Performance Authenticity in the 2016 Liturgies at the Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris

Abstract

This sociological study describes the exceptional qualities of the 2016 Notre Dame liturgies. My criterion of evaluation is authenticity, defined as faithfulness to a transcendent purpose in liturgical performances. The four areas of prayer, singing, participation, and visualization at Notre Dame are first compared to those of Papal Masses, a Protestant celebration, Sunday masses during the pandemic, and the daily 30-min Masses on American television networks. At Notre Dame, all the aspects of the liturgy were choreographed by the rector-master of ceremonies and visualized through theological concepts. The entrance procession was different each week, ranging from only two acolytes and the celebrating bishop to about fifty priests and several bishops. The performance of the choir was adapted to the needs of the weekly liturgies. The participation of the congregation was encouraged by professional singing leaders, and visualization through vertical and horizon images conveyed a sense of pilgrimage toward eternity. Is this a model for the universal Church, or specific to the French Church? The election of a pope from the Global South suggests that Catholicism has moved away from European models toward greater engagement in the world.

1. Introduction

1.1. The Argument

This is a sociological paper that is mainly descriptive and does not involve theory or hypothesis. It describes the performances of the liturgy at Notre Dame cathedral and does not raise questions about the theology of the Mass. Its contribution lies in highlighting the unique characteristics of the 2016 performances, specifically:

(1)

The Notre Dame choir may be the only professional church choir in France. It consists not of church members but of students working toward an academic degree, some of whom are neither Christian nor religious. This academic program teaches students to express the religious content of liturgical music through their voices, which I call performance authenticity.

(2)

The television recordings of the liturgies show an exceptional level of performance quality, which is not found in Vatican television and on the American network CatholicTV.

(3)

The performance of the liturgy was directed by the rector of the cathedral, Patrick Jacquin. His exceptional direction was highlighted during the Mass honoring his retirement. It was presided over by the archbishop, who offered him a retirement appreciation gift, and was attended, in appreciation of his leadership, by three bishops, about fifty priests, and the whole body of the knights of Holy Sepulcher.

(4)

The significance of the Notre Dame liturgies has changed. From 2010 to the fire of 2019, the Notre Dame Sunday Mass was the only one broadcast in France by KTO. Daily Mass celebrations began during the pandemic, and now there are three daily Masses. When broadcasting of the Notre Dame Mass resumes, it will be one of several available Masses. It may then be seen then as a private digital devotion, as is the case for the multiple daily Masses on CatholicTV.

The outline of the argument should help clarify the structure of this paper: (1) The criterion of evaluation is performance authenticity, which is defined as faithfulness to a transcendent purpose. (2) Performance authenticity was found to prevail in the four dimensions of the liturgy, namely prayer, the choir’s singing, participation of the congregation, and visualization.

1.2. Theoretical and Theological Questions

Quality in liturgy is difficult to define. Beauty is an elusive concept. Theories about liturgies can be found in the theology of salvation and the sacraments, spirituality, and the study of rituals. The theology of the liturgy develops the doctrine of salvation through the sacraments while spirituality emphasizes participation in the mystery of God; however, they have little to say about the quality of liturgical performances. The three dimensions of theology, spirituality, and rituals can be summarized in one sentence: the liturgy must “not only [be] exemplary from a ritual point of view, but also authentic and alive, which allows the living out of a true communion with God, that same communion toward which theological knowledge must tend” (Francis 2022, #39). There are no indications about how to make the liturgy “authentic and alive”. Major works on the liturgy are those of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (2010); Alexander Schmemann ([1966] 2003), who wrote about the early-Christian and Byzantine traditions; Aidan Kavanaugh (1984), who wrote on the prima theologia derived from the liturgy; and David W. Fagerberg (2013), who wrote on the spiritual and ascetic dimension. They are of little help for the study of live liturgies. Relevant works in the social sciences are those of Mary Douglas on purity and danger (Douglas 1966) and natural symbols (Douglas 1970), Victor Turner (1967) on liminality and communitas in ritual, and the ritual studies of Ronald Grimes (1995) (see Mitchell 1999; Bradshaw and Melloh 2007). However, these empirical studies are of little help for the evaluation of the liturgies at Notre Dame cathedral. Finally, there is Art and the Beauty of God by bishop Richard Harries (2000), who discussed art in worship. The foundational question, “What is Beauty” (chp. 1) is answered by Thomas Aquinas’ definition of beauty as wholeness, harmony, and radiance, but these characteristics are difficult to apply. The book ends with the view that art is “The Invisible Made Visible” (chp. 9). The author does not explain how this goal can be achieved in worship.

