No Xmas mass for 1st time since 1803

PARIS: Notre-dame Cathedral in Paris was unable to hold Christmas Eve Mass for the first time in more than 200 years -- after a fire ravaged its structure in April.

With heavy hearts, French Catholics instead gathered at the nearby church of Saintgermain l'auxerrois, a few hundred metres away, for a service celebrated by the cathedral's rector Patrick Chauvet.

“It isn't the same feeling but it's still a Christmas Mass,” said 16-year-old Juliette, who had made the 700-kilometre trip from Aix with her family.

“There will be a thought for Notre-dame tonight, that's for sure.” “We have been crying since April 15, and today even more,” said Danielle, a Parisian, who attended last year's mass at the Paris landmark. However, she was lifted by the choir of

Notre-dame, who performed at the mass. Meanwhile, workers continue to repair and rebuild the cherished cathedral.

Notre-dame, part of a UNESCO world heritage site on the banks of the River Seine

lost its gothic spire, roof and many precious artefacts in the fire, which was watched by huge crowds. The building had remained open for Christmas through two centuries of often tumultuous history -including the Nazi occupation in World War II -- being forced to close only during the anticatholic revolutionary period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. President Emmanuel Macron has set a timetable of five years to completely repair the eight-centuries-old structure, which remains shrouded in scaffolding with a vast crane

looming over it.