Below are some articles about the summer projects that took place in 2022. Have a read and find out more about what an innternational summer project with ARC involves.
My Summer project in Luxembourg
This Summer I was privileged to spend a month volunteering as a tour guide at the Kathedral Notre-Dame, Luxembourg City. It was originally completed in 1621 as the Church for the Jesuit College, it was dedicated as the Church of Our Lady (Notre-Dame) in 1844, and was elevated to be a Cathedral in 1870. The Cathedral was expanded between 1935 and 1938, adding new towers, a new chancel, as well as adding a crypt.
Since the 17th century the church has been the site of pilgrimage during the Octave of Our Lady Consoler of the Afflicted, with the statue processing from a local chapel to the church each year three weeks after Easter Sunday, until the chapel was destroyed in the French Revolution after which the Statue is permanently housed at the Cathedral. The pilgrimage is so popular with people from the Duchy of Luxembourg (Which includes parts of Belgium, France, and Germany), that the octave actually lasts 14 days rather than the usual 8! Our Lady has 62 different dresses that can be put on the statue, so she has the right dress for every occasion! I had the privilege of being taken behind the scenes to see the Statue being changed from wearing a white dress (for a Diaconal Ordination) to a green dress (for Ordinary Time).
There are a few other highlights worth remarking on. The Cathedral has two organs, one symphonic organ, and one baroque organ which had free recitals every Wednesday lunchtime. There was lots of beautiful stained glass, including 19th century painted glass of the life of Our Lady, devotional windows to the rosary and titles of Our Lady in the Chancel behind the main altar, and stained glass of Christ and the Apostles in the crypt-chapel. The crypt is the burial place for all the bishops of the Cathedral since the expansion, and includes a Grand-Ducal crypt as the burial place for the Sovereign Grand-Dukes and Grand-Duchesses of Luxembourg and their consorts since the expansion was completed. The Sarcophagus of King John the Blind of Bohemia is also stored in the crypt, having been returned to Luxembourg by Germany in 1945.
I was able to spend my free time exploring Luxembourg City, which is full of free museums, historic buildings, and beauty spots. I also went on day trips with the other guides, visiting the Roman city of Trier in Germany, and hiking in the beautiful hills of the Mullerthal region in the north of Luxembourg. The Sacristans of the cathedral took us to see lots of behind the scenes areas such as up the towers and the organ lofts, and our handler from the tourist office took us on trips around the country, visiting religious communities, historic cities and churches, as well as touring the countryside by car.
– Sam Wilson (Project Coordinator, ARC UK)
Münster Summer Project 2022
It was wonderful to be able to spend my summer in Munster giving tours of such a historic cathedral. The building itself had a number of select highlights, my personal favourites including the sixteenth-century astronomical clock showing the movements of various planets and celestial bodies (as well as the time) Equally important was the tomb of Cardinal Von Galen the wartime bishop of Munster who criticised the Nazi’s euthanasia policy and his stand against the Nazi’s helped make it a privilege for me to volunteer in Munster, in his cathedral.
The welcome we received was excellent, the people were very friendly and it was humbling when at dinner they spoke in English, not German, in order that we could understand what they were saying. Equally wonderful was having an ensuite with an excellent view of the cathedral and having a three-course dinner every day. One of my abiding memories looking back on the experience however, will be the many times the air was filled with the peels of church bells adding their voice to a picturesque city.
– Peter York (Project Coordinator, ARC UK)