Madeleine Sophie at Notre-Dame de Paris
On December 8, 2024, the reopening mass of Notre-Dame de Paris was celebrated. This was a very important moment in the life of the diocese, the Church in Paris and the cathedral, as well as an extremely moving moment for the Sisters of the Sacred Heart (RSCJ), the Congregation and all those who share in the charisma of Saint Madeleine Sophie.
What a gift and honor it was to receive a request last June from Monseigneur Ulrich, Archbishop of Paris, for a relic to be placed in the Notre-Dame altar, along with those of four other Parisian saints/blessed, at the altar consecration! What a joy it is to contribute in this way, following on from the collaboration with numerous RSCJs, to the rebirth of the Mother Church of Paris!
In addition to the intact body of Saint Madeleine Sophie, which since 2009 has rested in a shrine in the church of Saint François-Xavier, we were also fortunate enough to have a relic to offer, brought from our General Archives in Rome.
BFN’s provincial, Noëlle Favet, and Magda Khalifia, representative of the Coptic church, Notre-Dame of Egypt, were welcomed as guests on December 8. In addition, several sisters were able to take part in the celebrations that took place throughout the reopening week. And all of you were present, in communion of prayer and heart, some even from your screens.
Notre-Dame is magnificent, luminous, as we’ve never seen it before. Stone and bronze complement each other in color and material, and statues and stained glass have been cleaned to reveal turquoise-green hues unknown to a normally gray Parisian sky.
The liturgy was impressively beautiful, with its solemnity, colorful chasubles, lights, representation of the people of God, large and small, various diocesan services, parishes and donors.
Even political representatives were present, as in the Gospel of that day, because the event was unique and unexpected. The heart of it all was presented, welcomed and understood in the liturgy of the consecration of the altar.
What we have seen here is a meeting between God and man, a celebration that brings everyone around the table together, beyond those present, a celebration in which everyone rejoices to find the house intact, in which everyone can see that what we thought was dead has come back to life. Who would have believed it? This reconstruction? As Monsignor Ulrich points out: “God remains faithful, rejoins his people, gives them rebirth and a way through”. This is the story of Notre-Dame, and it’s our story.
At the heart of it all, Madeleine Sophie, who like a gift, is associated with us. Let us rejoice. Current events are a strong invitation from Our Lord to make room for His Heart and His Love: the 350th anniversary celebrations of Our Lord’s apparitions to Marguerite Marie Alacoque in Paray-le Monial, the publication of Pope Francis’ encyclical “Dilexit nos – He loved us” on the Sacred Heart, the centenary of the canonization of St. Madeleine Sophie (December 14, 2024 to December 12, 2025), the presence of a relic of St. Madeleine Sophie in the new altar of Notre-Dame de Paris – these are all events that do not depend on us, but which invite us and call us.
Also at the heart of it all is a General Chapter of the Congregation, which is embarking on a reorganization to sustain life and mission for the future, as sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as collaborators, as friends, close to the charism of Madeleine Sophie.
God’s gratuitous love liberates, invigorates, delights the heart and nourishes communities. A river that does not run out, that does not pass away, that always offers itself anew to those who want to love, continues to gush forth from the wound of Christ’s open side. Only His love makes a new humanity possible. (DS 219)
Noëlle Favet, rscj
Section |International News
Province |Belgium/France/Netherlands
Tags |2024|Madeleine Sophie Barat|Madeleine-Sophie|Magdalena Sofía Barat|Notre-Dame|Paris|Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat|Sainte Madeleine-Sophie Barat|Santa Magdalena Sofía Barat