The three fields of theology, spirituality, and ritual symbolism leave out performance. Two Sunday liturgies inspired by the same theology, spirituality, and ritual symbols can be performed differently, e.g., the different performances of a Catholic Low Mass in Latin and a High Mass with a deacon and a subdeacon in pre-Vatican II times, and of a 30-min “television mass” on CatholicTV and a pontifical mass at Notre Dame, as shown below. I will use authenticity as faithfulness to the transcendent purpose of the performance as the criterion for the evaluation of the liturgies at Notre Dame, as explained below.

2. Background Information About the Televised Liturgies of Notre Dame

The television channel KTO (CATHOlic, pronounced K-T-O) was founded in 1999 by the Archbishop of Paris, Jean-Marie Lustiger. It started broadcasting locally through a Parisian cable channel and was able to broadcast nationally only in 2008. Over the years, KTO grew into a media production company. It now has about 70 employees and publishes about 150 documentaries each year, along with numerous interviews and videos about the Church in France and the world. It broadcasts in Belgium, the Middle East, and a few French-speaking countries1.

The earliest Notre Dame Sunday liturgy found in the archives of KTO is the pontifical Mass celebrated by Cardinal Archbishop André Vingt-Trois on 14 February 2015. From that date until the fire of Notre Dame, a televised Mass was celebrated every Sunday by the Archbishop, an auxiliary bishop, or a visiting prelate. This article is based on some of the earliest broadcasts, namely the six 2016 liturgies of 12 and 26 June, 3 and 17 July, 15 August, and 4 September. The first and the last one were celebrated by the Archbishop of Paris2.

Every Catholic diocese may have a master of ceremonies for its liturgies. There is no official description of this function. The master of ceremonies of the papal court was Guido Marini, who served from 2007 to 2021. Marini made it his job to guide the Supreme Pontiff in the observance of the liturgical rubrics. He always stood by the pope’s side to guide him through each step of the liturgy, though he was not involved in the praying and singing by the choir and the assembly. Under all recent popes, praying and singing were directed by two independent agencies. The situation at Notre Dame was quite different.

By tradition, the administration of Notre Dame is entrusted to a rector-archpriest nominated by the archbishop of Paris. This job includes the function of master of ceremonies, in addition to supervising a team of about 60 priests and thousands of volunteers. Patrick Jacquin became the rector of Notre Dame in 2003 and retired in 2016. Unlike Marini at the Papal Masses, Patrick Jacquin was dynamically involved in liturgical renewal. Soon after taking office, he was active in the 850th anniversary of Notre Dame. He oversaw the wiring of the cathedral for the recording of its liturgies. He revived the procession on the feast of the Assumption, making it a tour on a fleet of 40 boats on the river Seine. He supervised all major aspects of the liturgy: the choreography of the liturgical actors, from the entrance procession to the exit; the selection of songs for the choir and music for the organ; and the quality of the television recording. Archbishop Ving-Trois celebrated the mass of 4 September as thanksgiving for his 13 years of service as rector. On that day, three bishops and about fifty priests came to attend. His successor followed a less centralized attitude, and during the quarantine of COVID-19, liturgical creativity came to a standstill.

3. Method: Authenticity in Performance as Criterion of Evaluation

My criterion of evaluation is based on the distinction between authenticity and style in acting, music, and art. Evey country has institutes or associations to promote the quality and authenticity of its traditions. In the English language, there are many Shakespeare companies. La Comédie-Française was founded in 1680 to immortalize the comedies of Molière and has been in continuous operation ever since. It offers performances in three Parisian theaters and occasionally in the provinces. It has a repertoire of 3000 works comprising tragedies, comedies, and classical and modern works. Most great French actors were associated with or have been influenced by this trend of authentic fidelity to national traditions (Wikipedia, Comédie-Française3). To this day, stage actors are called comédiens, although their acting may have nothing to do with comedy. Movie actors are never called comédiens, even if they perform in a comedy. Successful stage actors may be eulogized in the press but may have no fans. The main quality of stage actors is their authentic performance. At the veneration of the Holy Crown on Good Friday in 2016, two stage actors (not church members) gave the readings, as described below.

