In those early hours, when it was unclear if the cathedral would survive, shocked onlookers resembled people at the bedside of a dying loved one. A fiercely secular nation that by and large has cooled to religion kept vigil over a sacred building which has stood for centuries as a symbol of faith.
Even before the flames were doused and most of the priceless artifacts and relics saved, France’s agnostic president Emmanuel Macron pledged to re-build Notre-Dame. Within 24 hours a fund-raising campaign that energized the nation had pledges of a billion dollars. As was widely noted, the story of destruction and rebirth was apropos for Holy Week.
Where many Western nations are secular by convention, the separation of church and state in France has been the law since 1905. Catholicism is the nation’s most popular religion but, like most of Europe, church attendance is waning. Yet the site of Notre-Dame afire pulled huge crowds into the streets as a reminder, as one commentator noted, that human life is just a small part of something much more grand, something beyond human comprehension.
The magnificent cathedrals of Europe, of course, are more than stones and mortar. Anyone who has passed through their bronze doors, crossed their marble aisles, admired their works of art and knelt at their gilded altars, understands the other-worldly awe they inspire. Pope Francis touched on this when he called Notre-Dame an architectural jewel and symbol of faith that reflects the spiritual heritage of not just France, but of humanity.
The medieval craftsmen who raised up Notre-Dame with rudimentary tools would have been certain they were doing God’s work. The tools have changed but cathedrals still represent something bigger than mankind. Their sacredness proclaims the eternal truths of faith, truths that so often are muted in an age which argues truth is what you want it to be.
Magnificent cathedrals like Notre-Dame are anchors in an ever-changing world. They remind Christians who we are and where we came from. So when Notre-Dame went up in flames, the reaction in a spiritually adrift nation was instant and emotional.
Perhaps the tears and prayers arose out of sadness at the physical collapse of parts of an historic building, or perhaps they represented a deeper anxiety that was triggered by a collapse even more profound, a collapse of faith bluntly symbolized by the tumbling spire.
Notre-Dame will be rebuilt. But it would be a greater hallelujah this Easter season if the zeal to restore the historic church was matched by zeal to restore the faith upon which it was founded.
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