At the Saint-Ignace church in Paris, on the evening of December 24th, we celebrated Christmas in a symphony of light, colour and music. The Christian community of Saint-Ignace had gathered around Mgr Jérôme Beau, auxiliary bishop of Paris and Fr François Boëdec, provincial. The mass of the night was a happy occasion for all to welcome the Light of Jesus, to give thanks to God for his coming into the world but also for the wonders received throughout 2017.

It must be said that the Church of St. Ignatius lived a great adventure in 2017... Since 1855, it had not been cleaned... After two years of preparation and nine months of the renovation project, we were able to admire a church that had regained its original splendour: a bright nave of the white of the stone of Paris and side chapels, some recounting the origins of the Society, the others having received a beautiful burgundy color in harmony with this history.

But this work did not consist of cleaning like the others. It was a "light project". The architects had suggested working with an internationally renowned "light sculptor", Patrick Rimoux. He imagined the recomposition of the lighting of the whole church using today's techniques, especially that of the LED (electro diode luminescent) which is powerful, energy saving and variable in intensity and color. The result we experienced on Christmas night was amazing and beautiful.

In addition to this first and already remarkable work, accompanied by a team of Jesuits, Patrick Rimoux implemented an artistic program for six of the fifty-two blind windows in the triforium, based on the text of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. These are "light glasses". Placed under the organ at the church entrance, they mobilize the imagination of the faithful to enter into the meditation on the Principle and Foundation, prologue of the Exercises: “Man is created to praise, respect and serve God our Lord..."The six hundred elements drawn on a film inserted between two glass panels are in fact windows, each representing a member of the people of the walking believers. An overall movement can be guessed. Each one receives, in shadow, a word of the Exercises in Latin, Spanish or French. These glasses are like a front porch at the same time as a mission! They initiate us to a spiritual process and invite us to commit ourselves to the world.