Monday in Holy Week - fire tragedy in Paris

Another Monday with shopping in the morning then an afternoon clinic visit, but not quite routine,  having taken time during the day to look at photos posted on-line of Semana Santa processions in Málaga, and looking at my own from last year. And then, a walk to St Luke's to attend the Mass of Monday in Holy Week, along with twenty others.

On returning home, news was breaking about the roof fire in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, and I followed this for the rest of the evening, watching stunned and helpless with the rest of the world, but praying also with some in the crowds that gathered beyond the safety cordon, singing Marian devotional hymns. Four hundred firefighters, striving to save whatever can be saved of this great World Heritage site from destruction. Thank heavens, nobody has died.

Already powerful sentiments are being expressed by French leaders and others across the world, expressing the profound impact this is having on secular as well as religious people who treasure the cultural and historical, not to mention economic importance of this great building. Before President Macron pledged that Notre Dame would be restored, I had already begun to think about the scale of such a project and what it would take - I'm guessing several billions of Euros. 

Apparently, just last year, a high resolution 3D scanning project put on record a detailed image of the building, which can be put to use along with architectural plans made over centuries to aid a faithful restoration. Dresden's Frauenkirche, destroyed in the horrific firestorm of 1944 was rebuilt from archived plans. What can be done today is just as remarkable today in a different way, though it all relies on having the skilled artisans to do the job. Maybe this tragedy will inspire more people of a younger generations to offer their working lives to the pursuit of such craftsmanship.

Above all, however, it's the prayer of the faithful throughout, from tragedy to triumph, which make this much more than just a project to restore a great monument to human creativity. Without those 'living stones', the place would be no more than an empty shell.