We invite you to join with us for the Irish Pilgrimage to Notre Dame de Paris on Saturday, March 16, 2013. There are a number of activities available to you to celebrate this unique and special occasion for the Irish Community in France.
Pilgrim Walk from Collège des Irlandais to Notre Dame de Paris
We will begin the day Morning Prayers for pilgrims at 9:00am in the Collège des Irlandais (rue des Irlandais, 75005 Paris) and then a pilgrim walk through the streets of the 5th arrondissement to the Cathedral. Here is the precise route of our walk:
Collège des Irlandais
Rue des Irlandais
Rue Clotilde (by the Panthéon) stopping at
Eglise Saint Etienne-du-Mont
Place du Panthéon then turn right onto
Rue Valette then down
Rue des Carmes stopping at
Eglise Saint-Ephrem
Cross Rue des Ecoles continuing on
Rue des Carmes to Maubert Mutualité
Cross Boulevard Saint Germain then walk down
Rue Frédéric Sauton then cross onto
Quai de Montebello then walk along to turn right onto
Pont du Double
Notre Dame de Paris
We expect to arrive before 10:00am at Notre Dame de Paris. We will then complete the external two steps of the Pilgrim Way (see below).
Mass in Notre Dame de Paris
Mass will begin precisely at 12 noon. There are many tourists and pilgrims queuing up to enter the Cathedral and as we expect a large congregation you are advised to arrive early so that you are seated in time.
Representing the Irish Bishops, the Chief Celebrant will be Bishop Noel Treanor of Down and Connor. Monsignor Brendan Byrne, Administrator of Kildare and Leighlin, will give the homily. A visiting Irish government representative and the Irish Ambassador to France, Mr Paul Kavanagh, will be representing the Irish State.
Singing will be provided by the visiting 60-strong Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin Choir directed by Fr Liam Lawton, and the Chapelle Saint-Patrick Choir.
Mass is expected to finish by 13:30pm.
Shamrock will be available for you at the end of Mass.
Pilgrim Way
After Mass you are welcome to join us on the Pilgrim Way (steps 3 to 8 inside the Cathedral). It takes its inspiration from a phrase from St Augustine “Via viatores quaerit” (I am the Way which seeks travellers).
This is an eight step route led by English-speaking volunteers that takes in various key parts of the Cathedral. The Way begins in the forecourt, with pilgrims passing through a 13 metre high door, continuing to the western facade with its three beautifully sculpted gateways, then inside the Cathedral.
Pilgrims are invited to meditate on a verse of the Gospel and to accompany this meditation with a symbolic gesture that helps them to rediscover their own words of faith.
The steps of the Pilgrim Way are:
Step 1 The Jubilee Door and ascent (Theme: Holiness)
Step 2 The West Façade (Theme: Hope)
Step 3 The baptismal font (Theme: Christian Faith)
Step 4 The stained glass windows (Theme: Light of the World)
Step 5 The Altar and the Choir (Theme: Self-sacrifice)
Step 6 The Virgin of the Pillar (Theme: Obedience to the Faith)
Step 7 The Relics of Passion (Theme: Charity)
Step 8 The Relics of Sainte Geneviève (Theme: Mission)
The full Pilgrim Way takes about 80 minutes to complete.
St Patrick’s Day on March 17
We will be celebrating the Fifth Sunday of Lent in the Chapelle Saint-Patrick at the Collège des Irlandais:
9:30am Morning Prayer
11:30am Mass with the choirs of Kildare and Leighlin and Chapelle Saint-Patrick
12:30am Hospitality with tea/coffee and cake being served
18:00pm Evening Prayer
You are advised to arrive early for a seat in the Chapelle Saint-Patrick as we’ll have limited seating space inside due to the presence of our visitors from Ireland. Feel free to bring cakes and biscuits to the Salle de Conférence before Mass. They will be gratefully accepted!!
March 18
10:00am Mass in the Chapelle Saint Vincent de Paul (95, rue des Sèvres, 75006)
After Mass there will be a short walk to the Chapelle de la Médaille Miraculeuse on the Rue du Bac.