NOTRE DAME IN PARIS ON FIRE

[The Harlequin King]

An accident doesn't necessarily mean shoddy labor. There is honestly a lot that can easily go wrong with restoration projects. Most of the timber on the roof was original. After so many centuries, it had long ago aged into firewood.

The fire COULD be a result of carelessness, and it COULD be arson. But it would be gravely irresponsible and un-Christian to publicly make accusations without evidence.

[Jacob]

Someone mentioned before that even one venial sin is worse than the burning down of all the churches of the world.

If even one soul is moved to the Faith by Notre Dame, isn't its continued existence worth it?

[King Wenceslas]

The Chinese famously view natural disasters and similar events as portents of political change, as disasters suggest the Emperor/ruling elite has lost the Mandate of Heaven. It is difficult not to see the disastrous fire in Notre Dame as just such a portent.

For the identity of France is under assault on a number of fronts. The left-leaning status quo has set up a false duality: one either worships multiculturalism and rejects a national identity as the sworn enemy of multiculturalism, or one is a rightist racist. Thus anyone who even refers to a national identity of France is quickly vilified and marginalized.

In the highly centralized political power structure of today's France, the leadership--from Macron down-- are all graduates of a few select universities. Like Macron, the leadership was selected early and quickly advanced over lesser elites.

Globalized, hyper-financialized elitist Capitalism, so dependent on cheap immigrant labor for its servants, has left "deep France" behind, stripped of economic and political power, and relegated to dependency on the welfare state in rural regions (only the favored few and those with state-subsidized housing can afford to live in Paris).

These are not matters solely of politics and finance; they are manifestations of the elite war on the identity of France, to transform it into a bland, globalized hierarchy in which capital and power benefit the few, a system enforced by state propaganda and public virtue-signaling.

The corporate media, a key defender of the self-serving elite, will reject any symbolism in the near-destruction of Notre Dame. But deep down, many sense what cannot be spoken openly: the elites in France have lost the Mandate of Heaven.

France, the first to fall, the first to rise.

[Maximilian]

An accident doesn't necessarily mean shoddy labor. There is honestly a lot that can easily go wrong with restoration projects. Most of the timber on the roof was original. After so many centuries, it had long ago aged into firewood.

The fire COULD be a result of carelessness, and it COULD be arson. But it would be gravely irresponsible and un-Christian to publicly make accusations without evidence.

My sister's house burned down while it was being re-painted by a team of Amish workers.

[Maximilian]

The corporate media, a key defender of the self-serving elite, will reject any symbolism in the near-destruction of Notre Dame. But deep down, many sense what cannot be spoken openly: the elites in France have lost the Mandate of Heaven.

Yes, the Orientals still take this seriously. I have watched more than one Korean drama series whose plots revolve around the concept of "Which ruler has the mandate of heaven?" (and which contender has lost it)

When God sends a signal like the burning of Notre Dame cathedral, that's a pretty clear indication. The Koreans would need a lot less to conclude that heaven is demanding a regime change.

[awkwardcustomer]

Why would God need to set fire to the roof of Notre Dame to demonstrate that the elites of France, in common with the entire Western world, have lost the mandate of Heaven?

Isn't it obvious enough?

[Miriam_M]

Why would God need to set fire to the roof of Notre Dame to demonstrate that the elites of France, in common with the entire Western world, have lost the mandate of Heaven?

Isn't it obvious enough?

To those who have lost it, no, it isn't obvious.

[Traditionallyruralmom]

arson is easy to assume, knowing the facts of late 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/vandalism-at-hundreds-of-french-churches-n509gwb0d?fbclid=IwAR0O1dNmAK1VjO3ZAncIJFYoMQUX_2gDw43UkFMHfBokD9EkFI2xiaMZ2BI

57160135_1055487344638837_6310407843841310720_n by S Marie, on Flickr

[Miriam_M]

Someone mentioned before that even one venial sin is worse than the burning down of all the churches of the world.

If even one soul is moved to the Faith by Notre Dame, isn't its continued existence worth it?

This is one reason I posted the 10 minute sermon on the previous page. 

