April 15, 2019. On that Monday of Holy Week, the whole world stopped, stunned, to watch the fire that devoured the famous Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.
Flames tore through the Gothic florets, smoke billowed from the centuries-old structure, the famous spire, masterpiece of Viollet-le-Duc, crumbled into a pile of charred rubble: there, eight centuries of history were vanishing into a cloud of thick smoke that filled the atmosphere of modern Paris. The ingenuity, effort and sacrifice of entire generations… consumed in an instant by a prosaic fire, the origin of which was never clearly explained.
The event was symbolic – very symbolic in fact, both from a historical and cultural perspective and – above all! – from a religious point of view.
Notre-Dame, the queen of cathedrals
Symbolic, yes, because anyone who contemplates the world-famous cathedral in Paris does not behold merely a sacred building.
Soaring in its dimensions and delicate in the welcoming shadows of its interior; magnificent in its regal adornments and simple in its balanced proportions; a temple of Catholic worship and the scene of unparalleled events in the history of the West, Notre-Dame is capable of arousing emotions similar to those we feel when we admire the Catholic Church in the ensemble of her grandeurs.
Only a people endowed with an unrivalled Catholic spirit, combined with a great supernatural mission, could have created such a sublime work, a paradigm to be imitated by the nations of Christendom. In fact, as Dr. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira once said, “there are men of unparalleled talent, endowed with exceptional graces in the supernatural order, whom God entrusts to serve as lights to their fellow men. And there are also peoples privileged by the gifts of nature and grace, whom God entrusts with enlightening the whole world in the paths of virtue. France is certainly among these peoples.”1
These considerations would seem indispensable before we enter the subject of this article. After all, the point here is not to discuss just any cathedral, but the history of the queen of cathedrals; in Dr. Plinio’s paraphrase, the church of perfect beauty, the glory and joy of the whole world (cf. Lam 2:15).
Born in the splendours of the Middle Ages
Notre-Dame Cathedral was not the first religious building to be reflected in the placid waters of the Seine.2 Excavations carried out in its surroundings have uncovered the ruins of an ancient temple dedicated to Jupiter, from the days when Paris was no more than a small barbarian city, Lutetia, inhabited by the Gaulish tribe of Parisii.
In the Christian era, in 375, a church dedicated to St. Stephen was built over the old pagan temple and in 528, the Frankish King Childebert built another, larger and more beautiful church next to it, placed under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin, which was to be the city’s cathedral for several centuries.
Notre-Dame was only born in the splendours of the Middle Ages, under the episcopate of Maurice de Sully, the 62nd Bishop of Paris. A man of desires that defy the impossible, Maurice’s ambition was to build a church of colossal proportions to replace the old cathedral, which had already become small and inadequate for the demands of his time. The new building should be unsurpassed, in the most genuine French style – which later centuries would come to know as Gothic – of which, moreover, it would become one of the greatest expressions.3
Its cross-shaped floor plan, which is an impressive 127 metres long, would have its choir oriented to the west, in order to always welcome the first rays of dawn, the symbol of grace that dispels the darkness of sin and illuminates the hearts of the faithful. The new church would also be dedicated to the Holy Mother of God: Notre-Dame – Our Lady, in French.
Of course, this audacious undertaking would entail large sums of money. But Bishop Maurice did not back down from the challenge. Both he and his successors admirably saw to providing the means to build the new cathedral, often from their own assets. In addition, men of faith and good will, from simple bourgeois to nobles and monarchs, contributed to the success of the endeavour. King Louis VII and his son Philip II, the Augustus, showed great generosity in this regard.
The first years
The year 1163 marks the beginning of the construction of the new temple, on the same site as the Churches of St. Stephen and St. Mary. The stirring ceremony to lay the foundation stone is presided over with great solemnity by the Pope himself, Alexander III.
Little by little, the silhouette of the Queen of Cathedrals takes form on the Parisian skyline. In 1182, the choir is completed and, for the first time, the chanting of the Divine Office resounds in the sacred precinct, not yet complete but already imposing. On May 19 of the same year, the altar is consecrated by Cardinal Henri de Château-Marçay, the papal legate.
Despite the admirable progress, the construction of a medieval cathedral is a task for generations. Maurice knows this, but he is not worried. The challenge has been met, the project has been launched and, with the help of the Blessed Virgin, its chosen Advocate, it will come to fruition. In 1196, this new Solomon closes his eyes to this life, leaving a large sum as an inheritance for the completion of his beloved work.
