Monday began for most of us just like it always does. I was late for work, again. Dashed out, forgetting breakfast and to brush my hair, but the kids I teach didn’t seem to notice (or if they did, were cute enough to let it slide). It wasn’t until I was pulling back into my driveway that I got the text.

“I’m devastated! God help us.”

New From Remnant TV...

From the Editor’s Desk, Michael Matt examines the Holy Week symbolism of the French rooster. which the whole world saw plunge into the flames of Notre Dame. Was that an evil omen, or a good one?

Plus, an old and prophetic French holy card surfaces, which depicts the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Cathedral of Notre Dame in flames.

The procession of the Crucifixion was headed by a trumpeter, who sounded his trumpet at every street corner and proclaimed the execution. Some paces behind him came a crowd of boys and other rude fel­lows, carrying drink, cords, nails, wedges, and bas­kets of tools of all kinds, while sturdy servant men bore poles, ladders, and the trunks belonging to the crosses of the thieves. The crown of thorns, which it was impossible to leave on during the carriage of the cross, was taken from Christ's head and placed on the end of a pole, which this lad now carried over his shoulder.

And next came Our Lord and Redeemer, bowed down under the heavy weight of the cross, bruised, torn with scourges, exhausted, and tottering.

New from Remnant TV...

This RTV Short uses happier images from Remnant Tours in Paris to pay homage to Our Lady's cathedral, which yesterday was engulfed in flames so completely that many thought she would surely burn to the ground.

Evidently, Our Lady had other ideas. After Parisians watched her burn, rosaries in hand last evening, they awoke this morning to find the old Cathedral miraculously still standing, the Crown of Thornes rescued, the famous rose windows, pieta and organ saved. The Godless world had looked on in horror as one of Catholicism's most important symbols went up in smoke and, incredibly, they wept.

Update: Since first posting this report of the fire at Notre Dame, the situation is obviously much worse now, as the old Cathedral is burning out of control. Who or what is behind this unthinkable tragedy remains to be seen and is not for us about which to speculate. For the moment in all of its horror, we can only offer our prayers, thoughts and tears to our French brothers and sisters who, in many ways, are watching part of themselves burn to the ground. Along with them, we are devastated beyond words. Notre Dame, Reine de France, priez pour nous tous. MJM 

Benedict XVI in 2010 (Photo: L'Osservatore Romano)

Benedict XVI’s April letter on the crisis in the Church is not easily critiqued or, indeed, categorized. First of all, he’s not the pope, and so it's natural for one to wonder what the point of the exercise actually was.

On the other hand, as Francis continues to severely undermine what’s left of the Catholic Church, should Benedict be faulted for trying to do something meaningful in the face a crisis no one in Rome seems ready to even adequately address, much less seriously confront?  

Abby Johnson, Former Director of Planned Parenthood,
Catholic Mother of 8, Author of "Unplanned"

“Abortion was a product Planned Parenthood was selling, not an unfortunate necessity they were fighting to decrease.” - Abby Johnson

The early financial success of the movie Unplanned, has the abortion horde and especially those at Planned Parenthood reeling in contempt. A concerted effort to censor and suppress the film by Twitter that suspended the movie’s account the day Unplanned was released (along with other media outlets that refused to run advertisements) is nothing new.

New from Remnant TV. . . 

From ‘The Editor’s Desk,’ Michael J. Matt points to the decline of law and order in the streets of America and Europe, and asks the question: Did the Enlightenment actually enlighten anyone? 

Do you feel liberated these days, spied on 24/7 by 13,000 sattelites in space and hundreds of thousands of surveillance cameras in the streets of the world?

Do you think the Spanish Inquisition could have been somehow worse than what’s happening today in Europe?

It is the most intriguing and unique relic of its kind and the longstanding irony is – there are legions of professed Christians who have no idea what it is, or that it even exists.

The Shroud of Turin is revered as the sacred burial cloth of Jesus Christ and is arguably the most important archaeological artifact ever found.

The image on the cloth is like a photographic negative exposed to light that is a detailed portrait of a crucified man. The historical specifics include the multitude of gashes from the scourging, the flow of blood, the presence of Pontius Pilate coins on the eyes, the wounds on the wrists and not the hands, the presence of a pony-tail running down the man’s back, bits of pollen that are unique to the region around Jerusalem are all remarkably accurate.  

Photo: Walter Matt

As The Remnant’s various expansion projects (which your support of The Remnant has financed) move forward, I’m pleased to announce the completion of one of them: Our new website for the Official U.S. Chapter of the Pilgrimage to Chartres, France, is now live and online.

The Paris/Chartres Pilgrimage is a three-day walk from Paris to Chartres, France. Pilgrims are organized into "chapters" of 20-60 pilgrims. This famous pilgrimage--walked by saints (such as Joan of Arc) and kings (such as Louis IX)--is actually the first sixty-five miles of the old French starting point on the great Camino de Santiago de Compostela (in Spain).