For the huge majority of its history, the Catholic Church has always maintained that the splendor of God's houses of worship, whether those houses are large or small, is intrinsically valuable for the salvation of souls.  The beauty of them does more than delight the eye; it beckons the soul.  I saw a brief snippet on EWTN yesterday, wherein a Catholic familiar with N.D. but I believe not currently in Paris responded to the news of the fire by immediately seeking a confessional.

[Innocent Smith]

Someone mentioned before that even one venial sin is worse than the burning down of all the churches of the world.

If even one soul is moved to the Faith by Notre Dame, isn't its continued existence worth it?

Probably. We'll have to wait and see if a Coexist engraving appears over the majestic doors upon restoration.

[Innocent Smith]

An accident doesn't necessarily mean shoddy labor. There is honestly a lot that can easily go wrong with restoration projects. Most of the timber on the roof was original. After so many centuries, it had long ago aged into firewood.

The fire COULD be a result of carelessness, and it COULD be arson. But it would be gravely irresponsible and un-Christian to publicly make accusations without evidence.

My sister's house burned down while it was being re-painted by a team of Amish workers.

I take it they couldn't make a phone call?

[mikemac]

https://gellerreport.com/2019/04/notre-dame-fire-whatwe-know.html/

UPDATE on Notre Dame Fire: Here's what we know about what started the fire
By Pamela Geller - on April 17, 2019


Here is a little background first from Maxime Lépante, our French correspondent in France:

    Notre-Dame was one of the most important jewels of all human history. It started the "Gothic" architecture revolution, that was, from 12th to 15th century called "francigenum opus" ("French art") before being called "gothic" by the Italians. It's the epitome of Western civilization and christian art. The framing of the roof, which was one of the biggest masterpieces of human carpentry, is permanently destroyed. The stained glasses (biggest and most ancient rose windows in Europe) are probably saved.

Some other information :

    1) the workers who were refurbishing the roof of Notre-Dame are among the best specialized craftsmen in the world, concerning the restauration of medieval monuments (their title is "Meilleur Ouvrier de France").They love their work, and take all the necessary precautions. They have worked in many rooms of the Castle of Versailles, they have restored many churches and cathedrals. For example, they worked during more than 20 years on the marvelous Strasbourg cathedral (I lived in Strasbourg and saw their progress), and there was never a single problem.

    2) the workers stopped at 6:00 PM, the fire started at 6:50 PM, near scaffoldings, used to climb there.

    3) no electricity was allowed near the roof, because it was made in wood and as a matter of security, every inflamable thing was banned too. So, to have a fire there, someone needed to bring something.

Here is the latest update from Maxime Lépante, our French correspondent in France (emphasis is mine):

    This is an update about what we know today about the fire that destroyed the roof and parts of the vaults of Notre-Dame:

    1) Restoration work hadn't started on the roof. The scaffolding were still being put in place. The architect in chief of the "Monuments Historiques" ("Historical Monuments", the administration that maintains and repairs monuments in France), Philippe Villeneuve, who was responsible for the refurbishing of the spire of Notre-Dame, has stated that : "Work had not started yet, scaffoldings were still being built".

    2) Everything was done to avoid any source of heat near the wood of the roof. No electrical plug, no welding were allowed. So, Philippe Villeneuve says : "The hot spot hypothesis is therefore not the right one".

    3) The head of the company that was building the scaffoldings (Europe Echafaudage) (Europe Scaffolding), Julien Le Bras, was interviewed by a French TV (BFM) : "All I can say for the time being is that at the moment of the fire, absolutely none of the employees of my company was present on site".

    4) He added : "All safety procedures on the Notre-Dame de Paris site have been respected".

    5) One of my friend sent me an email concerning the security on the roof of Notre-Dame. She has a diploma in Art history and studied in the "Ecole du Louvre" ("Louvre School", were students learn art history and restoration processes) : "I visited the framing of Notre Dame with architects of the "Bâtiments de France" ("Buildings of France", the highest rank for an architect in France), some years ago. This 13th century timber frame was extremely protected. Each intervention is always accompanied by historians, architects, experts; no work is envisaged without extreme caution; no source of heat, no torch, no electrical apparatus is allowed; a high-performance alarm system is in place; and very strict supervision of all people allowed there. I think we will eventually learn that this was arson."

