Tea at Trianon: Blessings

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, September 19, 2007

Blessings

Here is an article by Michael Brown about the importance of having blessed objects around one's house. He quotes extensively from Fr. Gabriele Amorth, the chief exorcist at the Vatican. I highly recommend Fr. Amorth's books. Brown says:

Just as a good spirit, and a blessing, can be attached to a holy object, so can a dark force arrive with something that has attracted the wrong kinds of spirits. Such is not superstition. Exorcists -- including leading ones -- will tell you this.

We see in Scripture how blessings could be transferred to a handkerchief (Acts 19:12) and the opposite occurs when something has been the object of obsession.

Often, we have problems in our homes or at work or in our lives and we grow frustrated because we don't recognize where it is coming from -- we never consider the true source. Most often, when there is such a roadblock, it is a spirit in or around a person or place, or around our own beings, but there are times when it is something that has come into our midst and needs to be purified.

"Objects can transmit negativity as well," noted Father Gabriele Amorth, a famous exorcist in Rome (in a book called An Exorcist: More Stories). "When we discover the source objects, it is easy to avoid contact with them or to destroy them."

Anonymous said...: This is fantastic!! I just got some blessed salt - I plan to put it to use tonight! Great suggestions from the article - I will try to remember to bless articles as they enter my home with holy water. It could only help! :); September 19, 2007 at 9:52:00 PM EDT