‘I feel lost’: Notre Dame fire destroyed a spiritual home on WTOP| PARIS (AP) — In the stones soaring skyward and the Gothic magnificence of Notre Dame Cathedral, Cecile Deleville found a refuge for her soul. She was there three days before an inferno devastated the cathedral in the midst of evening…
PARIS (AP) — In the stones soaring skyward and the Gothic magnificence of Notre Dame Cathedral, Cecile Deleville found a refuge for her soul.
She was there three days before an inferno devastated the cathedral in the midst of evening Mass and less than a week before the Christian celebration of Easter.
“I feel lost,” Deleville said, choking back tears. “In a way, I have to rebuild my life now” just as the cathedral must be rebuilt. “I have to find my parish.”
The landmark in the center of Paris, from where all distances in France are measured, was the site of Napoleon’s coronation and survived the French Revolution and two world wars, ringing out their victories.
Today, it stands as the nation’s keeper, the spiritual heart of secular France.
Like others for whom Notre Dame de Paris was a place of worship, Deleville needs a new church. President Emmanuel Macron has promised the landmark will be fully restored in five years.
For the 66-year-old Deleville there is no replacement for Notre Dame, where she worshipped regularly, sometimes daily, for two decades. She said it’s likely she would go to the nearby Left Bank church Saint Severin.
