It will be big. On Dec. 8, the Cathedral of Notre Dame, one of the glories of Catholicism, will reopen in Paris, fully restored after the disastrous fire of 2019.
On behalf of the French nation, President Emmanuel Macron invited Pope Francis to officiate. Dec. 8, an international holy day of obligation, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, is for the French their special feast day.
World media will focus on the reopening of the historic cathedral, especially if the pope is present. An important moment will occur when what is said to be the crown of thorns, worn by Jesus on Good Friday, is solemnly and majestically returned to the cathedral where it was kept for many years and where millions of believers venerated it.
(A very determined priest, and a few brave firefighters, rescued the crown during the fire. It has been kept in the vault of the Louvre, the great Parisian museum, since the fire.)
What are the credentials of this relic? Did it once rest upon the brow of Jesus? “Proof” for the authenticity of the relic in Paris is the unbroken regard for it by fervent Christians for many hundreds of years and the fact that nothing reliably questions its connection with Jesus.
The surprising history of the crown
The Gospels speak of the crown of thorns (cf. Mt 27:29; Mk 15:17, Jn 19:2,5.) Jesus was convicted of high treason, of claiming to be “king of the Jews,” thereby a rival to the Roman emperor. Death by crucifixion was the penalty for treason.
Before the crucifixion, the Roman soldiers acting as the executioners made fun of Jesus. Instead of a golden crown, the soldiers fashioned a crown of thorns, creating a circlet of branches and reeds, around which they stretched a local vine that had many sharp thorns. The circlet, now missing the vine, is what is treasured in Paris today.
First — and this makes sense — followers of Jesus, so devoted to the Lord but outlaws because of this devotion, carefully kept and revered the articles connected with the Crucifixion. To protect the relics, the first Christians hid the nails that pierced the Lord’s hands and feet, the spear that the Roman soldier drove into the side of Jesus and the crown.
Hiding the relics indeed secured them. In the fourth century, Christianity was legalized in the Roman Empire. Christian pilgrims came to Jerusalem. They venerated and wrote about the relics in records as old as A.D. 400, specifically mentioning the crown of thorns.
A Christian empire formed in the Middle East, centered in Constantinople, today the great Turkish city of Istanbul. The crown was moved from Jerusalem to the imperial capital.
A gift to France
Years passed. To win allies and to strengthen his empire, the emperor in Constantinople, Baldwin II, offered the crown to the French king, St. Louis IX, in 1239.
King Louis IX accepted the gift and brought the crown to Paris, where it has remained, and has been venerated by untold millions of believers, until this day.
No church in the country was magnificent enough to house this wondrous relic, said Louis IX, so he built Le Sainte Chapelle, arguably the most exquisite Gothic house of worship ever constructed. It still stands, a quick walk from Notre Dame Cathedral.
About 300 years ago, the crown was taken to the cathedral as a place in which many more worshippers could assemble.
Wars have threatened Paris. In the French Revolution, the cathedral was plundered but the crown has survived.
The archbishop of Paris is its protector. It is brought into view on first Fridays, the Fridays of Lent and on Good Friday. On these occasions, it is offered to the people for their veneration.
Holding the crown of thorns is a circular, tube-like, crystal reliquary. French knights of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem, an ancient group of devout Catholics, guard the crown when it is displayed.
