Notre Dame Update: Firefighters Are Not Sure They Can Save the Cathedral; The Left Bell Tower Is Still Aflame; Fears Grow that the Ropes Holding the Massive Bells Will Fail and the Bells Will Smash Through the Remaining Wooden Supports

From LeFigaro's updates.

Via Fox, the "Great Bell," called "Emmanuel," is the most likely to come down.

I don't want to spread fear, but while stone might be mostly impervious to fire, it won't necessarily be impervious to a very heavy copper bell smashing down into its foundations at an awful speed.

Some Good News?

"Some good news: All the works of art have been saved. The treasures of the cathedral are intact, the crown of thorns, the saints sacrements."

I don't know what "saints sacrements" means in French but I would guess it means the holy relics of saints.

Or, maybe not: I heard earlier that there were a bunch of statues of saints which had been removed to a safe location earlier, owing to the hazards of a construction project. Maybe they just mean that.

I'm going to assume, though, that if they say they got out all the works of art, that includes the relics, almost always kept in reliquaries, which are themselves works of art.

Update: Commenters tell me the saints sacrements are the sanctified hosts, the wafers, given at communion. Ah.

The Crown of Thorns is, supposedly, the actual crown of thorns worn by Jesus at his Crucifixion.

Fears are growing that Notre Dame’s most precious treasure, a relic venerated as the Crown of Thorns worn by Jesus Christ, could have been badly damaged or destroyed in the fire.

The Crown of Thorns, considered Paris’s equivalent of the Crown Jewels, is stored at the end of a nave of the cathedral, not readily visible to visitors.

Said to have been worn by Christ before the crucifixion, it is presented to believers for veneration on the first Friday of each month and every Friday during Lent.

posted by Ace of Spades at 04:23 PM

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