There is another trend, which is best illustrated by Hollywood. Today, in performing arts schools in the U.S. and elsewhere, students learn to develop their artistic talents and, more specifically, to find their personal style. In this trend, performance is a matter of style, where actors are expected to shine in their uniquely creative talents; thus, it has little to do with authenticity as defined here. In show business, for example, an artist may play Bach or Mozart in a jazz or rock-and-roll style. Hollywood does not perform Shakespeare or Molière plays, which would require authenticity, but movies with actors of great style. Successful movie actors are followed by “fans”, who admire their style and mimic their lifestyle. Since the time of the Impressionists, style has dominated the visual arts. Among the Impressionists, Monet, Renoir, Degas, and all the others have different styles. In cubism and abstract art, painting an apple is a matter of style and not of imitating nature, as in classical art. Today, artists can select from a spectrum of historical styles.

These two traditions involve two different ethics. In theater and music, the performance of a classical piece requires months and years of practice to discover the original and authentic meaning of a given work. Laurence Olivier (1907–1989) was recognized as the greatest Shakespearian actor of his time. This is the tradition of authenticity. In Hollywood, Charlie Chaplin created the unique style of the tramp. Thousands of fans imitated or impersonated him. Walt Disney created the style of animated characters that reflect the fantasies of their creators. Mickey mouse is no ordinary mouse, but a fantasy. This is the tradition of styles. Today, actors must choose between authenticity and style or a combination of the two. in the same applies to the liturgy. In local churches, as we will see below, in the absence of an ethic of authenticity, liturgical performers tend to opt for style. This is not the case at Notre Dame.

Charles Taylor traced the origin of the ethic of style (which he calls the culture of authenticity) to Rousseau and the Romantic movement, which emphasized self-creation: “Being true to myself means being true to my own originality, and that is something only I can articulate and discover. In articulating it, I am also defining myself. I am realizing a potentiality that is properly my own” (Taylor 1991, p. 29). The first step in this process is to discover one’s exceptional talents; from these, one can go on to create a unique self and unique performances. This is how students learn to perform today. There is no transcendent dimension, as the ultimate jury of their work is public approval. Taylor ended his article by reflecting on the danger of fragmentation, especially in politics, when all individuals (and political parties) follow their unique self-centered fulfillment (ibid. p. 109 ff). Clearly, liturgies should not be inspired by this ethic.

Beauty in the liturgy was discussed by the Archbishop of Paris on 12 June 2016, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Notre Dame Association for Sacred Music. This association runs an academic program for religious singing with the support of the Ministry of Culture and the City of Paris. At the beginning of that day’s mass, the Cardinal Archbishop said “The beauty of the building which carries us in prayer is not sufficient by itself”, adding that, “To architectural beauty must be added instrumental, vocal and liturgical beauty through which we try to express our faith and prayers”. The Notre Dame school of sacred music trains 35 to 40 children in up to 16 h of classes and practice per week for the children’s choir, as well as about 20 students in the adult choir preparing for a certificate from the City of Paris or an MA from the University of Paris4. The school employs three choir masters and five organists. The two choirs and their teachers serve in the liturgy. Clearly, the cathedral has the resources for high-quality singing. The dynamic leadership of Partrick Jacquin will extend this quality to all aspects of the liturgy. Authenticity in the liturgy is to be faithful to its purpose, which is to give collective glory to God through common prayers and singing, as opposed to individual liturgical styles which emphasize private prayer in silence.

We now have a criterion—authenticity as faithfulness to a transcendent purpose—to evaluate the four dimensions of prayer, singing, participation, and visualizing the event though recording. The ritual prayers of the ministers must seek words beyond stereotypical formulas. The choir and singers must be faithful to the tradition of religious singing, as in Gregorian chanting. The lead singer and the organ music must engage the congregation to participate actively. Finally, the visualization of the performance through the eye of the camera must evoke a transcendent dimension. Here is an outstanding example.

Jesus’ crown of thorns has been venerated on Good Friday ever since it was brought to Notre Dame by King St. Louis in 1238. On Good Friday 2020, for the veneration of the crown of thorns, Archbishop Michel Aupetit was given permission to enter Notre Dame, which was still in danger of collapse after the fire of 2019. He came with the rector of the cathedral and only four actors. He offered this four-minute prayer (paraphrased): “One year ago, this cathedral was in flames. This crown of thorns, saved by the firefighters, is a sign that you joined us in the worst of our sufferings, and that we are not alone. The bible says that the tears of the destitute stream down on God’s cheek. On this Good Friday, we have seen people’s tears [due to the coronavirus] stream down your cheek. In these times of trials, help us live what you taught us, ‘Love one another’”. This bible-centered reflection is a model of transcendent sobriety.

