God always gives us light in the darkness:
A French priest who helped comfort the wounded after the worst terrorist attack on Paris this century and who survived an ambush in Afghanistan today also emerged as a hero of the Notre Dame fire.
Jean-Marc Fournier, chaplain of the Paris Fire Brigade, saved the Blessed Sacrament and the Crown of Thorns from the blazing cathedral on Monday night.
It was feared that both religious artefacts would be lost as flames engulfed the medieval building, but Father Fournier made sure they were taken to safety.
Etienne Loraillere, an editor for France‘s KTO Catholic television network, said Father Fournier ‘went with the firefighters into Notre Dame Cathedral to save the Crown of Thorns and the Blessed Sacrament’.
Go here to read the rest.
Good man
No grey, no make a mess, no hesitation. Well done good and faithful servant.
The link Go here to read the rest. is broken
Thanks for catching that Henry. The link is fixed.
Makes you wonder what happened when the call for a fire in the Cathedral came through– I have this cartoony image of the chaplain looking up, yelling WHAT?, and scrambling for his fire gear.
I have this cartoony image of the chaplain…
My version is him giving general absolution to the other fire fighters who went in with him to save Jesus and the relics.
But I suppose the roof wasn’t totally involved in the fire at the time they went in.
Pretty sure that dying trying to save the Host is a martyrdom.
That priest is a hero! By the way, another priest, Fr. Zmeister, has some telling photos, and he makes an interesting observation about how the older main altar and the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary holding the crucified Jesus in her arms were virtually unscathed, while the V-2 altar was crushed under the pile of rubble which only a few days ago were portions of the ceiling and roof. Interesting, indeed.