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The one called the holy chapel, Sainte-Chapelle, which was so rich,
Robert writes, and so noble, that there was not a hinge nor a band nor
any other part such as is usually made of iron that was not all of silver.
And there was no column that was not of jasper or porphyry, or
some other rich precious stone.
And the pavement of this chapel, was of a white marble, so
smooth and clear, that it seemed to be of crystal.
And this chapel was so rich and
so noble, that no one could ever tell you its great beauty and nobility.
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Through the relics assembled in the Saint-Chapelle,
Paris became a sacred landscape, a new Holy Land.
The reliquary which housed them, was a recreation of the Temple of Solomon,
the place of God's covenant with the Jews.
In 1239, seven years before the building of the Sainte-Chapelle,
Pope Gregory IX stated that the son of God has established different
kingdoms according to the divisions of languages and races.
In this, just as it was Judah among the patriarch's sons
whose tribe was taken up to receive special blessing.
So the kingdom of France is distinguished above all other peoples of the world,
by being singled out for honor and grace by the Lord.
The Sainte-Chapelle, a new temple on the mount,
played a role in the legitimizing of the Capetian monarchy.
Whose kings were anointed with oil from a holy vial
inscribed in the line of David and Saul.
The Chronicle of Saint Denis contains the following account of the descent of
the holy vial of oil to France.
When shortly afterward Clovis, in 496 set out for
the church for baptism, St. Remi prepared a great procession.
The streets of Rheims were hung with banners and tapestry, the church was
decorated, the baptistry was covered with balsams and all sorts of perfumes.
The people believed they were already breathing the delights of paradise.
The cortege set out from the palace, the clergy led the way bearing
the holy Gospels, the cross and banners chanting hymns and psalms.
Then came the bishop, leading the King by the hand,
next the Queen with the multitude.
Whilst on the way the King asked of the bishop,
if this was the Kingdom of Heaven which he had promised him?
Not so, replied the prelate, it is the road which leads to it.
When in the church in the act of bestowing baptism,
the holy pontiff lifted his eyes to Heaven in silent prayer and wept.
Straight away a dove white as snow,
descended bearing in his beak a vial of holy oil.
A delicious odor exhaled from it which intoxicated those nearby
with an inexpressible delight.
The holy bishop took the vial, and suddenly the dove vanished.
Transported with the joy at the sight of this notable miracle, the King renounced
Satan, his pomps and his works, and demanded with earnestness the baptism.
At the moment when he bent his head over the fountain of life, the eloquent pontiff
cried, bow down thine head, fierce Sicambrian.
Adore that which thou hast burned, burn which thou hast adored.
And just as the crown of thorns can be found today in Notre Dame in Paris,
the little vial of oil brought by a dove from Heaven at the end of the 5th
century can still be found in the museum next to the cathedral at Reims.
Howard BlochSterling Professor of French
