PARIS (LifeSiteNews) — The chief architect of Notre Dame Cathedral revealed that he has a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
In a December 9 interview with the Eternal Word Television Network’s (EWTN) Colm Flynn, Philippe Villeneuve, the chief architect charged with rebuilding Notre Dame Cathedral, shared how his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary inspired him to rebuild her cathedral after the devastating fire in 2019.
“I spent five years saying nothing about this because I’m a civilian, serving in a secular republic and therefore I couldn’t say something like this,” he shared.
“But now I have to reveal that, yes, I have a particular devotion to the Virgin Mary and at the risk of sounding totally crazy, I like Joan of Arc,” he continued.
Villeneuve revealed that while he was rebuilding the historic cathedral, he “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,” he said, gesturing to heaven.
Like many Frenchmen, Villeneuve had a special devotion to Notre Dame Cathedral, even from a young age.
“I’ve been madly in love with Notre Dame De Paris since I was little,” he explained. “Growing up, it was inside the cathedral where I felt good, and when I was 16, I made a model of the cathedral.”
“I was really captivated by it, moved by it, and little did I know as a kid when I was building the cathedral out of cardboard and paper that one day I would be working on the real Cathedral,” he marveled.
Villeneuve’s comments were made after Notre Dame finally reopened to the public following five years of restoration from the devastating fire on April 15, 2019, that destroyed the historic church.
In early November, the eight bells of the Notre Dame Cathedral rang in Paris, marking a significant moment in French history.
The Cathedral itself was a symbol of France’s rich Catholic history that is inseparable from French culture. The gothic church, filled with detailed art and majestic architecture, survived the French revolution, which destroyed hundreds of churches as the country attempted to wipe out Catholic influence.
The reopening of the Cathedral was marked with a ceremony on December 7, the eve of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.
On Saturday evening, heads of state (including U.S. president-elect Donald Trump), kings and queens and members of the fallen French government, voted out of office only days before, jostled in the front rows while President Emmanuel Macron officially “returned” the building to the Archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich.