We weep and keep vigil tonight with our brothers and sisters in Paris and around the world. We pray that Notre-Dame Cathedral’s historic foundation of hand-chiseled rock will hold up through this night, as her vaulted ceiling, walls and flying buttresses have stood strong for over 850 years through reformations, revolutions, and horrific wars.
We pray in thanksgiving for all souls who faithfully built this church for the glory of God from generation to generation. We pray also for those who will be called to restore what seems to be in ruins tonight. Protect all brave souls who are going into the smoldering wreckage this night, O Lord, keep them safe from harm.
So many of us have made our pilgrimage to Notre-Dame de Paris and lit our candles of hope in this holy place; others of us have always dreamed of being there. Even in the midst of the devastation, we all can trust that the Light of Christ is being carried forward within each of us and it will overcome all darkness.
Tonight we pray for the Church which continues to kindle the Light of Christ over two millennia. We pray especially with the congregation and clergy of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. With God’s grace, our brothers and sisters in Christ will find their strength in the midst of profound grief to continue their Holy Week Triduum and Eastertide Eucharists outside of the hallowed walls of their beloved cathedral. They are walking the Way of the Cross now and we walk with them in Christ+
This is our shared prayer of exultation sung around the world during the Great Vigil of Easter. At nightfall on Holy Saturday, we will listen again to the stories of God’s People, rekindle the Paschal Fire at dusk, and carry forward the Light of Christ through our own beloved churches and into our neighborhoods.
Let us pray:
“O God, you led your ancient people by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night: Grant that we, who serve you now on earth, may come to the joy of that heavenly Jerusalem, where all tears are wiped away and where your saints for ever sing your praise; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
2 Corinthiens 4:6 La Bible du Semeur
En effet, le même Dieu qui, un jour, a dit: Que la lumière brille du sein des ténèbres[a], a lui-même brillé dans notre cœur pour y faire resplendir la connaissance de la gloire de Dieu qui rayonne du visage de Jésus-Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:6 New English Translation
For God, who said “Let light shine out of darkness,” is the one who shined in our hearts to give us the light of the glorious knowledge of God in the face of Christ.
Faure’s Requiem is all the more poignant tonight: https://youtu.be/UnilUPXmi
letting go 
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