Bloodied but unbowed, Our Lady of Paris saved by divine intervention writes ...

Beneath the light rain that greeted a sleepless Parisian dawn yesterday, there was one over-riding emotion: That some sort of miracle had occurred in the early hours as it transpired one of the world’s greatest medieval buildings had survived wholesale destruction.

The near-cataclysmic fire which had raged through the Cathedral of Notre Dame for eight hours during the night had finally been brought under control and smothered by first light.

Notre Dame has, without doubt, been horribly damaged. France, along with much of the world, has been deeply shocked at the near-demise of ‘Our Lady of Paris’. Yesterday evening, fresh images of the wreckage were released showing the aisle piled high with charred and twisted timbers. 

Near disaster: An aerial view shows the vast extent of the damage to the Gothic cathedral's roof, where the fire took hold and raged throughout Monday night

Near disaster: An aerial view shows the vast extent of the damage to the Gothic cathedral's roof, where the fire took hold and raged throughout Monday night

Yet it could have been so very much worse. The 850-year-old towers which stand guard over the entrance and the immortal bells hanging within are in one piece. So, too, is some of the stained glass. ‘Our Lady’ lives on, bloodied but unbowed.

At the same time, the fire had produced another miracle of sorts. This avowedly secular country suddenly seemed to have rediscovered its sense of the spiritual yesterday, if only for a few hours.‘I have never known so many people talking openly about God, about religion and saying prayers in public,’ said caterer Marie-Astrid d’Arras. ‘So many people have become Catholic once again.’

Underpinning all this talk of divine intervention was a single image which first appeared in the Daily Mail yesterday.

I was one of the first people inside the smouldering cathedral as the worst of the fire subsided. I accompanied the French prime minister, Edouard Philippe, and a handful of aides on a preliminary inspection of the charred shell.

How did it escape the flames? The golden crucifix standing above a pile of charred debris and twisted timbers

How did it escape the flames? The golden crucifix standing above a pile of charred debris and twisted timbers

We found flames still flickering in some of the upper reaches and a lake at our feet. Then, through the foul-smelling miasma of smoke and hose water which filled this roofless void, we suddenly spotted an image that has come to define this near-disaster: The golden cross above the altar. How on earth had it managed to avoid the fate of everything else in the seat of the blaze, let alone remain upright?

Even avowed atheists took to social media yesterday to profess how moved they had been by this poignant symbol of defiance. Several Anglophile Parisians told me it reminded them of that famous wartime image of St Paul’s Cathedral standing tall during the Blitz.

For the authorities, there were more earthly considerations, notably finding out how the hell this had all happened in the first place. France might be praying a little louder than usual. But it is also pretty angry, too.

An interior view of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris in the aftermath of a fire that devastated the cathedral on Monday

An interior view of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris in the aftermath of a fire that devastated the cathedral on Monday

People attend a vigil on Tuesday. Firefighters declared success Tuesday in a more than 12-hour battle to extinguish an inferno engulfing Paris' iconic Notre Dame cathedral that claimed its spire and roof

People attend a vigil on Tuesday. Firefighters declared success Tuesday in a more than 12-hour battle to extinguish an inferno engulfing Paris' iconic Notre Dame cathedral that claimed its spire and roof

President Emmanuel Macron knows he needs to show a firm grip on every aspect of this episode and his interior minister Christophe Castaner vowed to identify the culprits yesterday. 

Attention was firmly focused on the contractors responsible for repair work on the roof in the area where the fire broke out. The fact that it started just moments after the end of the working day could provide a link.

Mr Macron cleared yesterday’s Cabinet meetings of all other business to focus exclusively on Notre Dame. Such is the mystical hold this 12th Century Gothic masterpiece has on the national psyche.

A key issue will be the cost. Under French law, the ownership of the cathedral rests with the State but the French taxpayer received a handsome head start yesterday when two of the country’s richest families pledged 300million euros before breakfast. By last night, the fighting fund had hit an astonishing 600million euros.

An aerial view of the Notre-Dame Cathedral engulfed in flames on Monday evening in the French capital Paris

An aerial view of the Notre-Dame Cathedral engulfed in flames on Monday evening in the French capital Paris

People pray on their knees by the Seine riverside in front of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. The inferno that raged through Notre Dame Cathedral for more than 12 hours destroyed its spire and its roof but spared its twin medieval bell towers

People pray on their knees by the Seine riverside in front of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. The inferno that raged through Notre Dame Cathedral for more than 12 hours destroyed its spire and its roof but spared its twin medieval bell towers

As stories began to emerge of the gallantry of the firefighters – and of a particularly heroic priest seen running into the inferno to retrieve some of Notre Dame’s treasures – messages arrived from world leaders, including one from the Queen. 

‘Prince Philip and I have been deeply saddened to see the images of the fire which has engulfed Notre-Dame Cathedral,’ she told President Macron. ‘My thoughts and prayers are with those who worship at the cathedral and all of France at this difficult time.’

Tomorrow, she will attend her beloved Royal Maundy service at St George’s Windsor, the traditional prelude to Easter Sunday.

There will be no Easter at Notre Dame, for the first time in nearly nine centuries. There was also a message yesterday from the Prince of Wales. ‘I realise only too well what a truly special significance the cathedral holds at the heart of your nation,’ he told Mr Macron.

‘But also for us outside France it represents one of the greatest architectural achievements of Western civilisation. It is a treasure for all mankind.’

People gather at the Place Saint-Michel the day after Notre-Dame Cathedral suffered heavy damage from a massive fire

People gather at the Place Saint-Michel the day after Notre-Dame Cathedral suffered heavy damage from a massive fire

By way of consolation, he alluded to the Royal Family’s own experience of the 1992 fire which ravaged much of Windsor Castle. ‘Our hearts go out to you and the people of France more than you can ever know, especially in view of our experience with the devastating fire at Windsor Castle 27 years ago,’ the Prince went on.

It was the Prince, together with the Duke of Edinburgh, who led the five-year, £40million rebuilding programme. It more than restored Windsor to its former glory.

Mr Macron would be well advised to pick up the phone to the Queen or her eldest son for a few useful tips on how best to resurrect

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