years,” Henri Chalet, qualified organist and choir director, told OSV News.

“But at Notre Dame, there is ‘something more’. It’s a place that speaks to everyone and the whole world. It will be a great emotion to be able to go back,” he said.

On December 8, the second Sunday of Advent, the inauguration mass will take place at 10:30 a.m., with the consecration of the high altar, presided over by Mgr Ulrich, in the presence of President Macron.

Nearly 170 bishops from France and the world will participate in the celebration, as well as a priest from each of the 106 parishes of the Archdiocese of Paris and a priest from each of the seven Eastern Catholic churches, accompanied by faithful from these communities.

The consecration of the altar will be carried out in five stages, specifies the Notre Dame de Paris website. First, the relics of five saints will be placed and sealed on the altar. These relics, belonging to three women and two men who marked the history of the Catholic Church in Paris, include those of Saint Marie Eugénie Milleret, Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat, Saint Catherine Labouré, Saint Charles de Foucauld and Blessed Vladimir Ghika . .

The prayer of dedication will then be recited, followed by the anointing with oil, the central moment of the consecration. This will be followed by the offering of incense, before the altar is decorated and illuminated.

The mass will be followed by a fraternal buffet to welcome the most disadvantaged and those who support them on a daily basis through the charitable associations of the Archdiocese of Paris.

December 8 to 15 is the octave – eight days – of reopening.

The consecration mass marks the beginning of the octave, inviting the faithful of Paris in their great diversity, as well as many personalities who contributed to making the reopening of Notre-Dame possible, to join the services presided over by the archbishop .

Weekly concerts will take place on Tuesdays and numerous events will continue until Pentecost in June, “offering many the opportunity to rediscover Notre-Dame”, specify the organizers.