Once per year, on the fourth Sunday after Easter, our community joins the other linguistic communities and the wider Church in Luxembourg in a special Mass at the Cathedral called the “Messe du Peuple de Dieu” or “Mass of the People of God”. It is a special and historical occasion.

The name of the Mass is a reference to the Book of Revelation:

“I looked, and there was an enormous crowd – no one could count all the people! They were from every race, tribe, nation and language, and they stood in front of the throne and of the Lamb.”

It is a Mass to celebrate the diversity of the Church, especially the Church here in Luxembourg.

The Mass of the People of God opens the Octave of Our Lady, Mother of God – a tradition that goes back nearly 400 years to the 1620s. At the time, Europe was riven by sectarian conflict during the Thirty Years War and the population had been decimated by the plague. The people of Luxembourg identified Our Lady, Mother of God, as “Consoler of the Afflicted” – and a pilgrimage to and veneration of the statue of Our Lady began, which continues to the present day.

The Mass of the People of God is a special invitation for our community to join the rest of the Church in Luxembourg in celebrating our common faith.