It was followed by 37 min of listening. First, violinist Renaud Capiçon performed, eyes closed, an adagio by J.S. Bach; the archbishop listened, eyes closed. Two actors read five poems, the first one by Paul Claudel who converted to Catholicism when attending Vespers at Notre Dame on Christmas Day of 1886, and the last one by Charles Péguy, a well-known Catholic poet. There was no bible reading, no acolytes, no candles, and no incense. This liturgy ended appropriately with the singing of Schubert’s Ave Maria, performed with great purity of voice and without artifacts of style. Only poetry, music, and silence were deemed able to adequately and authentically express the mystery of human and divine suffering on Good Friday. The public noticed it; it was the headline of the major newspapers the following morning.

4. The Theological Context

The Constitution on the Liturgy was the first document adopted by the Vatican II (1963). It marked a break with the past by abrogating Latin as the universal language of the liturgy, but this break could not include the theological insights developed in later documents on the nature of the Church, revelation, ecumenism, and religious liberty in the modern world. More importantly, this council did not produce a document on the sacraments. Today, Catholicism still follows the traditional Tridentine theology of the sacraments, which was reasserted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church published in 1994.

“The sacraments confer the grace that they signify”; this is the formula of the Council of Trent of 1547 (CCC 1127). In simple terms, “There are sacramental graces, proper to the different sacraments” (CCC 2003). Baptism confers the forgiveness of original sin and all personal sins (CCC 1263). It gives sanctifying grace which enables the soul “to live with God, to act by his love”. This is a permanent disposition unless it is broken by mortal sin. All sacraments act ex opere operato (literally: “by the very fact of the action’s being performed”), “From the moment a sacrament is celebrated, the power of Christ and his Spirit act in and through it”. In short, sacraments are “efficacious signs of grace”. This theology easily leads to a quantitative and utilitarian attitude. One attends church to gain graces; attending two masses gives twice the number of graces of one mass. The Eucharist is seen as an individual devotion that, since the 19th century, was encouraged by the hierarchy in the form of Novenas of Masses, nine First Friday of the month masses, the practice of 40 h of adoration, perpetual adoration, veneration of the Blessed Sacrament, etc. This theology stands in sharp contrast to the theology and practices found at Notre Dame, but it still prevails in two Catholic television networks as we will see below.

This theology has a double consequence: neither the congregation nor art make any intrinsic contribution to the liturgy and the sacraments. Active participation is not necessary, as stated in Canon Law: “the precept of participation in the Mass is satisfied by assistance at a Mass” (canon 1248). Physical attendance is sufficient because sacraments are “efficacious signs of grace” ex opere operato. Moreover, a priest may not celebrate mass without at least one acolyte “except for just and reasonable cause” (canon 906, Coriden et al. 1985). In the extreme situation of there being no available acolyte, the priest may celebrate mass alone rather than wait until an attendant can be found, which means that not even one person besides the priest is necessary for a valid Mass. This view was promoted by many Catholic churches in their televised liturgies during COVID-19, which only show the priest celebrating mass, often in an empty church. With regard to art in the liturgy, the Catholic Church has always recognized its importance, but the Catholic Catechism (CCC 1156–1162) and John Paul II’s Letter to Artists (Pope 1999) dealt with art in general and abstract terms. There is no reflection on transcendent religious art versus pop art, folk art, commercial art, and art as individual style. In many Catholic churches, art and music are mainly ornamental creations according to the style of the day, as in two American television channels presented below.

The Constitution on the Liturgy called for “full and active participation by all the people”, (Vatican II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, No. 14) instead of silent mass attendance, and that the Sunday Mass should be “the source and summit” of the week, instead of being one Mass among many throughout the week. Active participation came to be seen as a major characteristic of Vatican II liturgies. This goal was achieved to the greatest extent at Notre Dame in 2015–2019 (the date of the fire) when its Sunday Masses were the only Sunday liturgies available on television in France. The whole country could look to Notre Dame as an embodiment of the unity of all Catholics around the Archbishop in their capital city. It was a model of liturgical renewal. To this general goal, Archbishop Vingt-Trois added a second one: “To architectural beauty [of the cathedral] must be added instrumental, vocal and liturgical beauty through which we try to express our faith and prayers”. Beauty is to be intrinsic to the liturgies of Notre Dame, while it is extraneous when liturgies are seen as private devotions. Authenticity is to prevail in all aspects of the liturgy, more specifically in the four dimensions of prayer, choir singing, participation of the assembly, and visualization.

