Today we started off our Sunday by visiting the Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Reims in Reims France. In English, that would translate to Our Lady of Reims Cathedral. This beautiful Catholic cathedral was built during 1211-1345 in the same French Gothic architectural style as the famous Notre-Dame de Paris. At that time, it was built to replace the previous Catholic church that had been destroyed in a fire. But during WWII, parts of the cathedral were hit in the bombing and had to be restored.
We arrived about 45 minutes early so we had more than enough of time to walk around the cathedral, take pictures, and observe the amazing architectural work. Then at 11:00, we attended a Catholic mass there delivered in French. This was particularly interesting for me because I’ve never attended a Catholic mass before. Overall, the structure of the mass itself was a little different from the CRC church services that I have become accustomed to. The mass was very much directed by the priest and there wasn’t much time for personal reflection and prayer.
I went into the service not expecting to understand a word of the sermon or the hymns, but then in the second hymn the congregation chanted: “Gloria, gloria, gloria! In excelsis deo! Gloria gloria gloria! Alleluia! Alleluia!” It was very nice to hear these familiar praises and to praise the Lord in the same way across different cultures and religious denominations.
Even though our time in Reims was short, I’m glad we made the stop to worship here in this historic cathedral.
Hamilton Mutschler