The Cathedral of Notre Dame is virtually synonymous with Paris. But “Notre Dame,” French for “Our Lady,” is by no means unique to the City of Light. One of France’s most prominent churches is Notre Dame de Chartre. It is believed that the actual tunic of the Blessed Virgin is kept there, and millions of pilgrims have made the journey to pray in that beautiful place. Sadly, neither Chartre nor Paris has experienced the same fervor of faith they once enjoyed when France was known as the “eldest daughter of the Church.” The wave of secularism that has threatened to drown Western Europe continues to sweep through France, Belgium and most of those once deeply Catholic nations.
As the horrific details of this past week’s terrorist attacks by Islamic fundamentalists became known, the first assailant to be identified was a French citizen from the City of Chartre. Additionally, much of the planning for the attacks seems to have been done in Belgium. In St. Luke’s Gospel Jesus tells the parable of the house swept clean of demonic presence. With nothing substantial to occupy that space, however, it soon becomes inhabited by seven more demons more wicked than the first. Those demons were out in force in Paris last week.
Now it seems clear that the greatest threat to our future is not a militaristic one; it is, instead, the rank secularization that allows a hollow religion of hate to fester and thrive. What we need is God. We need Notre Dame to intercede for her eldest daughter and for us all. We need the Son of God to come back to His house, and cast the demons out.