I will examine these four dimensions of the liturgies of Notre Dame and compare them with other celebrations. They are (1) the quality and prayerfulness of the ministers’ ritual performance; (2) the singing of the choir and the music of the organ as religious rather than merely artistic performances; (3) leadership in singing and the participation of the congregation in the songs of the day; and (4) the visualization of the liturgy by the television crew. For a more synthetic evaluation, I will pay special attention to the entrance procession.

5. Findings

5.1. Notre Dame in a Comparative Perspective

I will briefly compare Notre Dame celebrations with four liturgies, namely Papal Masses, a Protestant celebration of the Reformation, a studio Mass during COVID-19, and two American televised Masses. In each case, I will investigate the four dimensions distinguished above: (1) prayerfulness, (2) choir singing, (3) participation, and (4) visualization. For my analysis of the Papal Masses, I refer to those of 15 May 2016, 29 June 2016, and the Canonization of John Paul II on 27 April 20145.

1. Papal Masses. Pope Francis is the first pope who has not attended Vatican II. He is a fervent promoter of this council but prefers Latin and private prayers. Thus, in the Pontifical mass of Pentecost on 15 May 2016, Francis started with, “In nomine Patris… Pax vobiscum…”. In a low and barely audible voice, he then read the opening prayer, followed by a long prayer in Latin. The Gospel of John was read in Latin. During the singing of the Credo in Latin, Francis was shown with his head bowed and not singing. During the presentation of gifts, the choir sang in Latin. The Preface dialogue and the reading of the Preface were in Latin. The Sanctus was sung in Latin, followed by the Eucharistic Prayer in Latin, which was said in a low voice. The Our Father was said in Latin. During communion, Pope Francis was shown seated, with his head bowed. The after-communion prayer was also said in Latin. The other Pontifical Masses show similar images of Francis in private and devotional prayer.

The Sistine Chapel Choir was established in its present form by a motu proprio of Pope Pius X in 1903. It consists of 20 male professionals and 30 young boys (Wikipedia, Sistine Chapel Choir6). The monarchs of England have a similar choir of 12 adult males and 23 boys at Windsor Castle. In the 20th century, both the British and the papal choirs gave concerts throughout Europe. Until 2019, the director of the choir selected the music and the hymns for the papal liturgies. He was not expected to support the singing of the congregation, as was generally the custom before Vatican II. By contrast, the purpose of the Notre Dame choir is to contribute to the spiritual beauty of the liturgies, in cooperation with other participants.

In reference to the participation of the congregation in the liturgy, there is no singing leader inviting the congregation to join at the Papal Masses. Moreover, much of the singing is in Latin, which tends to reduce participation. Throughout the service, especially in the entrance procession, cardinals can be seen not singing. As stated in canon law, physical attendance is sufficient to satisfy the precept of participation.

The visualization of the Masses was performed by Vatican Television. Its reporting included numerous examples of human-interest stories and images typical of secular media. Thus, in the Mass on 15 May presented above, there was an extreme close-up of a rosary in a person’s hands, followed by the enlarged image of the rosary’s crucifix—a one-inch crucifix projected over the whole screen. These images were followed by a close-up of a mother kissing her baby and another extreme close-up of a rosary crucifix laid on a hand, and during the gospel reading, another image of a rosary held in a hand. Later, we could see a father rocking a baby on his chest, and later a mother soothing her sleeping infant with a lollipop. On several occasions, the viewers’ attention was drawn to women’s faces. Crowds outside offered even more opportunities for unusual shots, such as a nun wearing a baseball cap or an African woman with an elaborate headdress. Such images, unrelated to the liturgies, were never seen in Notre Dame liturgies.

2. The 500th anniversary of the Reformation was celebrated on 10 January 2017 in the Lutheran Church St. Thomas in Strasbourg, France, with the participation of various French Protestant denominations, the Catholic Church, and the Orthodox Church.7 It was a remarkable liturgy of reconciliation after five centuries of conflict. One important characteristic was the perfect integration of the various activities, as at Notre Dame, of the Protestant and Catholic prayers, music, and choirs. All prayers were said in two halves, one by a Catholic and the other by a Protestant minister. The prayerfulness was as intense as the singing, with all the congregration participating with one heart and one soul. All participants could be seen following the readings and the songs in the printed program at all times. The choir consisted of three men and three women. Their pieces were short and were sung in dialogue with the assembly, with the choir singing one stanza and the congregation singing the second one. The organ and saxophone provided short interludes, always of inspirational quality. There were two sermons, one Protestant the other Catholic, with the significant detail that the Catholic bishop had shown his sermon to his Protestant counterpart to ensure spiritual harmony between the two. The sound and the images were of the same high quality as those of Notre Dame broadcasts. In short, the high-quality liturgies of Notre Dame can also be found in Protestant Churches.

