The Parallel Lives

The fire began at 6:30 p.m., Paris local time, on Monday, April 15, 2019. An hour later, people, who watched from a distance, stared in horror as the top portion of the 300 foot spire broke off and crashed down through the cathedral’s roof.

     Some 400 firefighters, working from the inside, extinguished the last of the flames by 3:40 a.m., on Tuesday, by pointing low-pressure water hoses at the flames, to minimize damage to the contents, pulling thousands of gallons of water from the Seine River via a pump boat.

     At the same time, some 100 policemen and municipal workers formed a human chain and passed objects from inside to outside, in a valiant effort to preserve them.

     The next morning authorities assessed the damage. The wooden-beamed lattice work inside the attic that ran the length of the cathedral was destroyed, but the twin bell towers at the west end stood intact, as did the organ’s 8,000 pipes, and the rose-tinted stained glass windows.

     On Wednesday, April 17, President Emmanuel Macron promised the French people that the state would rebuild the cathedral in five years.

     The first steps were to clear out the charred beams and the scorched limestones, secure the interior from the elements by a massive tarpaulin stretched over scaffolding, and work to ensure that the 28 flying buttresses that supported the exterior walls would stand and not collapse.

     Once workers completed the clean-up, officials split the reconstruction work into 140 lots and requested bids. They selected some 250 businesses.

     About 2000 oaks trees from across France were selected, cut down, dried, and transported to sawmills, where carpenters began to cut, hew, and assemble them into rafters for the attic.

     Blacksmiths forged certain tools that the carpenters were required to use—two-man crosscut saws, broadaxes, etc.—the same tools that medieval workers used on the original attic.

     Some 45,000 cubic feet of stone was transported to the site to rebuild the collapsed vaults.    

     On December 7, 2024, President Macron opened the doors of the re-created cathedral.

     It is a miracle that the work was finished in five and a half years, just days before Christmas. 

     Builders began work on Notre Dame in 1163 A.D., and the work lasted for at least 180 years. 

     In 1804, Napoleon crowned himself emperor of France inside Notre Dame. 

     In the 19th century, the French writer, Victor Hugo, built his fictional tale, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” around Quasimodo, a bell-ringer in the towers. 

     In 1944, Notre Dame hosted Charles de Gaulle for France’s liberation from the Nazi’s.

     There are those who insist upon a stupendous worship venue, like Notre Dame, massive, elaborate, and awe-inspiring. Others, including the 17th-century Puritans, argued for simplicity, and a reserved sanctuary, without stained-glass windows, statues, paintings, vestments, etc. 

     The Friends, aka the Quakers, are more extreme. They insist upon a barren meeting house, with wooden benches, no focal points, like altars or pulpits. “Their meeting houses often resemble local residential buildings and avoid ornamentation, spires, and steeples.”

     Which kind of worship venue is correct? The answer depends upon a person’s preference. I like a pipe organ, a piano, a choir, an altar, a pulpit, and stained glass windows. Others may not.

     Yet, one can argue for simplicity by reading Luke 2.

     Shepherds at night on a rocky hillside, an angel, a heavenly choir sings, “Glory to God in the highest. Peace on earth. Goodwill to all men.” The shepherds find the child in Bethlehem lying in a manger, or a feed trough. Sheep, shepherds, a stable, a manger, not a refined venue.

     One can argue for the opposite by reading Matthew 2. That writer mentions three Magi from the East bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, three of life’s finer things. 

     Whichever venue you prefer, with ornamentation or without, embellished or stark, enjoy the Christmas season. Peace to my readers.