Notre Dame closed for visits this week

I am not sure what this means for people wanting to visit and wander around the church as opposed to attend Mass

I read it to mean the church is going to revert to its original and primary purpose, of being a place for prayer.

I suspect (and hope) 'rubberneckers' wandering around will be pointed to an exit.

I think they are pretty clear in stating that worshippers may come to pray. Visitor access for "looking and wandering" sounds like a pretty straightforward no when reading the note.

In my opinion, this is not the time to “visit and wander” the church interior but be respectful of the praying for the repose of his soul that will be ongoing. And, frankly, I’m kind of surprised anyone would have to be told this!

I believe the statement where they say they are suspending all reservations ‘to devote the Cathedral entirely to prayer’ explains it all. No visiting except to pray.

I read it exactly as Joe, KD, Margie, and Barbara did. It's pretty clear — no tourists. Those who are going to pray are welcome.

I attended 2 services at Notre Dame earlier this month, Veneration of the Crown of Thorns and Sunday's Vesper service.

We entered the cathedral through a different door than those on a tourist visit. We were then funneled to the seats which were roped off around the perimeter to keep tourists from encroaching the area reserved for those attending the services.

Unfortunately, the tourists were still allowed to stream into the Cathedral to tour the perimeter and be noisy and take pictures.

I understand there is a fine balance to allowing visitors into a House of Worship, but I am pleased that tourist visits are suspended at this time.

Hi!

• Anyone is still welcome to enter, but the expectation is that the purpose of your visit is to pray and pay your respects to Pope Francis - and not to treat Notre Dame like a tourist attraction and to take photos (the "no photos" rule will be enforced more strictly this week).
• Time slots/reservations should resume for Monday, April 28th and onwards.
• UPDATE: The separate queue for those attending Mass/services has now been added back, which is directly in front of the central portal.

This is also how I read it -- that visiting to view the structure won't be allowed.

And note that virtue has been well signaled. LOL

Thanks for posting this! I’m leaving today for Paris and was planning to attend a mass if possible in addition to visiting the building. Now I’ll know what to expect.

I adooooooore signaling my virtue, so am well pleased.

I had a beautiful experience attending Mass yesterday evening at 6 pm. I arrived around 5:30 pm and there was a Disney-style serpentine line with metal barricades that was moving very quickly without stopping. As soon as I got in (in maybe 8 mins, with no stopping), I found a volunteer in a Notre Dame vest and said I wanted to attend “La Messe” (Mass). She let me through to the worship area with wooden chairs. I took a seat while vespers (which begins at 5:30 pm and was going on) finished. Vespers finished around 5:50 pm and a lot of folks got up to leave and I walked up to the third row to take a seat for mass. It was beautiful and the lights came on to light up the interior for mass so you could really appreciate the bright white stone walls. Don’t even try to take pix in the designated worship area as there are signs posted not to and understandably upsets the volunteers corralling the flow of people.

During mass the church quieted considerably and it felt very peaceful and holy - during vespers it was quite noisy as tourists circled around you in the corridors.

At the end of Mass the priest invites you to follow the clerical procession to exit the church down the aisle and there will be an announcement saying the church is now closed, so you can’t see anything else.

Recommend downloading the Notre Dame app. On the “pray” tab of the app you can follow along with the mass in French and join the common prayers and daily readings it you wish (or, read them in English).

Dinner reservation for 7:15 or 7:30 in the nearby neighborhood would work perfectly following mass :) I took the opportunity to pop into Shakespeare & Co after… don’t miss the reading room upstairs!