“A few moments ago, we were on the rue du Colonel Arnaud Beltrame,” recalls Mgr Jacques Benoit-Gonnin, thebishop of Beauvais,, Noyon And Senlis. We recalled the testimony he had given the renunciation to himself and a gift of his life for a hostage and for the security of his fellow citizens. It was not just an act of duty linked to his function … But there was everything, all that was in his heart that was expressed. I hope that this chapel is for us as an invitation and at the same time an opportunity to renew in us the best forces that are in each in each of our hearts. ”
This Saturday, April 12 was inaugurated in LAGNY-LE-SEC Colonel Street Arnaud Beltrame and the chapel of the park. Two great moments of emotions.
The prestigious area
The municipality of Lagny-le-Sec has created an activity and service area called “Prestige”. Of an area of eight hectares, it notably welcomes a multidisciplinary health home Benefiting from a new access route, rue Molière. But to link this “prestige” area to the town center, a second path crossing the area was made, the street which therefore bears the name of Colonel Arnaud Beltrame.
The city of Lagny-le-Sec also wanted to restore and highlight the chapel of the municipal park. “This chapel was built and dedicated to the Virgin Mary,” continues Bishop Jacques Benoit-Gonnin. And we know that the Virgin Mary wants us to be able to welcome, like her, the word of a God who tells us: get up, be free but of a freedom which is for good, which builds good, which does good, which rebuilds good when it was implicated. “
The chapel of the old castle
Regarding the Prestige zone, the work was carried out in two phases. They represent an expense of 2,700,000 euros. The State and the Department have largely participated in the Tour de Table.
Regarding the renovation of the chapel of the old castle, Didier Doucet, both mayor of Lagny-le-Sec and president of the Community of Communes of the Pays de Valois (CCPV), first wanted to recall the necessary decision to destroy the castle that fell in ruins. “But we had at heart, the municipal council and myself, to keep the chapel, the only element whose structure really allowed to be preserved in order to renovate it,” explains the elected official. But also wanted to recreate the imprint of the castle by making an esplanade taking up the contours of the castle, decorating it with a lapidary reusing the most beautiful stones of it. ”
A strong commitment
This project was for elected officials of the essential municipal council in order to keep a trace of what occupied the park for more than a hundred years. “And it was a strong commitment that we had made from our population,” adds Didier Doucet.
“For more than ten years, our country regularly has been undergoing the assaults of a barbarism from another time that plays to our youth, regrets the mayor of Lagny-le-Sec. And this chapel, whether we are or not believers, reminds us that our country, whose millennial Christian history is cement, is never as tall as when it goes beyond, when it clings to something bigger than each of our lives. This chapel will be regularly open. It will thus be a place of passage, break, reflection, prayer, whether or not we believe, in the tumult of the current world. She will complete this esplanade designed as a meeting place, sharing and gathering. ”
“If we hope, we fight. If we fight, we hope “
The most important link between the two inaugurations of this Saturday in Lagny-le-Sec is greatness and hope. “Henri d’Anselme, this young man who, in Annecy, in 2023, was interposed in front of a terrorist armed with a knife, gives us a conclusion full of wisdom:” If we hope, we fight. If we fight, we hope. ”Concludes DIDIDE DOUCT The arrows of the cathedrals give us the direction in their image. You have to get up against mediocrity, fear and pusillanimity, refuse daily slump to re -register in long time. “
