On Sunday, our first full day in Paris, we attended a Catholic mass at St. Nicholas des Champs. The service was in French but we wanted to hear what church sounded like to the French people. It was beautiful if a bit hard to follow at times. What struck me was the number of people attending. There must have been 250 plus people there--of all ages—at a neighborhood parish church. After hearing for so many years that the churches of Europe were empty, this experience was a nice surprise.
Tuesday morning we headed out to the Parisian suburb of St. Denis. Almost a thousand years ago St. Denis was a separate town from Paris. It was here during the mid-twelfth century that Abbot Suger remodeled the town’s Romanesque basilica into what we now know of as the first gothic cathedral. The gothic design and stained glass windows are stunning. I think it has a more beautiful interior than Notre Dame. The church, however, is in some degree of disrepair. Why? It’s too far out from the center of Paris for the average tourist. And it takes work getting out there. It’s also in a suburb with a high crime rate and has a dwindling Christian population (Muslims make up over twenty-five percent of the suburb). What makes the neglect all the more sad is the fact that this church is the necropolis for the kings and queens of France. All but three kings are buried here. You can pay your respects to the likes of Clovis, the Merovingian founder of the Kingdom of the Franks, Charles “The Hammer” Martel, St. Louis, Henry IV (of Navarre), Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, among many other royals. If this church were in the center of Paris it would give Notre Dame a run for its money. If you make it to Paris anytime soon, please visit.
Speaking of our lady, on Tuesday evening we attended a Gregorian chant concert at Notre Dame. The play of light and shadow streaming through the stained glass windows as it mingled with the chant of the medieval church was beautiful. The concert was a delight.
Paris is well worth a mass.
Dr. B.
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