Jean-Marc Fournier, the chaplain of the Paris Fire Brigade, had been at the Arc de Triomphe for its annual Holy Monday ceremony honoring military chaplains of the past, but the day quickly turned dark when he saw a plume of black smoke rising from the city. He checked his phone, which was filled with dozens of messages telling him Notre Dame was burning, and he immediately rushed to the cathedral to help.

Speaking with the French Catholic magazine Famille Chrétienne, Fournier said when he rushed to Notre Dame and saw the fire raging, “We quickly focused on the priority: the Relics of the Passion and the Blessed Sacrament.” The Crown of Thorns is said to have been worn by Jesus on the cross, and the Blessed Sacrament is the central part of every Catholic Mass. Catholics believe that when the bread is consecrated it becomes what is known as the “real presence” — the actual “body of Christ.”