filed in Daily Life
Notre Dame in Flames
If you have special memories of visiting Notre Dame, I’d love for you to share them here.
1923 Painting by Albert Lebourg
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4 comments for “Notre Dame in Flames”
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I was last in Notre Dame on a sunny summer morning in 2013, and I remember feeling as though the inside of the cathedral was alive with color from the stained glass reflected on the walls and columns. There was a couple taking wedding pictures, and I remember her white dress spangled with all the colors as she turned and laughed.
Partly because of the hight of the ceiling–and nothing can quite prepare you for the vastness of the space–it had lively acoustics, and the ordinary noises of people going about the daily work of the church felt dynamic.
The whole space felt alive. I cried all afternoon yesterday.
Lauren, thanks for your beautiful reflection.
It is an absolute tragedy, no question. Having said that, and without wanting to detract in any way from Notre Dame’s reputation as one of the great achievements of Western sacred art, I must confess I was a bit underwhelmed by my one experience with Our Lady of Paris. I visited her once, when I was on a trip to Europe as a college student (about 37 years ago . . . .). I remember feeling overwhelmed by it. There was just. So. Much. My senses could not take it in. Let’s attribute it to my own lack of sensitivity, but I had difficulty feeling the holiness there that I felt in many other more humble European cathedrals (a favorite being San Francesco in Assisi, though I suppose that does not qualify as humble either. . . )
That makes sense to me, RS. Have you visited the Vatican, and if yes, what was your experience there?