Good morning. I had another post ready for today but to be honest I didn’t feel like posting it because I, like many am heartbroken by the fire at Notre Dame Cathedral. I actually cried watching it burn. After surviving the French Revolution, two World Wars, and the Nazis much of it has been consumed by the flames.
This week is Holy Week and on Sunday for the Easter service they were expecting 150,000 people from around the world. This magnificent cathedral is/was a sight to behold, inside and out, and a place that 13 million people visited in a year.
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| Details from the front door. |
I have been traveling to Paris and subsequently Notre Dame since I was 15 years old. On my first trip I attended Easter Sunday mass at Notre Dame and it was awe inspiring. You could feel the history seeping from the stones, and there was so much to take in as you walked in and around this 850 year old cathedral that it warranted another visit.
Since that trip I have been blessed to be able to visit Paris many times and no trip was complete without a few visits to Notre Dame. It was the first place that I visited each time I was in Paris, in fact many times we walked there just after getting off the plane and dropping our bags at the hotel because we could sit relax, renew our spirits after a long flight and reconnect with a special place. The beautiful Rose windows, the art, the alter, the relics including a piece of cross and the Crown of Thorns that Jesus wore at the crucifixion, the gargoyles, the flying buttresses and so much more
I loved to wander around, light a few candles in memory of my lost loved ones and to sit on the little rush chairs to not only pray but to just look around at the people, the windows the ceilings. I attended mass there every Sunday that I was in Paris, went to a few concerts and always made a point of seeing the creche at Christmas.
To my friends in France, I mourn the loss of the sacred space along with you.
I will cherish my memories of this magnificent place and my time there.
Have a good day.
If you would like to read more about Notre Dame, you can read this book(free on Kindle Unlimited), book and this book from Victor Hugo.
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Silent Sunday 1-5-2014
Your photos are beautiful. Looking through mine, I realize I have very few.
It's a sad, sad day.
Never been there, but know what a huge loss it is. I saw something about it but no longer watch TV. Kind of glad. Would not have wanted to watch all that really.
Brenda
Another tragic day which the world will remember forever. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured or killed by the flames. Just think, that beautiful cathedral is older than our country. I don't know what the answers will be but I pray that it was not terrorists. Even Hitler left the cathedral alone. As a Catholic myself, I was so very sad over this. I know it will be rebuilt as closely as possible to the original, and it may take 10 years to get that done. I just wonder why it took so long for the fire brigade to get water there, and I do hope they find the REAL reason for the beginning of the fire. For me, it would be unimaginable that they did not have safety precautions in place while the work was progressing on the restoration work. Yes, so so sad.
A deep wound… that's how it felt seeing it on a television yesterday.