Not Gone

(WSJ/AFP/Getty images)

Like everyone* else, we reacted with horror at the sight of flames engulfing Notre-Dame Cathedral. When the spire toppled, its destruction seemed inevitable.
      *we'll ignore the tweets of a few crazies.

On this Holy Week we are grateful that it has been spared.

The discussion has already started about the cause of the fire, the restoration and its cost. For the nonce, let's reflect on the significance of Notre Dame, and why its loss would have meant so much to so many.

As word of the fire spread, emails and calls began zipping across continents as art historians sought to glean details about the fate of the treasures within. [Met curator Barbara] Boehm said she was worried about everything from the 14th-century sculptures that line the belt of chapels to the vast organ that is encased in elaborately carved wood.

Among the holy relics preserved there are a crown of thorns said to have been worn by Jesus during his crucifixion and a piece of the cross on which he was crucified.

“It’s such an emblem of Paris, of civilization, that everything inside it—from the candlesticks to the chalices—contains centuries of history and preciousness,” Ms. Boehm said...

Among many historic events that have taken place at the cathedral, Henry VI of England was crowned king there in 1431 and Napoleon was made emperor in 1804 after taking the crown from the hands of Pope Pius VII and placing it on his own head. In 1909, Joan of Arc was beatified by Pope Pius X there...

Today, the cathedral is a major pilgrimage site for Catholics from France and around the world. It draws around 13 million visitors a year—or around 30,000 people a day, more than the Eiffel Tower.

Jerrilynn Dodds, professor of medieval art and architecture at Sarah Lawrence College, said Notre Dame is one of the few monuments to faith that enjoys universal appeal. “Our love for Notre Dame goes beyond religion, beyond politics,” she said. “It’s part of our collective identity, and now we’re suffering a common grief.”

It was there centuries before we were born, and now there is comfort that it will be there after we are gone.