The relic of the crown of thorns was returned to Notre Dame in Paris on Friday last week, five years after it was saved from the devastating fire which almost completely destroyed the cathedral.
The crown - a band of branches encased in a circular tube - was carried back to its home in a ceremony presided over by Archbishop Laurent Ulrich of Paris and the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, which has served as the crown’s honour guard since 1923.
One of the knights, dressed in a large black cloak with red trim, held the crown of thorns on a red velvet cushion throughout the procession, which involved 400 members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, including 200 knights dressed in white coats marked with the red Jerusalem cross.
