I love this picture of the Marian procession that returned the Virgin of the Pillar to Notre Dame Cathedral, destroyed by fire five years ago. As I dug a little deeper and realized that this is actually not the statue itself, but a replica, I got a little hot under the collar. But the story is very sweet.
Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris will officially reopen this weekend, December 7 and 8, in honor of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. (Which has been transferred to December 9 this year. We’ll ignore that part.) I’ve seen some pictures on the internet and read some of the stories about rebuilding after the fire that destroyed the cathedral and I hope someone makes a documentary about the process because it looks fascinating. A few weeks ago the story of the statue known as the Virgin of the Pillar caught my eye.
Being a cathedral dedicated to Mary there were several statues of her inside. In the back of the cathedral had been a marble Pieta, a representation of the moment when Jesus was taken down from the cross and laid in Mary’s arms. This statue survived the fire and was mostly cleaned up. The news stories say that ashes and lead, which dripped down from the burning roof, had to be cleaned off the statue, but that a piece of lead was left in Jesus’ hand to be a reminder of what had happened. https://www.newsweek.com/notre-dame-cathedral-restoration-photos-france-1993520
French President Macron’s visit ahead of the grand opening included a bit of commentary on how hard the various craftsmen worked to restore the cathedral.
… Being able to return the cathedral to everyone in due course is a great source of pride, gratitude and joy, which outweighs the sadness of leaving this exceptional construction site. …[stonemason] Thomas emphasized that “we have all left a bit of ourselves in these stone walls that are almost a thousand years old.”
https://catholicreview.org/notre-dame-shines-bright-as-french-president-visits-days-before-the-grande-reouverture/
The statue known as the Virgin of the Pillar was closer to the front of the church than the Pieta, right at the crossing of the nave and transepts. The fall of the spire should have destroyed the statue. But, it was undamaged. It rested in a church elsewhere in Paris until the renovation was nearly complete.
At some point people realized that this particular return was a Big Deal. A Marian procession was arranged to honor the return of the statue, which of course had to happen ahead of the official opening. Here’s where it gets interesting. The statue of Mary was going to be transported back to Notre Dame in an armored truck, because it was considered totally unsafe to allow it to travel open to view. A replica was constructed and various parishes around Paris hosted the replica in the weeks before the procession.
Then everyone gathered to follow the truck with lights and singing and prayers. They were honoring and following the actual statue. The replica was not a cheat as I thought at first, but a gentle and wonderful reminder of what the truck was carrying. Very moving.
Two stories about the pilgrimage follow.
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