Do not speak of your happiness to one less fortunate than yourself.
Plutarch
Notre Dame of Paris, 856 Years Old, is Destroyed
It's Holy Week 2019, starting with Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday) and ending with His Passion, culminating in the Last Supper, His betrayal/arrest, trial, crucifixion, and resurrection (next Easter Sunday). How many centuries has Notre Dame celebrated these annual events, the holiest on the Church calendar? (Christmas is far less significant from the standpoint of faith.)My Mom was born and raised in Notre Dame de Lourdes parish in the French-Canadian section of east Fall River, MA; my folks were married there (Dad was born in Fall River but was raised a bridge away in Somerset). The twin tower cathedral stood out as we drove to the city from the Cape during my early years (Dad was stationed at a local AFB). I personally attended Mass dozens of times there; I spent parts of my fifth and sixth grades at the parish lower school while my Dad secured family housing in his new assignments in France and South Carolina (I think my maternal grandfather and uncle also attended the school; my Mom attended a companion Catholic girls' academy). I remember on 5/11/82 (around the time I was accepted to the UH PhD program and transitioned to full-time student status) I was utterly exhausted and took a rare afternoon nap. I turned on the (CBS evening) news and watched in disbelief as the church burned to the ground. The cathedral was undergoing renovations at the time, and it's thought a worker's blowtorch accidentally ignited roof timbers in the south steeple. (They eventually rebuilt a one-story replacement by 1986; it was merged into a renamed St. Bernadette in 2012 and closed last August. My maternal uncle's funeral took place there just before the closing.)
I called Mom this afternoon; she had been unaware of what was going on in Paris. Back when Dad was stationed in France (I was in fifth grade) the folks were planning to visit Lourdes across France, but our Volkswagen bus (a precursor to SUV's) broke down early and we ended up in Paris to return home via rail. We did some tourist things while in Paris, including visiting Notre Dame.
Mom later told me she heard an eerily similar renovation mishap seems to have touched off the blaze. I've seen report parts of the Paris cathedral including its steeples and foundation remain intact and many priceless items were salvaged. Still, much (organ, paintings, windows) was permanently lost and can't be replaced. It's ironic that this beautiful church managed to survive centuries of wars but was nearly destroyed by an accident during renovation.
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