amelie

What church is the best (in your opinion) for my husband and I to attend a Sunday mass?

Michel_Paris

Notre Dame would be nice.

amelie

Ps. We would probably go early, as I've read later masses tend to be tourist-heavy.

..or a Saturday evening mass is also not out of the question.

kerouac

Do you mean that tourists are infidels?

kmbp

Next time we're in Paris, we'll go to Saint Sulpice for mass and the music.

See the organ here

http://www.stsulpice.com/

and the schedule here

http://www.stsulpice.com/Docs/concerts.html

amelie

No, but another post mentioned how the ushers at Notre Dame's 11am mass had to keep shushing the tourists and it made it hard to enjoy the mass.

quokka

>>Do you mean that tourists are infidels?

Some are. And too many don't know (or, worse, don't care) how to behave in a church, especially during a service. Attending mass in a church full of tourists who don't participate but walk around, talk loudly and flash their cameras isn't pleasant at all.

Christina

Why don't you just go to a non-tourist church, then, if you want to go to Mass? There are dozens of churches in Paris, and most don't have hardly any tourists in them.

Try St Francois Xavier in the 7th if you want a Gregorian mass, they are one of the few that have them (at 9 am). They also have one at 11:30 with a choir. It was built at the end of the 19th century, I think. Otherwise, I'd recommend St Louis en l'Ile on the island as I think it's a very pretty church, and it's certainly convenient.

kerouac

There is no way you will ever avoid tourists by going to a mass at Notre Dame, unless you are invited to a state funeral.

In any case, all of the small 'non-tourist' masses are held in the little chapel at the back of the church, not in the main section. There are just not enough worshippers in France to use the big stuff.

raspberryberet

we saw a wedding taking place (just wrapping up) at notre dame on january 5. it looked magnificent. QUITE the fancy affair!

raspberryberet

that said, i would choose sacre coeur. is that possible? we witnessed nuns singing in choir at sacre coeur and it was magnificent.

kerouac

Sacré Coeur is just like Notre Dame -- if you want to attend a small non-touristy mass, it will be in the tiny chapel at the back of the basilica.

Of course, someone who is actually authentically worshipping isn't going there to admire the building; a mass held in an abandoned shack is of equal religious value.

This said, if you want a full church of devout worshippers and no tourists, I would recommend the Eglise Saint Bernard in the 18th arrondissement (at the top of rue Jean-François Lepine, metro La Chapelle). The parishioners are almost exclusively of African and Indian origin.

palette

We did St. Sulpice which was a very moving experience; if you stay afterwards (I believe it is 11:30) you can visit the organ loft for a free concert.

palette

For a very different (retro) Mass, I stumbled into St.-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet, Left Bank, near the Unv of Paris, one lunch time and found a Latin Mass, much to my surprise. It even harkened back to not touching the host at communion, kneeling at the sanctuary railing covered with a white cloth under which you put your hands. Felt as if I was reliving my childhood days; at least I didn't need to worry about not understanding the French prayers!

kerouac

Of course, if you go to Saint Nicolas du Chardonnet, you should know that everybody involved in that church was excommunicated in 1988, starting with Monseigneur Marcel Lefebvre (1905-1991). This church has very close ties with the racist National Front political party and no longer has any connection to the Roman Catholic Church.

Christina

well, that explains it and would certainly be interesting. St Sulpice has a good organ, but I think the church is actually not that attractive. St Louis en Ile really is a beautiful church in that Jesuit style, I believe it's called. St Germain des Pres is also a pretty grim, dark church. I have been to a few just to compare French services and for the music, but unfortunately, a lot of the music they play now isn't any good at all. For example, I went to Ste Trinite last summer, and chose the high mass, but they didn't really have a full choir, and some of the music was recorded,etc., and they had a lot of contemporary bad music, not traditional. The service was long and I didn't find it fascinating, but perhaps someone devout would enjoy it. I think it could be more boring if you don't know French, of course.

I know a church that does Mass in Spanish, over in the 16th (Notre Dame Grace de Passy). They have several masses in Spanish, one Sunday at noon and another Sat at 7:30 pm. If the idea is just to do your duty, I'd just choose one that is convenient and def. not Notre Dame or any other tourist magnet. I think the Madeleine is one of the most beautiful, for example, but there are tons of tourists in there, also.

Now if you do want a Latin Mass (and that's not a bad idea), there is one at St Eugene in the 9th arr near Grands Boulevards metro at 9:30 on Sunday, but I think going to St Germain l'Auxerrois right at the Louvre could be a good idea and convenient. It's very historical but not as touristy as Notre Dame or Sacre Coeur or Madeleine, and they are just starting Latin Masses there on Sunday at 9:45. They have the high mass at 11:30 and then the Gregorian at 7 pm on Sunday. They also have a wellknown organ and do concerts in there a lot.
http://www.saintgermainauxerrois.cef.fr/

I think that might be my top suggestion for lots of reasons, that last one. Their website cracks me up as they have it automatically translated into English by someone who doesn't know English very well, and they translate "messe" (mass) as "farmhouse". So they have listed on the English page -- "farmhouse of the week" instead of weekday masses. And they have "horaires de messes" translated as "farmhouse time". I think they were thinking of the word mas rather than messe.

palette

Whoops, Kerouac, and here I went to communion there at St. Nicholas....of course, now that there is talk of Rome allowing Latin masses again, I wonder if all those "non"-Catholic attendees will be returned to the flock. I just thought it was so odd after so many years of my attending the new version Mass. It might not have been legit, but it was nostalgic. One never knows what's to be learned from this "travel" site!