Friday, March 17, 2017

Catholic Mass at Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris

By Alex Frame

The Notre Dame Mass service was incredibly moving  for me and the other students. When we walked into the service, it had already begun. Throughout the ceremony, you could hear the lay leader's voice echoing within the cathedral with an assist from a microphone as he orchestrated the mass. Hearing his voice and sitting with everyone in Notre Dame was an real bonding experience, everyone there was sharing a common cultural and spiritual moment in an awe-inspiring and historic setting. Even though the whole service was in French it was easy to follow and if you couldn't follow the people around you could help guide you. It was an experience of a lifetime.

29 comments:

  1. This sounds like a great experience. Whether it was done in English or French, i'm sure it was still awesome to be a part of.

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  2. My grandfather had always wanted to go to Notre Dame. I can only imagine the ceremony. I think it would be really cool to sit through a service like that and truly experience their culture. Being able to sit and listen to a service in the native language must be an awesome experience.

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  3. That really is a great and moving experience. I have never been to France/Notre Dame Cathedral, but I have been to Croatia (visiting family members who live there). From what most of what I can remember, the church I attended seemed very similar to the Notre Dame cathedral, as well as other historic, well-known cathedrals, which is very interesting. My favorite part are the glass-paintings that light up the room. It's incredible.

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  4. Wow! This is something I would love to experience. I think religious affairs are always easy to follow whether you understand the language or not. There is definitely a spiritual connection you can feel. I'm all for experiencing other cultures and religions.

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  5. Alex,
    Being raised in a Catholic family and visiting my share of large cathedral, I can just imagine how it must have felt in the Notre Dame. I have seen many of pictures although have never traveled there. Religious ceremonies always flow simply, connect others and bring joy even if you are not religious.

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  6. Hi Alex,
    Reading your blog post made me want to visit the Notre Dame Cathedral. I am Catholic and I can imagine how special this must have been. Did any of the other students from the group that are from different religions decide not to attend the mass?

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  7. After reading this post I definatley agree! This seems like an opportunity of a lifetime, for sure! I think that bonding from this is very important. This relates to global learning in classrooms. This is such an amazing opportunity that most people do no get! I am so glad you shared this.

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  8. Wow! What an amazing experience to have! Thank you for sharing! This seems like something that would really be able to connect people together and the fact that the service could be followed even in a different language truly shows how connected the world can be by such an experience.

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  9. Hi Alex, thank you for writing about your experience at the Notre Dame Cathedral, I felt as though I was there with you. Attending any sort of social gathering such as a church service in a foreign place is always a good idea because you get a glimpse into the culture and lives of the local people. Plus this specific location holds so much history. I'm sure this was an experience that you will hold onto forever.

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  10. This sounds like a really awesome experience! I would love to experience this myself and this is definitely something you will remember. My fiancé has always said he wants Cathedral in Paris and now I can relay this post to him to give a more descriptive experience! Thanks for the great post!!

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  11. This is a great once in a lifetime experience. There are few moving moments that one will experience in his/her lifetime. I think the bond that happened during that service was probably very spiritual and strong. It is amazing how moving a mass can be.

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  12. As a person who lives by faith in god, I am so jealous of your experience. It is a dream of mine to visit such a location. Walking into my own church I get the chills, I could not imagine the feeling I would get walking through there.

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  13. I feel like this would be such an amazing experience to be a part of. As you mentioned, it is a once in a lifetime experience. I wish I could have been a part of it.

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  14. This must of been truly amazing mass to experience. This is a great story, thank you for sharing! I hope one day I can travel, and witness something just like this.

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  15. This must of been truly amazing mass to experience. This is a great story, thank you for sharing! I hope one day I can travel, and witness something just like this.

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  16. That has to be a one of a kind experience. Notre Dame has to be one of the coolest churches in the world and is on my list of places to visit in Paris. I hope to one day do the same and get to enjoy it myself.

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  17. The way you described this event was amazing! It made me wish I was there with the group so I could experience for myself. I can only imagine the sense of camaraderie between all those in the event. Thinking of it alone, gives me a tingle down my spine.

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  18. I loved reading your post! It made me feel like I wa theer and could hear the choing myself. The Notre Dame Cathedral is definetly on my list of places I wish to visit. That was really neat that the service was spoken in Frech and I really like how everyone had something to give even about their own cultures if they weren't catholic.

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  19. I totally agree with you. I have been there in 2014 and It was so much amazing to see people come from all over the world who didn't speak french but had no hard time navigating through the church. It was definitely was a wonderful experience of my life and I did morning mass on my trip as well.

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  20. Tapan
    I totally agree with you. I have been there in 2014 and It was so much amazing to see people come from all over the world who didn't speak french but had no hard time navigating through the church. It was definitely was a wonderful experience of my life and I did morning mass on my trip as well.

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  21. This sounds like a very moving experience, and Notre Dame Cathedral has always been a place that I would love to visit. It amazes me how beautiful cathedrals like this are and how amazing services are with the amount of people that take part in them as opposed to some of the smaller churches in America.

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  22. The service seems very interesting. Although it is in French, I still think there is a lot to learn from just being there. I bet the echoing of the voices in the cathedral was awesome too!

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  23. Your description of this experience truly allowed me to envision it! It sounds amazing and definitely something I would also like to experience sometime. I can imagine the voice of the speaker echoing through a building so iconic like the Notre Dame Cathedral!

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  24. I love how you all were able to appreciate the sermon despite not understanding the words. Just the setting alone must have been very moving, and this is an experience that I would be privileged to be able to have.

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  25. This is so cool how you were able to bond with one another even though you did not understand all of the words. I love when you said that everyone there was sharing a common cultural and spiritual moment.

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  26. Eric D'Arminio
    I love how you talk about you were able to bond with everyone during the mass even though you did not understand the language. This shows the power of people and how if you go the extra step you can help someone out in everyday life. So important to be nice as it is almost underappreciated in todays world but so valuable. Also was probably such a great experience you can hold forever to be apart of this mass in one of the most historical buildings in history.

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  27. I have always wanted to visit Notre Dame Cathedral and attend a Mass service. I think it was cool you could understand the service even though you did not know the language. I took French for two semesters in college and it was very hard for me to learn.

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  28. Notre Dame seems very spiritual. I would want to visit, but primarily for its history and architecture. It is sad though after the fire it is not fully the "real" Notre Dame, but still, seems like a blast!

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  29. I've been to Notre Dame before and agree that it's an incredibly moving experience. I also attended mass and even though I don't speak French I agree it was easy to follow.

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