    6) So, as I said yesterday, with all these security measures, to have a fire on the roof of Notre-Dame, someone had to bring something there, and lit it up.

    Sources :

    For 1 and 2, see the article of "Le Monde", reserved to the paying members, but the important parts have been copied here:

    For 3 and 4, see the article of the "Journal du Dimanche", here.

...

[Innocent Smith]

https://gellerreport.com/2019/04/notre-dame-fire-whatwe-know.html/

UPDATE on Notre Dame Fire: Here's what we know about what started the fire
By Pamela Geller - on April 17, 2019


Here is a little background first from Maxime Lépante, our French correspondent in France:

    Notre-Dame was one of the most important jewels of all human history. It started the "Gothic" architecture revolution, that was, from 12th to 15th century called "francigenum opus" ("French art") before being called "gothic" by the Italians. It's the epitome of Western civilization and christian art. The framing of the roof, which was one of the biggest masterpieces of human carpentry, is permanently destroyed. The stained glasses (biggest and most ancient rose windows in Europe) are probably saved.

Some other information :

    1) the workers who were refurbishing the roof of Notre-Dame are among the best specialized craftsmen in the world, concerning the restauration of medieval monuments (their title is "Meilleur Ouvrier de France").They love their work, and take all the necessary precautions. They have worked in many rooms of the Castle of Versailles, they have restored many churches and cathedrals. For example, they worked during more than 20 years on the marvelous Strasbourg cathedral (I lived in Strasbourg and saw their progress), and there was never a single problem.

    2) the workers stopped at 6:00 PM, the fire started at 6:50 PM, near scaffoldings, used to climb there.

    3) no electricity was allowed near the roof, because it was made in wood and as a matter of security, every inflamable thing was banned too. So, to have a fire there, someone needed to bring something.

Here is the latest update from Maxime Lépante, our French correspondent in France (emphasis is mine):

    This is an update about what we know today about the fire that destroyed the roof and parts of the vaults of Notre-Dame:

    1) Restoration work hadn't started on the roof. The scaffolding were still being put in place. The architect in chief of the "Monuments Historiques" ("Historical Monuments", the administration that maintains and repairs monuments in France), Philippe Villeneuve, who was responsible for the refurbishing of the spire of Notre-Dame, has stated that : "Work had not started yet, scaffoldings were still being built".

    2) Everything was done to avoid any source of heat near the wood of the roof. No electrical plug, no welding were allowed. So, Philippe Villeneuve says : "The hot spot hypothesis is therefore not the right one".

    3) The head of the company that was building the scaffoldings (Europe Echafaudage) (Europe Scaffolding), Julien Le Bras, was interviewed by a French TV (BFM) : "All I can say for the time being is that at the moment of the fire, absolutely none of the employees of my company was present on site".

    4) He added : "All safety procedures on the Notre-Dame de Paris site have been respected".

    5) One of my friend sent me an email concerning the security on the roof of Notre-Dame. She has a diploma in Art history and studied in the "Ecole du Louvre" ("Louvre School", were students learn art history and restoration processes) : "I visited the framing of Notre Dame with architects of the "Bâtiments de France" ("Buildings of France", the highest rank for an architect in France), some years ago. This 13th century timber frame was extremely protected. Each intervention is always accompanied by historians, architects, experts; no work is envisaged without extreme caution; no source of heat, no torch, no electrical apparatus is allowed; a high-performance alarm system is in place; and very strict supervision of all people allowed there. I think we will eventually learn that this was arson."

    6) So, as I said yesterday, with all these security measures, to have a fire on the roof of Notre-Dame, someone had to bring something there, and lit it up.

    Sources :

    For 1 and 2, see the article of "Le Monde", reserved to the paying members, but the important parts have been copied here:

    For 3 and 4, see the article of the "Journal du Dimanche", here.

