Buckle up, because this is going to be a long one.
Last Sunday I went to a Catholic Mass with my roommate in the Church of St. Séverin. This was a church I had passed twice on accident since being here. Its beautiful gothic style makes it stand out among the surrounding residential and commercial buildings. It’s no small church either, with its spires, flying buttresses, and a large semi-circular apse area close to the altar for private chapels, it’s no wonder we had to stop and take a look. I wasn’t even looking for a church at the time, just exploring the neighborhood of the Latin Quarter when my group and I stumbled across its beauty.
After some research, I learned that the church had been built for Séverin of Paris, a devout hermit who lived on the banks of the River Seine around the 5th century. During the 11th century, a small church was built over his burial site, but after the community began to expand on the bank, the church grew. During the 13th century, the gothic style church we see today began to take root. It would take until the mid-16th century for the church to be seen how it is today. Its bells, which we heard on the way in, are some of the oldest bells left in Paris, cast in the early 15th century. They can be heard from many streets over.
The vaulted ceilings in the nave of the church were impressively large and make me believe the church looks bigger on the inside than the outside. The archways on the upper floor looking down over everyone walking around make you wonder what it was like to be up there during a service, hearing the echos from the priest. But one aspect of the interior that stands out is by the ambulatory. Behind the cross, on the altar, there is a pillar carved to look like the trunk of a palm tree. It was something I didn’t even pay attention to at first (I get easily distracted by stained glass) until I was researching the church and discovered that I had been lucky enough to snag a picture of it.
Speaking of stained glass, the depictions here were nothing less than gorgeous. Each section of glass was so carefully detailed to show as much of the Bible story as possible. That’s the other thing, I can actually tell what stories are being portrayed in these glass works because they are not jumbled up. The stained glass at places such as Saint Chapelle are beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but I also enjoy understanding what I am seeing.
The aisles of the church were divided into sections where different statues, smaller altars, and other paintings were displayed. These are also smaller areas where people can pray privately.
The grand organ dates to the mid-18th century and was beautiful both to see and to hear during the service.
Now for the main point of my impromptu photographic essay on St. Séverin: Mass with my roommate. First and foremost, I am NOT Catholic, I am Episcopal. (“Hey, you’re not Catholic, so you shouldn’t have gone to a service.” Yes, I’m aware, but the buddy system takes priority over all). And in my 19 years of life, I have only ever been to a Catholic Mass once, two years ago, for research on a paper for my FSEM, and that one was in English. So you can imagine how difficult it was for me to keep up in a service that I barely remembered, in a language I did not speak.
However, these boundaries surprisingly did not hinder my experience during the service. Did I understand the words being spoken? No, but with the help of my roommate, I was able to understand what events were taking place such as the readings of the day, the homily, the peace, the Eucharist, etc. I also realized that you don’t need to understand the words being spoken to enjoy, you just need to feel the presence of everyone around you. However, I am excluding the presence of the tourists who walked around during the service, weaving in and out of the rows. They weren’t feeling the spirit.
Just like my previous post about sports bringing people of different cultures together, this church was the same way. Nobody kicked us out because we didn’t speak French. They knew that we were there to worship right alongside them and they accepted us, which was nice. Next week I’ll try to find an Anglican service in English (it’s the closest I’ll get to Episcopal in Europe).
Oh, and one more thing…
We found a pâtisserie across from St. Séverin called Odette. Apparently it is world famous for its choux pastry and after trying one with a view of Notre Dame in the distance, I can confirm this is true. The pastry is light, yet has a crunchy outside, the crème on the inside is heavy and filling, and the chocolate circle on top makes for a both a cute and a tasty treat. I’ll make sure to head back there again to try their other flavors.