On Monday, April 15, 2019, news broke of a devastating fire at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. People around the world watched as this iconic religious and architectural site suffered crippling damage.

The Vincentian Priests and Brothers and the Central Association of the Miraculous Medal, whose Miraculous Medal Shrine is headquartered in Germantown, held a mass and prayer service in solidarity with first responders and Catholics in Paris and around the world.  Both organizations have a deep connection to Paris, and to Notre Dame, as the Miraculous Medal now housed at the Shrine in Germantown was first revealed to St. Catherine Laboure in 1830 in Paris.

During the service, Fr. John Freund, CM, spoke about the Vincentians’ deep roots in the Catholic Church in France. The French flag was displayed near The Miraculous Medal Shrine until the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral, and music was played to salute Notre Dame on the church’s bells after the mass.

With reverence to the power of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal to answer prayers, those gathered offered prayers for both the recovery of Notre Dame Cathedral and those affected by the terrorist attacks on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka.