Weep for Notre Dame

"I believe that this church offers the carefully discerning such cause for admiration," the 14th-century French philosopher Jean de Jandun wrote of Notre Dame, "that its inspection can scarcely sate the soul."

A cultural calamity played out on live TV when the Paris cathedral that has been a focal point of Christendom for so long was apparently gutted by a raging fire, destroying a significant part of an inheritance built up over hundreds of years in a few hours.

Notre Dame stands for so many qualities that we now lack -- patience and staying power, the cultivation of beauty, a deep religious...