It is with a heavy heart that I write these words.

Our Lady is on fire.

I’m not going to describe the details of the damage, its cause, or the aftermath of the loss.

You can find these details all over the internet.

This is a tribute to what this day is for the French and for the World.

A day when people can’t breathe well, they can’t believe their eyes, they can’t pray enough.

Days before Easter, when this holy place was going to be the host of millions of visitors from around the world to marvel at its beauty, it’s now a cause for sadness, tears and disbelief.

It’s more than the heart can take.

It’s a home for our spirit that now turned into ashes.

I remember now every time I visited her: all the images are flashing in front of my eyes.

The unspeakable beauty for the eye, the incomparable music, the sanctity of its spirit.

The richness of the millions of souls who came to find their peace from all four corners of the World.

I always felt their presence, as if its entire history was concentrated between those walls when I happened to be there.

All that is now fighting the fire.

But, as someone wrote to me, “a resurrected Notre Dame will once again stand for centuries to come.”

Yes, that is our spirit.

The Guardian already announced that “François-Henri Pinault, the chairman and CEO of international luxury group Kering, which owns brands like Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, and Alexander McQueen, has pledged 100 million euros towards rebuilding Notre-Dame”.

Like Phoenix, she’ll show us her beauty again and give us her strength.

We’ll stand to watch and love her from near or far, our hearts will give her the strength she needs to shine again, the most visited monument of the most visited city in the world.

Much love from the heart, milady.

Now it is your turn!

Share your story in the comments: what is the first memory about Notre Dame that comes to mind today?

A tribute from Team J’Ouellette®
April 15, 2019