Centuries of splendour
Between the 12th and 13th centuries, Notre-Dame witnesses glorious events: inside, the great St. Dominic de Guzman delivers a homily that he has miraculously received from the hands of the Blessed Virgin. Later, the saintly King Louis IX deposits the relics of the Passion within it, including Our Lord’s crown of thorns, brought from Constantinople.
By 1220, the cathedral dominated the panorama of the French capital and, although incomplete, its noble presence became a source of pride for Parisians. With its three majestic portals and its countless sculptures, the main façade displays exquisite artistry and reveals profound notions of theology. Notre-Dame is a veritable catechism set in stone!
Pórtico principal da Catedral de Notre-Dame
The central portal is divided by the image of the One who said of himself: “I am the door” (Jn 10:9) and “I have come to bring division” (cf. Mt 10:35). The majestic statue of Our Lord which the medievals devoutly called Beau Dieu – the Beautiful God – is surmounted by a representation of the Last Judgement and other biblical motifs: scenes from the Apocalypse, Hell and Paradise; Angels, Patriarchs, Prophets and even allegorical figures, such as those of vices and virtues. The parable of the virgins (cf. Mt 25:1-13) can be observed on either side, pointing out to everyone the need for vigilance and prayer.
The two other portals, one dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and the other to St. Anne, are a veritable course in Mariology. They feature sculptures of scenes from Mary’s life, from the story of her holy parents to her glorious coronation in Heaven. There are also sculptures of prophets and kings surrounding the Ark of the Covenant, a pre-figure of her who bore the God-Man in her most pure womb.
Above these three portals, an imposing gallery made up of twenty-eight statues of Old Testament kings, each more than three metres high, evokes the dignity of royal power as a divine investiture.
In 1235, the two sixty-nine-metre towers are nearly completed, at the height they will stand for centuries to come. This is an important achievement: in addition to their ornamental function, they will henceforth house the “voice of the Church.”
Notre-Dame makes its “voice” heard
“I praise the true God, I summon the people, I gather the clergy. I mourn the dead, drive away the plague and embellish the feast days…” This engaging inscription, engraved in Latin on the largest of Notre-Dame’s bells – a twelve-tonne bourdon! – effectively summarizes the mission of this sacred instrument. A medieval village is inconceivable without the harmonious ringing of the bells, which serve both a religious and a civil purpose: to summon the faithful to liturgical celebrations and to serve as an alarm in times of danger… in short, to govern all the activities of daily life from on high.
At first, eight smaller bells – graciously called moineaux, sparrows, weighing five hundred kilos – are installed in the Guillaume Tower, the north tower, so named in honour of Bishop Guillaume d’Auvergne, the great benefactor of its construction. In the 15th century, the south tower is also equipped with a carillon with larger bells – majestic bourdons – which enliven feast days with their solemn chimes. They are so big that they require the labour of sixteen men to be set in motion! An interesting detail: to minimize the damage that the oscillation of the bells could cause to the stone belfries, medieval builders erected wooden towers inside them. These monumental structures absorb the vibrations, thus protecting the exquisite masonry.
Before the close of the 14th century, the Cathedral of Paris is practically finished. Both its frontispiece and interior are polychrome. Its prodigious stone vaults rise to a height of thirty-nine metres. Huge rose windows, over ten metres in diameter and made up of approximately twenty-five thousand pieces of multi-coloured glass, adorn the two ends of the transept, flooding the interior with a kaleidoscope of light.
Shining like a jewel in the heart of the “most Christian Kingdom”, Notre-Dame can now flaunt its title of queen of cathedrals like never before.
The Cathedral is disfigured and desecrated
Thus remained this icon of the majestic Church of Christ for some centuries. However, the days of the Middle Ages, the era of faith that engendered the Gothic cathedrals, came to an end. The Modern Age would now take its toll on medieval heritage.
The 17th and 18th centuries saw painful transformations. Inside Notre-Dame, medieval adornments were removed and Baroque sculptures and paintings were introduced. Many of the medieval stained-glass windows were replaced by translucent glass, and the walls and vaults were covered in light colours.
However, this sad metamorphosis was only the prelude to an enormous tragedy.
The typhoon of impiety brought on by the French Revolution, starting in 1789, would not be satisfied with persecuting the Catholic Church only in its faithful. Aware of the power of symbols, the enemies of the Cross spared no effort in desecrating countless religious monuments and churches.
