- Feb 5, 2002
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PARIS (OSV News) — In December 2023, Christophe Grunenwald, a knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem since 2000, was given a special task of representing his order at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. His task is in fact a major duty — he is responsible for watching over Jesus Christ’s crown of thorns when it is on display.
“I have a long history with this crown,” he told OSV News. “My mother used to take us to pray in front of it at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on Good Friday, when I was a little boy, 60 years ago.”
The crown of thorns takes the form of a circle, 8.3 inches in diameter. It is the most precious of the relics in Notre Dame’s treasury. It was saved from the flames on the evening of the cathedral fire April 15, 2019, by the Parisian fire brigade’s chaplain, Father Jean-Marc Fournier.
It is believed that the artifact contains actual pieces of the crown worn by Jesus ahead of his crucifixion.
Since the April 2019 inferno, the famous Louvre museum has been the crown’s temporary home, where the relic arrived along with other objects from Notre Dame’s treasury: monstrances, chalices, reliquaries, crosses and sacred vessels. Louvre’s teams of experts took charge of cleaning and restoring them. From October 2023 to this January, they organized a special exhibition to showcase them.
But the crown of thorns was not part of the exhibition. “It is not a work of art, but an object of veneration,” Grunenwald pointed out. “All these objects are prestigious, but none is as valuable as the crown of thorns.”
Continued below.
www.oursundayvisitor.com
“I have a long history with this crown,” he told OSV News. “My mother used to take us to pray in front of it at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on Good Friday, when I was a little boy, 60 years ago.”
The crown of thorns takes the form of a circle, 8.3 inches in diameter. It is the most precious of the relics in Notre Dame’s treasury. It was saved from the flames on the evening of the cathedral fire April 15, 2019, by the Parisian fire brigade’s chaplain, Father Jean-Marc Fournier.
It is believed that the artifact contains actual pieces of the crown worn by Jesus ahead of his crucifixion.
Since the April 2019 inferno, the famous Louvre museum has been the crown’s temporary home, where the relic arrived along with other objects from Notre Dame’s treasury: monstrances, chalices, reliquaries, crosses and sacred vessels. Louvre’s teams of experts took charge of cleaning and restoring them. From October 2023 to this January, they organized a special exhibition to showcase them.
But the crown of thorns was not part of the exhibition. “It is not a work of art, but an object of veneration,” Grunenwald pointed out. “All these objects are prestigious, but none is as valuable as the crown of thorns.”
Guarded by knights
Continued below.
The astonishing history of Jesus' crown of thorns
In December 2023, Christophe Grunenwald, a knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem since 2000, was given a special task of representing his order at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. His task is in fact a major duty -- he is responsible for watching over Jesus Christ's...
www.oursundayvisitor.com
