Beginning with the French Revolution, France, the Eldest Daughter of the Church — with a Catholic history that stretches back to the 2nd Century — has been drifting further and further from her Mother, with the magnificent Cathedral of Notre Dame becoming as much just a tourist attraction as a house of worship.
But in the wake of the horrific Islamist terrorist attacks in Paris on Nov. 13, Archbishop of Paris Cardinal Andre Vignt-Trois offered a memorial Mass on Nov. 15 at Notre Dame, and the magnificent Gothic structure was packed to overflowing, with mourners spreading out into the street.
Here’s the full video:
To say that very secular France is returning to her Catholic roots would be a vast overstatement. However, there does seem to be life in the old girl yet.
Even before the Paris attacks, after thwarted terrorist assaults on churches this past spring, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls spoke out on faith, saying that attending Mass was “the most beautiful and strongest” response to such attacks.
From an April 24, 2015 story at Aleteia:
To attack a church is to attack “a symbol of France,” the premier said. “The terrorists probably still wanted to hit the heart to divide and destroy. The answer is the gathering, is unity. That’s democracy, it’s the living together and that is the ability to respond as the French have done on January 11.
“The faithful of the Catholic religion,” he continued, “must be able to worship, go to Mass in perfect serenity. Moreover, it is the most beautiful and strongest of the answers we need to terrorism, which targets France to divide… . France has a great Christian heritage. Cathedrals, churches, chapels, attract tourists, pilgrims, thousands of the faithful around the world. This heritage must be protected, but must remain open, accessible.”
And even before that, from Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry in The Week, from January 2015:
On a recent Sunday, my family and I only showed up 10 minutes early for Mass. That meant we had to sit in fold-out chairs in the spillover room, where the Mass is relayed on a large TV screen. During the service, my toddler had to go to the bathroom. To get there, we had to step over a dozen people sitting in hallways and corners. This is business as usual for my church in Paris, France.
The murders of 129 innocent men, women and children by a handful of merciless jihadis is a stark reminder of the fragility and brevity of life, even in a city as bursting with life as Paris. This sobering realization can cause some to cast their eyes heavenward. From the homily of Cardinal Vingt-Trois on Nov. 15:
First, no one knows the day or the hour of the end of time. Only the Father knows. We also know that we know neither the day nor the hour of our own end and that this ignorance torments many people. But we all see, -and event this week reminds us cruelly that the work of death never stops and hits, sometimes blindly.
Then, dramatic or terrifying events of human history can be interpreted and understood as signs addressed to all. “When you see this, know that the Son of Man is closer to your door,” says the Gospel (Mk 13,29). This ability to interpret history is not a way of denying reality. It is a way to discover that history has meaning. It tells anyone who knocks at our door at each corner. That someone is Christ.
So we can not stop the misfortunes of life nor the sufferings we endure, as if it made no sense. Through them, we can discover that God knocks at our door and still wants to call to life, we open paths of life. We hope we have the strength to stand as a comfort to those who suffer and for all to see as a call to verify the true values of life.
I now ask you to join intensely to pray for the dead.
Let us begin with the Hail, Mary, or Je vous Salue Marie:
Je vous salue, Marie, pleine de grâce,
Le Seigneur est avec vous.
Vous êtes bénie entre toutes les femmes,
et Jésus, le fruit de vos entrailles, est béni.
Sainte Marie, Mère de Dieu,
priez pour nous, pauvres pécheurs,
maintenant et à l’heure de notre mort.
Amen.
Image: Wikipedia
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