To mark the World Day of Eastern Christians, held every year on the sixth Sunday of Easter and organized by the association L’Œuvre d’Orient, Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako, patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church, presided over the Divine Liturgy in the Chaldean rite at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on Sunday, May 25.

The celebration brought together bishops and faithful from various backgrounds. According to Vatican News , the World Day of Eastern Christians is for prayer, encounter, and communion between Eastern and Latin Christians.

This year’s liturgy was distinguished by the blessing of eight icons painted by both French and Middle Eastern artists depicting the first saints from the early centuries of Christianity.

These icons were anointed with chrism and will be placed on Wednesday in the newly dedicated St. George Chapel — a space within the cathedral set aside for Eastern Christians.

In his opening remarks, Archbishop Laurent Ulrich of Paris described icons in the Eastern tradition as “true windows into eternity, a faithful witness to the faith of the entire Church. They are not mere pictures but an entryway into God’s holiness. To pray before them is a profound spiritual act.”

Ulrich expressed his hope that many Eastern Christians would come to St. George Chapel to pray, noting that the diocese had decided to consecrate it upon the cathedral’s reopening.

Expressing his deep admiration for the cathedral’s restoration, Sako said that the East “formed the roots of Christianity, while the West, through its missionaries, became its beating heart.”

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He added: “The dedication of this chapel for Eastern Christians is of great significance, as it reveals the Church’s universality and unity. It is a source of pride for us. We are deeply grateful to the Church in France, which stood with us during the horrors we endured under ISIS.”

Speaking to ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, Syrian artist Neemat Badwi explained that the eight icons portray early Eastern saints according to the Churches and regions they are associated with. These include Andrew of Constantinople, James of Jerusalem, Mark of Alexandria, Gregory the Illuminator of Armenia, Thomas of India, Addai and Mari of Seleucia-Ctesiphon in Iraq, Frumentius of Ethiopia, and Ignatius of Antioch. It was the icon of Ignatius that L’Œuvre d’Orient commissioned Badwi to create.

Badwi mentioned that he did not copy the icon from an earlier model but created an entirely new design. The work took him nearly three months to complete. He delivered the icons last month after arriving in Paris from Aleppo, accompanied by his brother, artist Bashir Badwi. Both were in the city to attend the conference titled “In Flesh and Gold” at the Louvre’s Michelangelo Gallery, which focused on the art and restoration of sacred icons.

This story was first published by ACI MENA, CNA's Arabic-language news partner, and has been translated for and adapted by CNA.