3. Le Jour du Seigneur was created in 1949 as a 90-min program on Sunday mornings, offering a televised Mass in a different parish each week. In the middle of March 2020, when the quarantine limited all its activities to its small Paris studio, the Dominicans, whose convent was next door, improvised Sunday Masses of a rare quality. First, the director came to the camera to invite the public to become active participants: “Welcome! Our studio is small, but we will proceed as if you invited us to come into your home. We will celebrate Mass in your midst, for you and with you”. There was room for only four people in the small studio, with three of them singing—from beginning to end—polyphonic pieces that had been rehearsed or even created in the days and nights prior to the broadcast. It gave a sense of intense and prayerful participation. They often sang in front of images which made the viewers feel as if they had been transported elsewhere, unaware that these images were projected on a studio wall. The most exceptional of these images was the visualization of the mass, both inside and outside the Paris studio, through screen projections. This is another example of an authentic liturgy.

4. The two major American television networks, CatholicTV and CFN, offer daily 30-min masses, which are the opposite of the Notre Dame liturgies, with perfunctory prayers, little or no singing, little or no participation, and perfunctory visualization. CatholicTV, launched in Boston, is a television network that covers most of the Northeast and the Midwest. Its distinctive feature is what they call “TV Masses”. Every day, the morning Mass of 9:30 a.m. is broadcast again at 12:30 p.m., 7:00 p.m., and 11:00 p.m. On Sundays, there are five such Masses: two in English and three in Spanish, plus three regular 60-min masses. I recorded ten of them from 2016; however, in 2024, the program and the format of the liturgies were still the same8. These liturgies take place in a study-chapel. The public is only shown the altar and the space around it; the television crew occupies the rest of the studio-chapel. The liturgy begins when the priest enters the sacred space and says, “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit”. There is no entrance or exit procession. There is no congregation in attendance. The only person in the sacred space is a lector who usually also serves as altar server. The only sound is that of the priest and the lector. At offertory and communion, there is often music from a harmonium located on the right side, invisible most of the time. This liturgy fulfills all the conditions for a valid mass. “From the moment a sacrament is celebrated, the power of Christ and his Spirit act in and through it”. Every mass in an “efficacious sign of grace”. The mass is seen as an individual devotion; the more masses shown or attended, the better. The other television network in the New York metropolitan area, CFN (the Catholic Faith Network), also broadcasts three 30-min masses a day, usually from its local cathedral. Only the priest and the altar are shown, but at communion especially, one can see that the whole church is mostly empty. In terms of authenticity, these 30-min Masses can be seen as authentically pre-Vatican II, allowing for individual styles of devotion, while the liturgies at Notre Dame seek an authentic performance in the spirit of Vatican II. In most of the US, there seem to be no liturgies emphasizing participation and beauty as at Notre Dame.

5.2. Authenticity in the Liturgies at Notre Dame

I defined authenticity in the liturgy as faithfulness to its intent or purpose in its various dimensions. The purpose of prayer is prayerfulness, not just the recitation of ritual formulas. The purpose of the choir is not to give a concert but to engage the congregation in singing or reflection. The authentic participation of the congregation is more than their physical attendance. I now document authenticity at Notre Dame, beginning with the entrance procession, followed by the other dimensions.

1. Entrance procession. Its purpose is to introduce the assembly into the sacred space and sacred mysteries. In all the six recorded ceremonies, the entrance processions were different in their choreography and visualization. On the first three Sundays, the procession was introduced by a thurifer and a cross-bearer. On the following three Sundays, it was the rector Patrick Jacquin, a thurifer, and a cross-bearer who introduced the procession. More specifically, on 17 July, behind the rector came two candle bearers and eight priests, followed by bishop Jachiet. On Assumption Day, the procession included 20 knights of the Holy Sepulcher, 30 priests, and bishop Eugene Houdekon from Africa. On 4 September, for the celebration of the rector Patrick Jacquin’s retirement, the procession included about 30 priests in albs and stole, 15 priests in chasubles, 3 bishops, and Cardinal Archbishop André Vingt-Trois. In the first three Sundays, the rector did not actively participate in the liturgy, while in the last three, he guided all the participants in their roles within the liturgical choreography. The special purpose of each Sunday liturgy was expressed visually through choreography, in addition to the hymns selected for each Sunday. This was unique to Notre Dame cathedral.