The worst was undoubtedly reserved for Notre-Dame. The centre of Catholic worship in the heart of the Church’s firstborn nation, this blessed temple was chosen by the wicked for the most repugnant of desecrations.
On November 10, 1793, in the midst of the revolutionary terror, the abominable idolatrous cult of the “goddess Reason” was celebrated in the Cathedral of Paris in broad daylight. A young woman from the Paris Opera was chosen to symbolize the vile “deity” and, after being carried in procession on a platform, to the singing of republican hymns, she sat on the main altar to receive the adoration of those present.
Shortly thereafter, the Committee for Public Safety decreed the methodical removal of all symbols of the Catholic Church and the monarchy. In a task managed by Commissar Varin, images and reliquaries were destroyed, statues of kings were beheaded, stained-glass windows were covered in bitumen, while bells and other metal objects were taken and re-cast into cannons – all, of course, in the name of “freedom”. The queen of cathedrals was dethroned, disfigured and stripped of her regal adornments. Who would save her from her tormentors?
God’s “revanche”
For a Europe exhausted by the horrors of the Revolution, the 19th century brought new winds of hope. Providence is generous in distributing graces of conversion and restoration, especially to France. In those times, the Blessed Virgin made her maternal appeal heard on French soil – in the Rue de Bac in Paris, in La Salette and in Lourdes – and, at the same time, an impressive revival of saints in the ranks of the Church Militant confirmed that God was wreaking His revanche against the forces of evil.
Once again, the situation of the Holy Church was mirrored in the symbolic story of Notre-Dame.
In 1844, the new Historical Monuments Commission ordered the restoration of the Parisian cathedral, which was in a terrible state of neglect. Architects were called in to present their plans, and the choice fell on the young Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and his friend, Jean-Baptiste Lassus. The two architects would put all their efforts into restoring the cathedral to its former dignity… and then some.
The statues on the east façade, including those in the gallery of kings and the portals, were remodelled and the stained-glass windows restored. The huge rose window on the south façade was completely dismantled, repaired, reinforced with stronger parts, girdled with an iron ring and rotated by half a petal. The flying buttresses of the choir were also completely restructured and crowned with beautiful pinnacles. Notre-Dame finally rose up from its past ignominy.
Spire of Notre-Dame Cathedral, designed by Viollet-le-Duc
One of the most striking details of the restoration is undoubtedly the new medieval spire designed by Viollet-le-Duc. In 1866, it soared ninety-three metres above the transept of the venerable cathedral, gloriously crowning the merit of a work that had sailed the stormy seas of history with incomparable dignity.
From Notre-Dame, a lesson
After its eight-century epic, in 2019 the unthinkable happened. Notre-Dame, the glorious Notre-Dame, burned like a torch. The flames seemed to announce its complete disappearance. However, five years later, we see it rising again, ennobling the earth with its sublime presence.
Something similar applies to the Holy Church. We are often led to think of the crisis being lived by the Mystical Bride of Christ as irreversible. How numerous are the attacks launched against her, like a devastating fire!
Her history, however, teaches us otherwise.
Notre-Dame Cathedral at twilight
How many times has the Church been persecuted and outraged, and has nevertheless risen from the rubble with new and greater vigour? If, then, we see her visible face today in a state that the centuries have never known, we can be certain that her resurrection will be the most triumphant in history. On that blessed day, before the eyes of all will appear the splendour of Christ’s Bride, who is, in the truest sense, “the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth” (Lam 2:15). ◊
Notes
1 CORRÊA DE OLIVEIRA, Plinio. Le doux pays de France. In: Legionário. São Paulo. Ano XVIII. N.619 (18 jun., 1944), p.1.
2 The historical facts transcribed in this article were taken from the works: HIATT, Charles. Notre Dame de Paris. A Short History and Description of the Cathedral, with Some Account of the Churches which Preceded It. London: George Bell & Sons, 1902; SANDRON, Dany; TALLON, Andrew. Notre Dame Cathedral. Nine Centuries of History. University Park (PA): Pennsylvania State University, 2020.
3 According to Charles Hiatt, “Perhaps we do not overstate the case when we say that the science (as well as the art) of the Gothic found its first real expression on a large scale in the Cathedral of Paris” (HIATT, op. cit., p.22).
