Caught on film: 04.01.2010 | 10:06:59 | Montmartre, Paris
Thursday, May 6, 2010
doppelgänger
This is not Brandon Isaac Dahm.
Caught on film: 04.01.2010 | 10:06:59 | Montmartre, Paris
Caught on film: 04.01.2010 | 10:06:59 | Montmartre, Paris
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
our easter à notre-dame
For our Easter celebration Parisian-style we decided to brave the 3.5 hour all-in-French Easter Mass at Notre-Dame on Saturday night before Easter.
They began the service outside the main doors of the cathedral, where they built a bonfire. The Cardinal of Paris lit a large candle from the fire and lead a procession into the cathedral which was in complete darkness. This was to represent the light of Christ coming into the darkness of the world. Everyone was given a candle which other priests lit as the processional passed by. The light from all the candles together was amazingly bright and the light nearly reached the top of the ceiling. It was beautiful.
As the service progressed they did scripture readings followed by short chants and responses, followed by the choir singing. They repeated this many times as they moved through texts beginning in Genesis 1 and proceeding on until Christ's death and resurrection. When we reached the resurrection they raised all the lights in the cathedral which was very powerful! We were really fortunate that they gave us detailed programs which had nearly everything they said and sang written out in them. It was written and spoken in French but between being familiar with some French and knowing the parts of the Bible they were reading we were able to follow along surprisingly well.
I was concerned beforehand that I might start nodding off in the late night warmth and darkness for so many hours, and without being able to understand anything, but that wasn't a problem at all. It was completely engaging the entire time!
To complete the perfect picture the huge pipe-organ was playing creepy and perfectly Notre-Dame-esque music throughout the mass:
It was an experience of a lifetime and Brandon's favorite thing we did in Paris.
As we all left the cathedral the hunch-back serenaded us on the bells!
We also learned from Marie that in France the Easter tradition is that the church bells disappear from the bell-towers the night before easter and then on Easter morning they bring chocolates to all the children. Yes, the bells sneak into your house and bring you chocolates. Now, the easter bunny doesn't make much sense but it makes way more sense than bells. How the heck do these stories get started and incorporated into culture anyway?
They began the service outside the main doors of the cathedral, where they built a bonfire. The Cardinal of Paris lit a large candle from the fire and lead a procession into the cathedral which was in complete darkness. This was to represent the light of Christ coming into the darkness of the world. Everyone was given a candle which other priests lit as the processional passed by. The light from all the candles together was amazingly bright and the light nearly reached the top of the ceiling. It was beautiful.
As the service progressed they did scripture readings followed by short chants and responses, followed by the choir singing. They repeated this many times as they moved through texts beginning in Genesis 1 and proceeding on until Christ's death and resurrection. When we reached the resurrection they raised all the lights in the cathedral which was very powerful! We were really fortunate that they gave us detailed programs which had nearly everything they said and sang written out in them. It was written and spoken in French but between being familiar with some French and knowing the parts of the Bible they were reading we were able to follow along surprisingly well.
I was concerned beforehand that I might start nodding off in the late night warmth and darkness for so many hours, and without being able to understand anything, but that wasn't a problem at all. It was completely engaging the entire time!
To complete the perfect picture the huge pipe-organ was playing creepy and perfectly Notre-Dame-esque music throughout the mass:
It was an experience of a lifetime and Brandon's favorite thing we did in Paris.
As we all left the cathedral the hunch-back serenaded us on the bells!
We also learned from Marie that in France the Easter tradition is that the church bells disappear from the bell-towers the night before easter and then on Easter morning they bring chocolates to all the children. Yes, the bells sneak into your house and bring you chocolates. Now, the easter bunny doesn't make much sense but it makes way more sense than bells. How the heck do these stories get started and incorporated into culture anyway?
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