Tea at Trianon: Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

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

Monday, July 16, 2007

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

Here is a beautiful post about Our Lady and Carmel. A blessed feast to all!

(Picture is the Carmelite Madonna of Our Lady Mother of Grace)

Anonymous said...: Thank you so much for posting this novena and the associated plenary indulgence! It was a lovely experience. The readings you provided for each day were wonderful.

This morning, my family and I were all vested with the brown scapular, so this feast day is now especially meaningful to us. It would be great regardless but to be vested on the actual the feast day of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel is wonderful. The lovely priest who said Mass mentioned that he happened to be born at a hospital named Our Lady of Mt. Carmel! How funny. Our parish church is also under her patronage.

If you are willing to share more about being a member of the Secular Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel , I would love to learn about it.; July 16, 2007 at 7:29:00 PM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Thanks, Margaret. I will write about being a secular Carmelite in the next few days. I have just been made formation director for the little Carmelite community I belong to, so please pray for me!; July 16, 2007 at 7:43:00 PM EDT
wendybirde said...: Hi Elena,

I echo Margaret here, i would really love to hear more about your personal experience with the Carmelite order, i have always been deeply drawn there.

Hope you had a very blessed feastday : )

Paix,

Wendy; July 17, 2007 at 4:27:00 PM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Thanks, Wendy, I had a wonderful feast day with good friends on the mountain.; July 17, 2007 at 6:41:00 PM EDT
drink of the stream said...: Thanks, Elena Maria, for posting the novena. I thought you and your readers might enjoy this article written by a Carmelite Friar (from the Province of Venice Italy) and published in the English edition of Communio a few years back. If you can't access it here you can read it in the Archives section of the Communio website. Father Antonio is also the founder of the Ecclesial Carmelite Movement.

Antonio Maria Sicari *PDF file*
Ecclesial Movements: A New Framework for Ancient Charisms; July 18, 2007 at 8:43:00 PM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Thank you, I would like very much to read it.; July 18, 2007 at 8:58:00 PM EDT