A Holy Visit.....Easter Week 2007

April 2007...


I checked my itinerary against the calendar. Yes, I would be in Paris over Easter weekend. Marie and I made plans to attend Mass on Easter Sunday, but at the top of my to-do list, I wrote: 'visit Notre Dame on Good Friday.' I read somewhere that the cathedral's most sacred relic, the Crown of Thorns, was on display each Friday in Lent, and I was determined to see it. As it turned out, my travel companions did not share my quest; I found myself making the visit alone.


Alone, except for thousands of strangers! I entered a cathedral jammed with tourists. Packed into a herd stampeding in slow motion, the mass of us shuffled around the interior of the church.

The double aisle we moved in was a wide, dimly lit oval centered by the light-drenched nave. Ignoring the necklace of small chapels that adorn the perimeter of the sanctuary, I pushed, wiggled, and wormed my way toward the light. I found place to stand as close as possible to the red velvet restraining rope that defined the worship area.


I stood there mesmerized by the spectacle before me. While cameras flashed and video cams softly whirred, the faithful stood quietly in line, reverently waiting. On the steps to the altar, six priests stood robed in gold and white. The priest in front held a large white satin pillow. On it, gleaming in the light, was the golden Crown of Thorns. He held the pillow in front of him; the next pilgrim in line advanced, genuflected, and kissed the Crown. Crossing herself, she moved to the side and another took her place. My heart melted as a little girl holding her papa's hand approached the priest. While papa whispered in her ear, the priest bent down, bringing the pillow to the child's level. Hesitatingly, she leaned forward and encouraged by both men, kissed the holy relic. She made the Sign of the Cross as papa then paid his respects. Flashes from cameras twinkled across the nave. The man next to me pushed ahead to capture the scene on his video camera. I stood and watched for several minutes. Never were there fewer than fifty people in line. Women in furs were replaced by old men in worn woolen overcoats; a group of Asian nuns in severe black and white were followed by teenagers in tattered jeans with pierced ears and eyebrows.


continued tomorrow.......


Pictured above: the south facade of Notre Dame; the Rose Window taken April 2007