Since 2019, when we all watched, shocked, the fire at the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, we have constantly heard about events of the same nature. Thirsty for sensationalism, the media channels do not hesitate to expose them to the general public, while avoiding–usually–comments regarding the origins of these fires. The most recent fire was at the Catholic cathedral in the French city of Rouen, which occurred this summer. What caught my attention was the point of ignition for the fire: what French Catholics call “la flèche” of the Cathedral, i.e. the spire that is placed on top of a church tower. In the case of the Notre-Dame fire, without a doubt, the same element represented the climax: the fall of the spire. Consequently, the following question immediately arose in my mind: what could such an event and the most significant detail recorded–the fall of the spire–symbolize? To find an edifying answer, we need a few “ingredients,” which I will present in what follows.
Divine Providence and the destruction of holy places
We all remember how our Lord Jesus Christ emphasizes the work of Divine Providence in the Gospels. For instance, in Chapter 6 (verse 26) of the Gospel of Matthew, we read that the birds, which cannot prepare their own food, are fed by the care of the Heavenly Father. A few pages later, in Chapter 10 (verse 29), we are told that not even a sparrow falls to the ground without God’s knowledge. All these statements prepare us for the most important axiom:
“But the very hairs of your head are all numbered” (Matthew 10:30; the same statement is made in Luke 12:7).
The universally accepted interpretation of this passage is that God, through His Providence, on one hand, provides differentiated care for all creatures, with humans holding a privileged place. On the other hand, nothing—absolutely nothing—is overlooked by God: even the smallest details are considered by Him. Both key ideas of the verse from Matthew are harmoniously intertwined in the commentary of Saint Thomas Aquinas:
“He (i.e., our Lord, Jesus Christ) shows (…) that he has one care over men, and another over the brutes, when he says, but the very hairs of your head are all numbered. He shows what the difference is in God’s providence, by which he provides differently for different creatures. For he had said that not one sparrow falls to the ground without the Father; but here he says that, not only will you not fall, but not even your hairs. And here he points out a providence concerning the least actions, because all the things in them are ordered to them, and the Lord provides for these things.”[i]
Nothing seems more trivial than hairs. And yet, God mentioned them to emphasize how broad His Providence is, truly missing nothing—not even a hair! If we meditate on this reality, the consequences are remarkable. For example, I, the one writing these lines, am seen fully by God (not a single thought of mine escapes Him!). You, sir or madam, reading what I have written, are scrutinized by Divine Providence at every moment of your reading. In a word, nothing happens without God, the all-knowing, seeing—with divine care—what happens at every moment with each of us. However, if we are told not directly about ourselves but about our hairs, this indicates that not only rational creatures but absolutely everything—even the most insignificant things—are scrutinized by Holy Providence.
Now, as we witness cathedrals and churches burning before our eyes, we are forced—just as the apostles were in front of the Temple—to open the most difficult conversation possible: the one about the evil growing in this world until the final punishment and the end of history.
Then why would a cathedral burn—a holy place where God is meant to be honored and adored? Clearly, according to the doctrine of Holy Providence, such an architectural monument is under God’s special care. This question immediately reminds us of another episode from the Gospel of Matthew.
After delivering His terrible warning, and leaving the Temple, our Lord was approached by the disciples, who, delighted, pointed out the majesty of the magnificent structure. His reply came like a cold shower:
“Amen I say to you there shall not be left here a stone upon a stone that shall not be destroyed” (Matthew 24:3).
Let’s change the context a little. Imagine that the apostles, contemporaries of ours, went to Paris alongside the thousands of Catholics who love Tradition and participate in the annual Chartres pilgrimage. There, standing before the magnificent cathedral, they would have had the same discussion with the Our Lord Jesus Christ about the majesty of the holy place. Promptly, without further comment, the Savior would have given them a similar answer: “Amen, I say to you, this will burn to the ground.”
I believe any of us would be shocked to hear such a reply. Now, as we witness cathedrals and churches burning before our eyes, we are forced—just as the apostles were in front of the Temple—to open the most difficult conversation possible: the one about the evil growing in this world until the final punishment and the end of history. I will leave the detailed discussion of the apocalyptic response of the Savior Jesus Christ to the apostles for other articles. For now, I return to the initial question: what does the destruction of a cathedral by fire signify? And what about the collapse of the spire? A comment by the great teacher of Saint Augustine, Saint Ambrose of Milan, provided me with the key to understanding.
