Tea at Trianon: Month of May, Month of Mary

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

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Month of May, Month of Mary

The month of May is traditionally dedicated to the Holy Mother of God. As Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen says in Divine Intimacy:

It is a great comfort on our spiritual way, which is often fatiguing and bristling with difficulties, to meet the gentle presence of a mother. One is so at ease near one's mother. With her, everything becomes easier; the weary, the discouraged heart, disturbed by storms, finds new hope and strength, and continues the journey with fresh courage. Share

4 comments:

Anonymous said...: Blessed month of May to you, dear friend! You would love our monastic garden filled with white roses.; May 1, 2007 at 4:00:00 PM EDT
Ann Murray said...: Our full hearts are swelling,
Our glad voices telling
The praise of the loveliest flower of the vale.; May 1, 2007 at 4:08:00 PM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Oh yes, Don Marco, I am sure I would. White roses are the ones I like the best-- a secret between Little Theresa and me!; May 1, 2007 at 4:09:00 PM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: From a hymn I love, Veritas....; May 1, 2007 at 4:11:00 PM EDT