A graceful renewal of Notre-Dame Cathedral
The workers who restored the Gothic icon in Paris after a devastating fire celebrate eternal qualities in their skill and artistry. That speaks to real worship.
The workers who restored the Gothic icon in Paris after a devastating fire celebrate eternal qualities in their skill and artistry. That speaks to real worship.
More than five years after a fire destroyed its upper structure, Notre-Dame聽in聽Paris will reopen with grand ceremonies Dec. 7-8. The cathedral鈥檚 new bells have already been rung. A new, phoenixlike golden rooster now sits atop a rebuilt spire.
Oak trees have been hewed by hand to re-create the 300-foot-long timber roof first built by medieval craftspeople eight centuries ago. And modern artists have designed new stained-glass windows.
Yet for the thousands of people from many countries involved in the restoration of the world鈥檚 most famous Gothic church, it is not the material structure that they want visitors to notice most.
Rather, many speak of the qualities that went into their work 鈥� such as truth, joy, and humility. 鈥淔or me it鈥檚 ... like nursing the injured,鈥� worker Paul Poulet told Agn猫s Poirier, author of the book 鈥淣otre-Dame: The Soul of France.鈥�
Others note how any place of worship is meant to evoke transcendent and eternal qualities. The specifications for the new windows, for example, call for evoking joy, hope, and peace. The working of the timbers and stone was done by hand because 鈥渢ruth comes through the genuine materials ... [and] respect for the monument as we knew it,鈥� Philippe Jost, director of the reconstruction, told GQ magazine.
The public wants to rediscover this 鈥渞efuge of beauty, tenderness, and consolation,鈥� said Archbishop Laurent Ulrich of聽Paris. The project also had a healing purpose.聽鈥淚t shows that in this period of doubt and of questioning, if we remain united around a common goal, we can achieve the impossible,鈥� said Olivier Ribadeau-Dumas,聽Notre-Dame鈥檚 rector.
The cathedral鈥檚 redone interior is a triumph 鈥渙f truth and grace,鈥� said Ms. Poirier after being allowed to step inside. Yet the ultimate grace in a cathedral revived from the ashes is the spirit of those who took a broken building and restored it. Their work was a worship of love and spiritual renewal.