We watched in horror as Notre Dame (Paris) burned. We gasped as the spire dropped. News stations around the world began to go live with the burning of the Cathedral, some even keeping the image going for hours. And, then, we saw the moving images of hundreds of people gathered to watch, as they began to pray and to sing the Ave Maria, and other hymns common to the Roman Catholic Church in France.
It was the images of the people praying and singing that caught my sight and my imagination. All of a sudden, I was not simply seeing the people in front of Notre Dame, I was also seeing the people standing in front of the Cross. I could just imagine the Virgin Mother, the relatives, the followers, the disciples, watching the death of their beloved son, relative, teacher, master.
And, I began to realize that in seeing the reaction at Notre Dame, I was probably seeing, and in a small way experiencing, what those early believers experienced. Just like the French were watching a crucial part of who they were dying in front of their eyes, so were the disciples of back then watching as their Lord died in front of their eyes. I could barely begin to imagine the horror that was felt, as I felt my own small bit of horror watching the cathedral burn.
It was the reaction of the French, though, that deepened my understanding of the Passion. For the French did not simply stop at horror. They ascended into prayer and worship. Even in the midst of one of the most terrible days in their country’s current history, an event even worse to them than the Paris bombings, they arose in prayer and worship. Rather than destroying them, the horror raised them up into a spirituality that I doubt many French had felt in a while. And they are convinced that Notre Dame shall rise again!
It would have been the same that Passion weekend. Even after the horror of Jesus’ death, the Scriptures record that the disciples were gathered in the Upper Room to pray. They may very well have also been in hiding, but they were gathered to pray. The death of their Messiah had driven them to gather together in prayer. It was in that prayer that Peter and John received the news of the empty tomb and ran to verify that news. It was in that prayer that the Risen Lord came back to meet with them. It was in that sadness that the Lord met the disciples going to Emmaus so that they might receive the news, as the bread was broken, and return to their brothers and sisters in joy and gladness. He is Risen!
So, in the French reaction, I have caught a small glimpse of the human reactions to the Passion. In the French reaction, I can see how horror can lead to an increased spirituality. In the French, I catch a glimpse of the weekend of the Resurrection and the joy of the coming of the Holy Spirit fifty days later.
Now, Passion weekend makes more sense to me thanks to the French. «Après la pluie, le beau temps.»
Yes, the videos of the French praying and worshipping in the streets as their cathedral burned were the most moving images to come out of the tragedy–and one of the videos, I’m sure, was taken at the darkest hour when the authorities thought the entire building would be lost. I never thought I’d say that I wished then to emulate the French Catholics: to react with such remarkable peace and reverence in the face the unthinkable (for them). May God bless the faithful and the individuals who shared those videos with the world.
Excellent write-up, Father.