Par
Jean-Marc Aubert
Published on
Dec 11 2024 at 6:14 p.m.
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The fire on the roof of thechurch of Saint-François including Assisiat the corner of Boulevard de Strasbourg and Rue des Aiguerelles, between the Saint-Roch SNCF station and the police headquarters, Montpellier was about to be brought under control, this Wednesday, December 11, 2024, at 4 p.m., according to the prefecture of Hérault. The Sdis 34 confirmed that the fire which had been smoldering, before growing slowly since 9:30 a.m., was no longer progressing. However, a large area burned.
It therefore took more than six hours for the hundred or so Hérault firefighters with great resources, under the direction of the general controller Éric Florèsdepartmental director, to stop the advance of the flames, which started accidentally while workers were carrying out waterproofing work.
An expert in fire causes, the technical and scientific police and the local judicial police service -Slpj- of the central police station will launch their investigations as soon as the temperature has dropped in the building.
It was a trader located opposite the church, on the Place Carnot side, who saw acrid smoke rising from part of the roof, a little before 9:30 a.m. this Wednesday. He warned the parish priest, Father P.Guilhem Knockaert who was there, who quickly alerted the firefighters when he discovered the start of the fire.
The Virgin Mary saved
The emergency for the “soldiers of fire” was to save the relics, the works, the objects of art and the jewel, the Virgin Mary, whose statue was able to be preserved thanks to the private company Razel- Bec from Saint-Georges-d'Orques with the appropriate equipment. The long operation by the firefighters, who set up a command post on site with officers from Sdis 34, was followed by many onlookers, including local faithful.
At 6 p.m., depending on TaM 3Mline 11 buses were still diverted due to the closure of Boulevard de Strasbourg to traffic and stops were not served.
This fire leaves significant damage, but it will certainly not take five years, as for Notre-Dame de Paris, for the work to progress.
Who are the patron saints?
The poor man of Assisi, Francis and the bishop of Geneva, François de Salles are the patron saints of our parish and are located on either side of a sculpture evoking creation. In the center, the vine is the illustration of the words of Jesus: “I am the vine”. All around, creation: the Couple and the Child, animals and a man who fixes his gaze on the vine…
Man is called among all creatures to dialogue with the Word of God, Jesus, through whom everything is created, it is indicated. The sculptor who worked on Christ, the High Altar, the Lectern, the torchère as well as the Baptistery and the Burning Bush is Patrick Boutillier de Saint-André is an honorary professor at the Beaux Arts in Aix-en-Provence with a art gallery in Lunel and living in Castelnau-le-Lez, at the Maison de Vulcain.
A boat sail
The Heptaméron is a stained glass window from the Workshops of the Abbey of En Calcat (Tarn) and Laurent Giagnorio (Montpellier). The large northwest bay of the church of Saints Francis has clearly the shape of a boat sail. To make a stained glass window, it was therefore necessary to take the wind, the breath, to receive the Spirit… The very strong verticality of the bay highlights the ascent, the call to climb higher which is played out for every man in this succession of days.
The Stations of the Cross in the Church of Saints Francis are made of lava slabs encrusted with enamel. It was made by Benedictine sisters from La Rochette Abbey in Belmont-Tramonet in Isère. It is displayed on the wall to the right of the altar and can be followed, when a meditation is organized, thanks to a projector and a specially made sound recording. You can also follow this Stations of the Cross, images and sound, on the church website, thanks to the original creation of a parishioner “The craziest love story! “.
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