“The fifth structure, finally, built in the reign of Philippe Auguste, when Regnault de Moucon was Bishop of Chartres, is that we still see; it was consecrated on the 17th of October, 1260, in the presence of Saint Louis.  This again has passed through the fire.  In 1506 the northern spire was struck by lightning; the structure was of wood covered with lead; a terrific storm raged from six in the evening till four in the morning, fanning the fire to such violence that the six bells were melted like cakes of wax.  The flames were, however kept within limits, and the church was refitted.  But the scourge returned many times; in 1539, in 1573, and in 1589 lightning fell on the new belfry.  Then a century elapsed before the visitation was repeated; in 1701 the same spire was struck again.

“It then stood uninjured till 1825, when a thunder-bolt fell and shook it severely on Whit Monday while the Magnificat was being chanted at Vespers.

“Finally, on the 4th of June, 1836, a tremendous fire broke out, caused by the carelessness of two plumbers working under the roof.  It lasted eleven hours, and destroyed all the timbers, the whole forest that supported the roof; it was by a miracle that the church was not entirely consumed in this fury of fire.”

“You must allow, Monsieur, that there is something strange in this disaster without respite.”

“Yes, and what is still more strange,” said the Abbe Gevresin, “Is the persistency of fire from heaven, bent on destroying it.”

“How do you account for that?” asked Durtal.

“Sebastien Rouillard, the author of Parthenie, believes that these visitations were permitted as a punishment for certain sins, and he insinuates that the conflagration of the third Cathedral was justified by the misconduct of some pilgrims who at that time slept in the nave, men and women together.  Others believe that the Devil, who can command the lightning, was bent on suppressing this sanctuary at any cost.”

“But why, then, did not the Virgin protect Her particular church more effectually?”

“You may observe that She has several times preserved it from being utterly reduced to cinders; however, it is, all the same, very strange when we remember that Chartres is the first place where the Virgin was worshipped in France.  It goes back to Messianic times, for, long before Joachim’s daughter was born, the Druids had erected, in the cave which has become our crypt, an altar to the Virgin who should bear a child—­Virgini Pariturae.  They, by a sort of grace, had intuitive foreknowledge of a Saviour whose Mother should be spotless; thus it would seem that at Chartres, above all places, there are very ancient bonds of affection with Mary.  This makes it very natural that Satan should be bent on breaking them.”

“Do you know,” said Durtal, “that this grotto is prefigured in the Old Testament by a human structure of almost official character?  In her “Life of Our Lord,” that exquisite visionary, Catherine Emmerich, tells us that there was, hard by Mount Carmel, a grotto with a well, near which Elias saw a Virgin; and it was to this spot, she says, that the Jews who expected the Advent of the Redeemer made pilgrimages many times a year.