[ti:Notre Dame Cathedral to Miss First Christmas in Centuries] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]The Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris celebrated Christmas every year during two world wars. [00:10.56]But it will not hold a Christmas Catholic Mass in 2019. [00:17.96]An accidental fire on April 15 has quieted the 855-year old Cathedral. [00:29.00]Officials have moved its famous altar and other objects to another church in Paris called Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois. [00:41.48]It was once a royal church, where French kings worshipped. [00:46.12]It is not far from Notre Dame, and just next to the Louvre. [00:52.68]Church officials are asking those devoted to Notre Dame to come there on Christmas, as rebuilding efforts continue. [01:03.64]A cathedral rector, Patrick Chauvet, said this year marks the "first time since the French Revolution [01:12.84]that there will be no midnight Mass" at Notre Dame. [01:17.08]The French Revolution began in 1789 and continued until 1799. [01:27.20]There was even a Christmas service during the fighting of World War I, Chauvet noted. [01:33.92]During World War II, Paris was under Nazi occupation, but "there was no problem," he said. [01:43.48]Chauvet added that, to his knowledge, the cathedral only closed for Christmas for a few years after 1789. [01:53.20]At that time, anti-Catholic French revolutionaries turned the church into a house "of reason," he said. [02:03.68]Christmas Mass at Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois this year will be historic. [02:10.60]We will "celebrate the Mass outside the walls, so to speak... [02:15.40]but with some indicators that Notre Dame is connected to us," Chauvet said. [02:23.84]Those indicators include a wooden altar that has been built in the Saint-Germain church [02:30.40]to appear similar to Notre Dame's altar. [02:34.52]Members of the Notre Dame choir will sing. [02:38.96]The cathedral's famous "Virgin of Paris" sculpture will also be there. [02:45.12]The 14th-century masterpiece shows Mary and her baby Jesus. [02:52.44]It was not damaged in the fire. Chauvet remembers when he discovered the Virgin of Paris had survived the fire. [03:03.52]He was holding hands with French President Emmanuel Macron in front of the cathedral at the time. [03:11.88]Later, they were able to look inside. Chauvet pointed and cried to Macron: "Look at the Virgin, she is there!" [03:23.32]He said later that Notre Dame's workmen on the ground asked him not to take the statue from the cathedral. [03:31.48]They told him that she has protected them during the repair efforts. [03:38.00]Chauvet said having it close for Christmas is comforting. [03:43.20]"She lived very much in Notre Dame. She watched ...all the 35,000 visitors a day ... It keeps us going," Chauvet said. [03:54.32]I'm Susan Shand. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM