Tea at Trianon: Tony Benkovic's funeral

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, April 20, 2007

Tony Benkovic's funeral

Heidi Hess-Saxton, editor of Canticle Magazine, has a moving account of the funeral of Johnette Benkovic's husband Tony, who recently passed to his eternal reward. There is also a website comemmorating Mr. Benkovic's life. May he rest in peace.

I have been reading the latest Canticle and I encourage all women to subscribe to this wonderful, inspiring periodical. I am impressed with the quality of the writing, the depth of the spirituality, and the earthy wisdom in its pages as Catholic ladies minister to each other as true sisters in Christ. Share

2 comments:

Anonymous said...: I do enjoy Canticle magazine. One can subscribe at 1-800-558-5452. Also enjoyed an article by you, Elena, in the March/April 2007 issue; April 21, 2007 at 1:04:00 AM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Thank you! I will be having other articles there in the next few months.; April 21, 2007 at 8:28:00 AM EDT