A Cool Experience at the Notre Dame

Even though I am agnostic now and was not all that religious when I was in college,  one of the coolest experiences I had was at the Notre Dame. As many of you know, I grew up Catholic and attended an all-boys Catholic High School. So I think it's safe to say I was well versed in Catholic doctrine and rituals.

The term Catholic is derived from a Greek word pretty much meaning universal, and it was first used in the 2nd century to describe the Church.  As a youth reading about that, I had the typical Gen X’er cynical point of view. I thought, and probably rightfully so, that the Catholics who first used it had a rather high opinion about themselves.  But over the years as we know, it went global. That is hard to argue against. What does this have to do with the Notre Dame and my experience there? Everything.

In the mid-90s I studied art over the summer in Paris.  It’s safe to say I did not study much. I partied quite a bit and took a lot of photos of odd things.  Being that the Notre Dame is a landmark, I am quite surprised I took this one. I probably just looked up and snapped the shot, because that is how it looks.  

Contrary to my non-religious belief, one Sunday I went to mass at the Notre Dame.  I did it for shits and giggles, but I also felt a little obliged by my Catholic guilt and thought, why not?  Worst case scenario, it will be just as boring as any other mass and one hour of boredom will not kill me, so off I went.

As you would expect, the mass was in French, so I really did not understand what the priest was saying. However, the Catholic Mass Ritual, which has been branded into my brain, told me exactly what was going on. From the cadence of the chants to standing and kneeling, it was all familiar to me. Then I looked around. The Notre Dame was filled with people from all over the world and I think it is safe to say that most of them did not understand French either. Nonetheless, they all knew and understood the ritual.

We all came from different backgrounds and countries, yet we all shared the Catholic culture.  This ritual bonded us and it was and is universal.  That was my cool experience at the Notre Dame, so my heart aches for this Cathedral, Paris and the people who may not get to experience what I had at the Notre Dame.

Odd memory # 6724

It was the Summer of 1995. Hootie and The Blowfish were climbing up the charts, and posters for the movies Rob Roy and The Usual Suspects were plastered all over the walls of the Paris Metro. I know this, because I spent that summer in Paris “Studying”.

My dorm roommate Spencer and I would often go to the UNESCO youth hostel to hang out with some of the other foreigners. While Spencer was busy picking up on all the young women at the hostel, I would hang out with the guy managing it in the evenings. He was an Algerian named Nordene. Nordene was learning the guitar and had a few songs that he loved to play. He was not particularly fond of his own voice, so he would recruit me for some vocals. I am no Freddy Mercury, but when I try, I can actually carry a tune. Well at least Nordene thought I could, so I accommodated his wishes by singing out his favorite songs. One tune, in particular, I am assuming was Nordene’s favorite, because he played it all the damn time. I never really cared for that song, but I must admit that it was fun to belt out “What a feeling” from the movie Flashdance. It also would light everybody up at the hostel when we played it. On the rare occasion that I hear this song, I think of the UNESCO in Paris. I still know most of the lyrics too. Enjoy!

Irene Cara - Flashdance What a Feeling