“The Grandeur of Softness”
The only other day I remember as sadly as today was Tuesday, September 11, 2001, the day I flew into Newark International Airport from San Francisco, to attend meetings at 1633 Broadway, and witnessed the horrible scene on the left. The scene of Notre Dame on the right brings back the same horrible memory I had on September 11, “this is pure evil”.
France’s Bernard Henri-Lev described Notre Dame/ Our Lady as “the grandeur of Softness” which is how I should think of her. Monsieur Henri-Lev went on to describe Our Lady as “a treasure of civilization, for those who believe in heaven and for those who don’t”
It is that second description, “for those who believe in heaven and for those who don’t” that will be thought of long after this horrible day ends, because Notre Dame was a miraculous sight in the true sense of the meaning of “miraculous” which is “of the nature of a miracle” and hopefully we will never forget her “Grandeur of Softness” like that captured in this beautiful BBC video
Notre Dame was indeed the nature of a miracle. She is “an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs”. How else might we explain the construction of such a magnificent structure using seven hundred year old tools and techniques requiring quarrymen, stonemasons, woodcutters, carpenters, and even rope makers.
Notre Dame structure was actually made from 1,300 oak trees that represented approximately 21 hectares of forest ( one hectare contains about 2.47 acres). The gothic arches required sharply sloped roofs and the roof of the cathedral is at a 55 degree incline. During the 11th and 12th centuries church roofs were covered with flat tiles that came from clay deposits. However, when Notre Dame was constructed there were no clay deposits near Paris, so lead became the material of choice. The Bishop of Paris, Maurice de Sully willed £5000 to purchase the lead used in Notre Dame’s roof but all of these construction details vastly misrepresent “The Grandeur of Softness” that is Notre Dame.
Even though I will always remember my first view of Notre Dame just across a small Paris street my most precious memories will always be when I walked into the grand cathedral and saw this:
It’s magnificence speaks not only to the adoration it makes toward an almighty “God”, it speaks to the adoration of the human imagination and ingenuity required to create it’s magnificence.
It is that truly magnificent “human ingenuity” that may be most missed in the evil that desecrated Notre Dame.
