Tuesday, December 10

Paris' Notre Dame has reopened after the world-famous cathedral's devastating fire in 2019, with dozens of world leaders attending the major event.

The Notre Dame is one of the world's most iconic examples of Gothic architecture, completed in the year 1260 AD. It is located on the Île de la Cité, an island on the Seine River, which runs through the center of Paris, France. Back in 2019, the cathedral suffered a catastrophic fire that destroyed most of its wooden roof and a large portion of the upper walls. While the inside was protected by the stone roof that held up the burning section of the cathedral, its wooden spire had also collapsed during the fire.

Soon after the fire, French President Emmanuel Macron declared for the Notre Dame to be restored within a five-year timeline, and donors from numerous industries, including fashion designers and banks, contributed almost $900 million to the restoration. One year later, investigators could not confirm a definitive cause for the fire, but attributed it to either a cigarette or a short circuit in the electrical system.

Then, on Saturday, the Notre Dame succeeded in meeting its deadline, with the reopening ceremony taking place on Saturday. Over 2,000 people attended the event amid a fierce storm, preventing the formalities from taking place outside, as planned. Winds of over 40 mph and heavy rain hampered the celebrations of the cathedral's reopening, but it was still a major event.

Along with the hundreds of French residents that attended, many world leaders and businesspeople also arrived for the commemoration, including Donald Trump, the United States' soon-to-be president; Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of Tesla and SpaceX; Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine; Jill Biden, the First Lady of the United States; Prince William, Prince of Wales; Bernard Arnault, the billionaire owner of LVMH, and François-Henri Pinault, the billionaire owner of Kering.

On Sunday, the Notre Dame celebrated its first Sunday Mass since the fire. The Mass was led by Paris Archbishop Laurent Ulrich, and he was accompanied by over 170 bishops from around the world, one priest from each of France's 106 parishes in the Diocese of Paris, and one priest from each of the seven Eastern Catholic Churches. The Mass also marked the consecration of the new altar, moving through a five-step process to declare the altar as sacred.

Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): A group of hedgehogs is called an array or a prickle.

Quote of the Day: If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life, your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars. (Icelandic Proverb)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Fulgent (adj)- Fulgent is a formal, often poetic word used to describe something that is dazzlingly bright. It is a synonym of radiant.

In a Sentence: After a long, drizzly morning, a fulgent sun finally peeked out from behind the clouds.