Saint Ambrose and the hidden meanings of the temple
The first explanation that came to my mind when I saw the fire at the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris was the same one I think of whenever I see historic cities: those who live in them no longer build what their ancestors built. Obviously, it’s another way of saying that they no longer contribute to enhancing the world’s beauty. Many times, I’ve wondered: why does no one build cathedrals like Notre-Dame nowadays? No other civilization has ever placed such emphasis on technology as the modern one, and yet it neither can nor desires to build marvels like those of the masons Jean de Chelles (working 1258–1265) and Pierre de Montreuil (? – 1267)—the designers of the Notre-Dame cathedral. If this is the case, what else can we expect but the gradual destruction of their creations?
When this basic truth is forgotten and ignored, and the souls of the citizens, ignited by the flames of various passions and vices, burn under the appearances of a facade Christianity, nothing else can follow but the abandonment of the holy places by God and their destruction.
Such considerations do not contain any real explanation. They merely acknowledge our inferiority, as modern people, compared to those of the brilliant classical cultures: ancient, medieval, Renaissance. But this is a well-known fact, although hidden by all “revisionist” and “modernist” historians. The answer came from elsewhere.
While searching for the Church Fathers’ commentary on our Lord’s harsh reply to the apostles who marveled at the grandeur of the temple, I found a few comments that gave me food for thought. The master of biblical exegesis from Alexandria, Origen (c.185–c.253), explains that what has been forsaken by God cannot endure. Whether it’s the temple or a person—the temple of the Holy Spirit—who, through sin, becomes alienated from God, the result is always the same: once the Holy Spirit withdraws, desolation and destruction follow.
Saint Ambrose of Milan (c.339–397) offers a similar commentary:
“It was spoken then of the temple made with hands, that it should be overthrown. For there is nothing made with hands which age does not impair, or violence throw down, or fire burn. Yet there is also another temple, that is, the synagogue, whose ancient building falls to pieces as the Church rises. There is also a temple in every one, which falls when faith is lacking, and above all when any one falsely shields himself under the name of Christ, that so he may rebel against his inward inclinations.”[ii]
As you might guess, the word that caught my attention was “fire”—it immediately made me think of the fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. The commentary itself contains three levels of interpretation. The first refers to the evanescence of this fallen world: everything here is fleeting, nothing will remain of its things—not the pyramids, not the temples of various religions, and not even the majestic Gothic cathedrals. For let us not forget, in the eternal Heavenly Jerusalem, there will be no temple:
“And I saw no temple therein. For the Lord God Almighty is the temple thereof, and the Lamb” (Apocalypse 21:22).
When an entire world turns a cathedral into a mere tourist attraction, it demonstrates a profound form of hypocrisy, because the purpose that gives meaning to such a sacred building is not tourism, but the worship and adoration owed to God by those who live in a city—any city—where a church or cathedral is located.
The extraordinary idea contained in this verse deserves a separate article. What we must remember, for now, is the analogy between the destruction of the human temple through the loss of faith and, especially, through the spread of hypocrisy. When an entire world, despising the presence of God in a cathedral, turns it into a mere tourist attraction, it demonstrates a profound form of hypocrisy. That is because the purpose that gives meaning to such a sacred building is not tourism, often profane and desecrating, but the worship and adoration owed to God by those who live in a city—any city—where a church or cathedral is located.
When this basic truth is forgotten and ignored, and the souls of the citizens, ignited by the flames of various passions and vices, burn under the appearances of a facade Christianity, nothing else can follow but the abandonment of the holy places by God and their destruction. The eminent symbol of the disaster of a soul whose “eyes”—the intellect—no longer adhere to the supernatural truths of Revelation is the collapse of “la flèche”—the spire of the cathedral. This clearly signifies the highest altitude toward which the attention of sacred architectural symbolism directs us: that of the mind, whose path—as Saint Bonaventure says in his Itinerarium Mentis in Deum—ascends to God.
Obviously, such truths, which are drawn from Saint Ambrose’s commentary, contain not only a very harsh critique of false Christians but also the remedy for all those who wish to meet their Creator in the mystical light of the old Christian cathedrals dedicated to God by our ancestors. And this remedy can only be the transformation of one’s body and soul into a true temple of the Holy Spirit.
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[i] The entire commentary can be read online here: https://aquinas.cc/la/en/~Matt.C10.L2.n874.3 [Accessed: 09 September 2024].
[ii] All the commentaries can be read in Saint Thomas Aquinas’ Catena Aurea: https://www.ecatholic2000.com/catena/untitled-31.shtml [Accessed: 09 September 2024].