...

Doesn't Pamela know that the word Christian ought to be capitalized?

These jews[sic] just can't help themselves, can they?

[Innocent Smith]

This is a great article. Short, sweet, and completely on point. An article that the great Pamela Gellar, featured above, would certainly fail to understand. I still can't believe you posted an article by that silicone enhanced "beauty", Mike.

Notre Dame en Feu: God Takes Back What Is His

During my senior year of college, I took a class on the French Revolution — my first real academic exposure to that seminal period since a brief survey in high school. Going into the class, I was confident in my understanding of the Revolution, a narrative more or less predicated on the traditional historiography: the French Revolution was a struggle against an oppressive monarchy in defense of the same basic principles as our own revolution in the United States, though perhaps with a bit more bloodshed. Guillotines or not, how could one take umbrage at such lofty ideals as liberty, equality, and fraternity?

Such was the extent of my understanding of the Revolution at the time I began the college class, a misguided view (as I would learn) that my Catholic high school education criminally failed to correct.

In what turned out to be the biggest seismic shock of my academic career, my professor quickly disabused me of my preconceived notions and tipped over the first domino that would soon cause the total reorientation of the foundations of my political and philosophical worldview. The class showed me, for the first time, the ugly and unvarnished truth of modern France's founding myth: the guillotine, yes, but also the Vendée. The mass shootings and drownings of nuns and priests. The desecration of the churches — Notre Dame itself was converted to a hideous "Temple of Reason" under the careful eye of Robespierre and his republican thugs. The virtual abolition of the Catholic Church in France and the forced conversion of priests into mere civil servants. The expulsion or arrest of those priests and bishops who would not conform — then, as in the England of St. John Fisher, a depressing minority. The senseless savagery, the unbridled, visceral rage — is this what modern Europe proudly holds up as the fruit of Enlightenment?

For the first time in my life, I began to doubt the received wisdom that, whatever its faults, the French Revolution ultimately liberated the French people and was a bold step forward in the quest for La Raison. This first domino toppled my views on the (previously not to be challenged!) Euro-American dogma that democracy is the highest, indeed only form of government, and later on the very legitimacy of republican forms of government themselves.

The tragic fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris brought me back to that lecture hall of my college class. I can only say what so many others are saying: is there no more fitting metaphor for the absolute state of the Church in France — indeed, in Western Europe — today? What distinguishes today's Frenchman from his forefather of 1789? The French Revolution was not an event; it was a regime, and one that still reigns in the secular Wahhabism that is the French policy of laïcité.

Watching such a great treasure of the Catholic patrimony go up in flames brought me grief, yes, but it also awakened in me a sense of righteous anger born of God's infinite justice: as the Apostle reminds us, God will not be mocked. In a nation where Mass attendance has fallen to single digits, is it any wonder that God has taken back what is His? In a city where the average church hosts more iPad-clutching, shorts-clad tourists in a single day than the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass attracts in months, did we honestly expect anything different from what transpired Monday? In this part of the European continent, where one can sooner find a rainbow banner than an altar rail in the sanctuary, did we really think God would be mocked indefinitely?

Regicide has become deicide. Where once men beheaded their earthly kings, they still strive to decapitate their heavenly King. The Temple of Reason has once more become the funeral pyre of the Faith.

Much has been made of Islam's alleged threat to "Christian Europe." If the people of France have taught us anything, and if the events of this week are any proof of divine justice, then it is clear that the people of France and indeed of Western Europe need no help from the Muslims in destroying their culture, their heritage, their faith.

Louis XVI, king of France, martyr of France, pray for us. Holy martyrs of the Vendée, pray for us. O Lord, Who promised to destroy the temple made by human hands and in three days raise it up once more, have mercy on us.

[awkwardcustomer]

Why would God need to set fire to the roof of Notre Dame to demonstrate that the elites of France, in common with the entire Western world, have lost the mandate of Heaven?

Isn't it obvious enough?

To those who have lost it, no, it isn't obvious.

How do you know?

Perhaps they are fully aware that they have lost the mandate of Heaven and are fine with that.