A famous statue of the Virgin Mary and Child, which survived the fire that ravaged Notre-Dame Cathedral on 15 April 2019, will return to the cathedral on Friday evening in a torch-lit procession through the streets of Paris.
The medieval statue will be the first to symbolically return to Notre-Dame, explained Archbishop of Paris Laurent Ulrich in a press conference this week.
The Notre Dame de Paris statue, also known as the Virgin of Paris, was found intact after the fire. It was relocated to Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois church, which has hosted the cathedral’s liturgy for the past five years.
Parisians are invited to gather at 18:00 on the forecourt of Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois, near the Louvre. The torch-lit procession will make its way along the quays of the Île de la Cité to Notre-Dame Cathedral.
Virgin of Paris or Notre-Dame de Paris. Credit: Sailko / Wikimedia Commons
On Friday evening, the statue will be blessed by the Archbishop of Paris, followed by an evening of praise and prayer, including the Magnificat, prayer time, and a reading of the Gospel.
This procession marks the final major event before the cathedral’s reopening on 7 and 8 December, according to the diocese.
The statue will be placed near the pillar where writer Paul Claudel famously converted on Christmas Day in 1886.
Since the fire, the sculpture of Mary holding the child Jesus has become a symbol of consolation and hope for the faithful, the diocese noted.
