Woman Claims She Saw Jesus in a Photo of the Fire-Ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral

On Monday evening, the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was ablaze after a fire started. The 850-year old building was under reconstruction when the incident occurred.

Many people took to social media with images of the burning building but one woman saw something in the flames that has had people on the internet talking.

A VISION IN THE FLAMES

Lesley Rowan, 38, is a resident of Alexandria in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. She was reading about the Notre Dame Cathedral burning when she noticed something strange in one of the pictures.

Rowan saw a figure that looked like Jesus Christ standing in the flames while smoke billowed around. She quickly took to Facebook to share her thoughts.

The woman wanted to know if other people could also see the silhouette pointing outwards from the inferno. She wrote: “I may be letting my mind play tricks on me here, folks take a close look at this picture and what do you see.”

In her post, she included the photo she was referring too and circled the part she believed was Jesus. Rowan received an overwhelming response from other social media users who also believed they could see the outline of Jesus.

She said:

“When I looked at this photo last night, I was really astounded by what I saw. When I look at it I see a silhouette of Jesus. I really see a vivid image.”

“IT WILL BRING COMFORT TO PEOPLE IN PARIS.”

Rowan added, “I feel like it will bring comfort to people in Paris and all over the world at this sad time.” However, not everyone saw the same thing and one user thought it was just a statue.

RESTORATION WITHIN FIVE YEARS

On Tuesday, after the flames were brought under control, French President Emmanuel Macron promised to rebuild the cathedral within five years. Speaking to the press he promised that it would be rebuilt “even more beautifully” and urged the French people to “come together.”

He added: “We will rebuild Notre Dame even more beautifully and I want it to be completed in five years, we can do it.” The medieval UNESCO world heritage landmark had its spire and roof crash to the ground as the result of the blaze.

HOW THE BLAZE STARTED

The first alarm went off at 6.20 p.m. local time (5.20 p.m. BST) to warn the priests and a few hundred worshippers and tourists inside that something was wrong. The alarm allowed those inside to get to safety through the rear doors.

Johann Vexo, who was in the organ loft for Monday Mass said: “Everyone was immobilised by shock for maybe a minute.” It seemed it was a false alarm for 23 minutes then at 6.43 p.m. a second smoke detector went off and the flames became visible.

SAVING THE RELICS INSIDE

In an effort to save some of the treasures housed in the cathedral, firefighters, priests, and government workers passed the items hand-to-hand to safety. One of the sacred relics in the cathedral was a treasure chest.

Firefighters cracked it open and pulled out the Crown of Thorns which is revered as the one worn by Jesus at his crucifixion. The crown is made from rushes wrapped into a wreath and tied with a gold filament.

The relic had been it had been kept safely under glass since 1896. According to Patrick Chauvet, rector of Notre Dame Cathedral, the tunic of St Louis, believed to have belonged to King Louis IX, also came out of the chest along with fragments of the cross and a nail.

Those relics were safe but the cathedral also housed some prized artworks. Speaking about saving the precious pieces, General Jean-Claude Gallet of the fire brigade said: “We had to get them, in the smoke, as debris was falling, to protect them.”

THE SPIRE BREAKS APART

By 7.49 p.m. the 19th-century spire that was the architectural masterpiece of Eugene Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc and his post-Revolutionary restoration broke apart and fell through the nave. Three relics sealed inside in 1935 were taken by the flames.

FIREFIGHTERS RISK THEIR LIVES TO FIGHT THE INFERNO

Still fighting to save the building 20 firefighters climbed inside the two towers “at great risk to their lives, to attack the fire from the inside and save the building,” according to Laurent Nunez, the deputy interior minister. At 11.23 p.m., the fire chief shared that the rest of the structure had been saved.

Firefighters took 10 more hours to put out the last flames. The spire’s bronze rooster, a symbol of France, was found on Tuesday although it was deformed by the blaze.

FRANCE’S INTERIOR MINISTER PRAISES THOSE WHO SAVED THE CATHEDRAL

As he visited the cathedral the next day Christophe Castaner, France’s interior minister said: “Beyond emotion, beyond words, beyond tears.” He added, “What I want to express is the pride of the men and women who committed to saving Notre Dame.”

WOMAN THOUGHT GOD SAVED THE CROSS AT THE CATHEDRAL

Kaylee Crain is a Twitter user who was sure that God had spared the cross which stood behind Notre Dame’s cathedral. She took to the social media site posting a picture of the surviving cross.

She wrote:

“After all the aftermath and destruction of the Notre Dame fire, the altar and cross remained untouched. Please explain to me how you don’t believe in God after seeing this.”

However, her claims were quickly squashed when users responded explaining that the metal cross had a higher melting point than the fire which was the reason why it hadn’t burned.