Tea at Trianon: The Call of St. Joan

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

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

The Call of St. Joan

Here is a fascinating article about Bastien-Lepage's painting of St. Joan's mystical call, with her saints peering through the fruit trees. I read somewhere once that St. Joan often heard her voices while the church bells were ringing. She loved for the bells to ring and asked that they be pealed during Compline. Share

2 comments:

Anonymous said...: Off topic again sorry Elena. But did you see the showdown on 'The View' between Rosie and Elisabeth?

I have a snippet from the YouTube of the argument between these two commentators.Plus my own thoughts on it!

I wish Rosie O'Donnell would actually come and READ this blog to find out how a LADY behaves!

Take a peek and let me know?

Yours in Christ,

Marie; May 24, 2007 at 4:48:00 AM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: I will take a peek. I never watch that show, otherwise. But for you, Marie.....; May 24, 2007 at 7:37:00 AM EDT