His journey’s just begun

Don’t think of him as gone away
his journey’s just begun,
life holds so many facets
this earth is only one.

Just think of him as resting
from the sorrows and the tears
in a place of warmth and comfort
where there are no days and years.

Think how he must be wishing
that we could know today
how nothing but our sadness
can really pass away.

And think of him as living
in the hearts of those he touched…
for nothing loved is ever lost
and he was loved so much.

Ellen Brenneman

As I entered the church I heard some beautiful choral music from a male quartet. It was all too brief but it has left a lasting memory…

The Basilique Saint-Nazaire-et-Saint-Celse de Carcassonne was formerly the cathedral of Carcassonne. In 1801 it was replaced by the present Carcassonne Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Michel de Carcassonne).

The present church is in origin a Romanesque of the 11th century, consecrated by Pope Urban II in 1096. It was built on the site of a Carolingian cathedral, of which no traces now remain. The crypt too, despite its ancient appearance, dates from the new construction. The church was enlarged between 1269 and 1330 in the Gothic style then predominant in France, largely at the expense of the Bishop of Carcassonne, Pierre de Rochefort.

The exterior was largely renewed by Viollet-le-Duc, while the interior has largely remained the Gothic original.