The beloved French cathedral is still under renovation

Repairs to the fire-damaged Notre Dame cathedral are underway, but Christmas Eve mass this year won’t be held at the cathedral for the first time in two centuries.

Notre-Dame cathedral will fail to hold a Christmas mass for the first time since 1803, French officials confirmed on Saturday, as workers continue to repair and rebuild the Paris landmark eight months after a devastating fire.

The cathedral’s press office said midnight mass would still be celebrated on Christmas Eve by rector Patrick Chauvet but it would be held at the nearby church of Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois.

Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois was once a royal church attended by kings who lived in the Louvre Palace.

Members of the Notre Dame cathedral choir rehearse at the Saint Sulpice church in Paris. Picture: AP Photo/Michel Euler

To honour the spirit of the ravaged cathedral, a wooden liturgical platform has been conducted in the Saint-Germain church to resemble Notre-Dame’s.

Notre-Dame, part of a UNESCO world heritage site on the banks of the River Seine, was ravaged by the April 15 blaze — losing its gothic spire, roof and many precious artefacts. The fire was moments away from engulfing its two stone towers.

The 855-year-old building had remained open for Christmas through two centuries of often tumultuous history — including the Nazi occupation in World War II.

‘This is the first time since the French Revolution that there will be no midnight Mass,’ cathedral rector Patrick Chauvet told the Daily Mail.

Cranes outside the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, which was partially destroyed when fire broke out beneath the roof on April 15, 2019. Picture: Thomas SAMSON / AFP

There was even a Christmas service amid the carnage of World War I, Chauvet said, ‘because the canons were there and the canons had to celebrate somewhere.’

During World War II, ‘there was no problem,’ according to Chauvet, adding that only once was it closed for Christmas to his knowledge – after 1789, when the anti-Catholic French revolutionaries turned the monument into ‘a temple of reason.’

Chauvet will host a midnight mass on Christmas Eve to be attended by many of Notre-Dame’s worshippers, and the Notre-Dame choir will sing.

Cranes outside the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, which was partially destroyed when fire broke out beneath the roof on April 15, 2019. Picture: AFP

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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. Some say that this timeframe is unrealistic.

Paris prosecutors suspect criminal negligence and opened an investigation in June, suggesting a stray cigarette butt or an electrical fault could be the culprit.

The culture ministry said in October that nearly one billion euros ($A1.6 billion) had been pledged or raised for the reconstruction.

Since November, the facade of the cathedral has been lit up after dusk for the first time since the fire.