Posted on 04/10/2020 5:20:15 PM PDT by marshmallow
PARIS, France - Still damaged and scarred by fire, Notre Dame Cathedral came back to life - if only for a fleeting instant - as a center for prayer on Friday in a Paris locked down against the coronavirus.
Just days before the first anniversary of the April 15, 2019, inferno that ravaged the beloved Paris landmark, the French capital’s archbishop led Good Friday celebrations unlike any that have gone before inside the centuries-old jewel of Gothic architecture.
Archbishop Michel Aupetit and three clergymen who accompanied him wore hard hats as they entered the damaged cathedral that is closed to the public and which he described as “half collapsed.” They then took off the helmets for the ceremony, in front of a large cross and the gaping hole in the cathedral’s roof.
Venerating a crown of thorns that survived the flames, the bishop said the 40 minutes of prayer, music and readings under the blackened remains of the vaulted stone ceiling showed that “life is still here” amid the coronavirus pandemic “spreading death and paralyzing us.”
“A year ago this cathedral in which we find ourselves was burning, causing shock and momentum worldwide to rebuild it,” he intoned.
“Yes, Lord, come to show us that you are not abandoning us.”
(Excerpt) Read more at cruxnow.com ...
Sadly, on Easter Sunday the Church was not even half full where I went to Mass!!
The news article stated they were venerating “a” crown of thorns. But the reality is they were venerating The Crown of Thorns.
I was there in a First Friday three years ago. We prayed before it under a cover of red glass, but found out later that we missed the ceremony later that afternoon where one can approach and kiss it, or at least the outer case.
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