Originally published at crisis magazine
As all Catholics no doubt recall vividly, on April 15, 2019, the Gothic 12th-century icon of Catholicism dominating the Île de la Cité in the middle of the Seine River, Notre-Dame de Paris, was ravaged by flames accidentally caused by renovation work.
As the roof, famously comprised of a “forest” of oak beams, blazed and the flèche spire collapsed, the world watched in helpless sorrow. Notre-Dame burned like St. Joan of Arc. In the immediate and heartbreaking aftermath, the nave and sanctuary choked with charred debris, French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to restore the cathedral. After five years of continuous labor, the first public Mass will be celebrated in Notre-Dame on its grand reopening weekend—the Second Sunday of Advent (and the technical feast of the Immaculate Conception).
Thanks be to God, Notre-Dame dodged the fate of being rebuilt according to ghastly futuristic concepts in glass with greenhouse gardens and swooping steel ribs. The ancient Catholic cathedral was repaired according to its original form by hundreds of artisans and engineers from around the world. Together, they successfully brought the 850-year-old icon back to its pre-fire glory and have even made Notre-Dame more beautiful than she was before with a thorough restoration