The visualization used contrast between vertical and horizontal images to express the theological meaning of the procession. By filming the nave in a wide angle from the highest point of the choir above the altar, the walls of the cathedral disappear from our eyesight, and we only see the long procession stretching from the back of the church to the altar like a vertical line through the rectangle of the screen. It is the people of God in its pilgrimage here on earth. Next, by filming the moving procession at eyesight level, we see the people of God in their daily struggles. And by filming the procession from the highest point at the back of the church, we see its march towards eternity and movement towards the altar for worship and sanctification. This kind of visualization is specific to Notre Dame cathedral.

2. Prayerfulness. At the beginning of all recorded masses, the presiding bishop said a few words of welcome, followed by a prayer. These were improvisations and not part of the official ritual, expressing personal emotions in relation to current events, partly said with the eyes closed.

During the confession of sins, the presiding bishop, turned towards the people as in all churches, recited the “I confess” together with the congregation, but for the Kyrie, he turned towards the east, with his back to the people, which does not occur in other churches. Prayerfulness during the Kyrie was expressed both through images and the choir’s singing. On 12 June, Archbishop Vingt-Trois stood alone in front of the bronze altar, while the choir sang “Lord, have mercy”. A wide-angle horizontal picture of the church choir and parts of the transept showed the archbishop in the middle, appearing very small, while the upper part of the image pointed towards the cross of the main altar. This composition showed the smallness of the penitents asking for mercy. On 4 September, during the Kyrie, an initial vertical image of the whole nave and parts of the church choir expressed a community in prayer. The archbishop stood alone again, but in front of the whole congregation praying with him. Then, the camera zoomed wide open to include the whole choir, together with the nave, joining the singing choir and the listening congregation in one image. This image was horizontal, showing the 30 priests in albs, the singing choir, and the archbishop standing alone. As the camera moved up to the ceiling, the people became smaller while the singing became more intense. Then, the camera slowly turned 120 degrees, showing all the priests turned towards the east, in the direction of Jerusalem—the place of Christ—while the choir sang Christe eleison (“Lord, have mercy”). This last image was again vertical, showing in one image the whole choir and the whole assembly to the end of the church as they sang Kyrie, eleison.

There are numerous examples of prayerfulness throughout the mass. A moving moment was the recitation of the Our Father by 30 priests in albs and the 15 priests in chasubles, together with the archbishop and the whole congregation, all raising their hands and praying, “Notre Père qui êtes aux cieux…”

3. The choir. The Notre Dame choir is probably not better than similar ones, but it gains from having directors who spend a lifetime studying and teaching religious music. Students and teachers are dressed in blue robes with a rolled-over collar but no belt, which make them identifiable at all times during the liturgy. Unique to Notre Dame is the coordination of the singing with the rest of the liturgy under the leadership of the rector. The Kyrie, the Gloria, and the Credo are standard in all Catholic Mass, while the entrance hymns and special pieces at offertory and communion are unique to each local church.

The entrance song is always an antiphon—a dialogue between the singing leader and the assembly—with the musical support of the choir and the organ. It may consist of an original refrain like “God invites us to his house” or a traditional responsorial like Jubilate Deo, Cantate Domino with the verses of Psalm 122: “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord’”. All entrance songs showed coordination between the choir, the assembly, the organ, and the entrance procession.

The singing during offertory was meditative and different each Sunday. On 12 June, it consisted of wordless polyphonic singing by nine women vocalizing a melody in harmony over three minutes; meditation requires no words from a transcendent perspective. On 3 July, two women and two men sang the traditional Panis angelicus for communion. On Assumption Day, a small choir of four women and four men sang the Agnus Dei before communion, repeating dona nobis pacem several times. A wide-angle view from the ceiling showed the church choir and the nave, with all the people waiting motionlessly in meditation. On 4 September, while the knights of Holy Sepulcher, in white capes emblazoned with the cross of Jerusalem, received communion, the two choirs of adults and children sang a polyphonic communion song, with special harmonic effects by the organ. This variety and authentic religious singing were unique to Notre Dame.

