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After five years of an intense restoration project, Notre Dame finally opened its doors to celebrate its first Mass at the weekend. Behind the successful and painstaking rebuild was chief architect Philippe Villeneuve.
While the cathedral bathed in its renewed beauty, Villeneuve was finally able to reveal the source of inspiration and divine support that got him through the demands of such an incredible project as the whole world looked on.
In an interview with Colm Flynn for EWTN, Villeneuve shares that he had been unable to talk about his faith during the five-year project due to his position as a civil servant in a secular republic. Now that his mission is complete, he is finally free to reveal how his faith was paramount in his achievement.
I have a particular devotion to the Virgin Mary, and at the risk of sounding totally crazy, or like Joan of Arc , I never stopped feeling support coming from up there. I don’t think this project would have been possible otherwise and I think that’s what gave me the strength and determination to move forward because I knew I was supported from up there.”
It’s support he certainly would have needed considering the amplitude of the project, and the estimated $850 million to carry it out. As the chief architect of historic monuments explains: “It was an enormous amount of work” that left him “amazed by the beauty, amazed by the work, by the quality of work.”
A life in preparation for Notre Dame
In an interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro just after the fire, Villeneuve — who’d already been working on the general restoration of the cathedral since 2013 — shared:
“My whole life had been a kind of preparation for working, one day, on the cathedral. This monument shaped me and still shapes me. It’s what made me want to be an architect.”
In the same interview he explained the extraordinary nature of the cathedral, and the incredible efforts individuals were putting in to the rebuild, working 24/7. As he shared:
“This site, like the cathedral, is out of the ordinary, extra-ordinary. When I see the light coming in through the destroyed vaults, I tell myself that the builders of the 12th century had already seen this. We all feel as if we’ve stepped back in time. In a way, we’ve rediscovered the spirit of companionship of that era, with the same élan and complicity between all the trades.”
Now, with the work complete, Villeneuve can take a step back to admire the home he has restored for Our Lady, and marvel at the way in which she watches over us.
And today we celebrate...