By Lucile Coppalle
FRANCE – A grand pilgrimage is in the works to commemorate the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, which is scheduled for December. Organized this summer by the association Les 7 Routes Notre-Dame, the pilgrimage will be launched simultaneously in seven municipalities on Jul 28.
“The ambition of this project is a bit crazy and dizzying because we want to create a network throughout the entire country,” explained Noémie Teyssier d’Orfeuil, one of the event’s organizers. From north to south and from west to east of France, pilgrims can follow one of the seven routes alone or in groups. These start from Mont-Saint-Michel and Quimper in the northwest, Boulogne-sur-Mer in the north, Lyon in east-central, the island of Ré in the west, Brive-la-Gaillarde in the southwest, and Ottrott in the northeast.
All roads lead to Paris and Notre-Dame. The arrival at the cathedral is set for Sep 14. Pilgrims will walk under the patronage of great saints carried in procession. While pilgrims will be able to admire many rural landscapes, a “special route,” that of the Marian Crown, will tour the Parisian suburbs. Starting from Nanterre, this route will be an opportunity to discover “beautiful and unknown” urban locations, d’Orfeuil said.
“Notre-Dame brings together everyone, beyond the Church”
This grand pilgrimage is supported by the Church of France, led by the president of the Bishops’ Conference of France, Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort of Reims. As of now, more than 700 religious communities have also pledged their support to the organizers of the event.
They also wanted to involve volunteers from the parishes of the villages they pass through, d’Orfeuil said. “The goal is also to discover the local characteristics of the municipalities and churches where we will stop.” Yet for d’Orfeuil, “Notre-Dame brings together everyone, beyond the Church. It is the guardian of unity. In France, almost everyone remembers what they were doing on the day of the fire.”
“The walk is accessible to everyone”
Several thousand pilgrims are expected, and are expected to be accommodated in 372 bell towers across France. Every evening, prayer vigils will be organized, with both believers and non-believers invited. “Faith makes us trustees of a treasure that allows us to invite everyone, regardless of their faith journey,” d’Orfeuil emphasized. “What matters most to me is to tell anyone encountered on the road that there is a place for them if they want to walk with us.” The walk, she added, “is accessible to everyone. It’s simple, and we move slowly.”
The pilgrimage will end with a prayer vigil to mark the arrival of the pilgrims at Notre-Dame on September 14. Statues of the patron saints of each trade will be presented to the firefighters, carpenters, and stonemasons who worked on the cathedral. The following day, a Mass will be celebrated at the Church of Saint-Sulpice, presided over by Archbishop Laurent Ulrich of Paris. – La Croix International