4. The active participation of the faithful. Participation is facilitated when encouraged by the lead singer and the example of the clergy. At Notre Dame, the priests and bishops could often easily be seen singing. Lead singers—either a male singing both the refrain and the verses, or a male and a female, with one singing the refrain and the other the verses, or two women—seems to be specialized, as they are different from the choir directors. It takes special skills to engage the congregation, which is different each week. The people responded actively, quickly picking up the refrain Jubilate Deo, Cantate Domino despite it being in Latin. The entrance songs were usually joyful and jubilant. In all churches, the congregation participates in the recitation of the Confiteor, the Creed, and the Our Father. The voice of the celebrating bishop covered at times that of the congregation, but at other times the latter was more powerful. One could almost always see members of the congregation holding the printed program, suggesting their general and active participation in words and spirit.

5. Visualization is an unavoidable dimension of broadcasting, for better or worse. What was special at Notre Dame was its authenticity: the images reinforced the purpose of a given prayer or ritual, through vertical or horizontal views. While choreography visualized the ritual process through movements in space, visualization choreographed images through time. Both were unique creations.

6. Epilogue and conclusion: a universal model or the French standard?

After the fire on 15 April 2019, Pontifical Masses took place at the nearby Church of Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois. During the strict lockdown imposed in the middle of March 2020, the liturgy was performed as usual, but in an empty church without a choir and congregation. Choreography and visualization seemed meaningless. No creative adjustment was made, in contrast to the innovative creations at Le Jour du Seigneur mentioned above.

Notre Dame is a cathedral church, as opposed to a parish church. No Mass was celebrated there during the week except for one Mass on Friday evenings following Vespers. Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois is a parish church. It quickly became obvious at the beginning of the pandemic that the bishops, and later a parish priest, should offer mass every day. However, when KTO started broadcasting daily masses, all liturgies became devotions to be watched individually in front of a television screen. With no attendance and no participation, these liturgies do not seem very different from the television Masses of CatholicTV of Boston and the Catholic Faith Network of New York.

The election of Cardinal Bergoglio of Buenos Aires as pope in 2013 indicated that the center of gravity of Catholicism had moved away from Europe to the Global South. The conference of Medellin in 1968 gave birth to liberation theology and the quest for social justice, and a charismatic renewal with a special emphasis on the Holy Spirit followed a few years later. All of this was absent from Notre Dame liturgies. In this perspective, Notre Dame is less a model for the universal Church than a standard for the French Church. We can review the trajectory of this paper from this perspective.

The Constitution on the Liturgy emphasized active participation of the congregation in lieu of passive attendance at a Latin Mass. The Sunday liturgy was to be henceforth the source and summit of Catholic life. This Constitution was written in 1963, when Sunday mass attendance was as high as 70 to 80 percent in the U.S. Since then, it has fallen to below 10 percent in the U.S. and even 5 percent in several European countries, with this Sunday source and summit often following a week of inactivity. Engagement in the world was emphasized by the Constitution of the Church in the Modern World of 1965, but it was never integrated into the Vatican II conception of the liturgy of 1963. Herein lies the limitation of the Notre Dame liturgical model: it stands for authenticity in the liturgy but not engagement in the world. It may, however, still be one generation ahead of the pre-Vatican II liturgies of CatholicTV and CTN in the U.S.

In the charismatic movement, which claims about 70 million members in Latin America and in the Pentecostal tradition, faithfulness is directed toward listening to the Holy Spirit, and authenticity is faithfulness to its voice. This spiritual individualism is combined with engagement in the world, as promoted by Pope Francis’ call for missionary discipleship together with support for the underprivileged and Mother Earth. Various forms of Pentecostal spirituality and social engagement have become a general trend in the Global South (Miller and Yamamori 2007). Thus, there is great convergence between Protestant Pentecostals and Catholic charismatics. In the North, the call to a personal relationship with Christ is a common theme in both Protestant and Catholic churches, but this call also implies listening to the inner voice of the Spirit. Here too, there is a convergence between Catholics and Protestants. This convergence seems to be the trend for the future. The renovated cathedral of Notre Dame will open its doors again in 2025. What will we see then? Will we see the 2016 model of authenticity or something different and better? The fire and the pandemic have given us time to reflect. A future model is likely to come from the Global South rather than France and the U.S., and will hopefully unify Protestant and Catholic voices in worship in the distant future.