Tea at Trianon: Relics

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 26, 2007

Relics

Fr. Blake has a beautiful, concise explanation of the Church's veneration of relics. As Father says:

The use of relics has some, although limited, basis in sacred Scripture. In 2 Kings 2:9-14, the prophet Elisha picked up the mantle of Elijah after Elijah had been taken up to heaven in a whirlwind. With this Elisha struck the water of the Jordan, which then parted so that he could cross. In another passage (13:20-21), some people hurriedly bury a dead man in the grave of Elisha, "but when the man came in contact with the bones of Elisha, he came back to life and rose to his feet." In the Acts of the Apostles we read, "Meanwhile, God worked extraordinary miracles at the hands of Paul. When handkerchiefs or cloths which had touched his skin were applied to the sick, their diseases were cured and evil spirits departed from them" (19:11-12). In these three passages, a reverence was given to the actual body or clothing of these very holy people who were indeed God's chosen instruments—Elijah, Elisha and St. Paul. Indeed, miracles were connected with these "relics"—not that some magical power existed in them, but just as God's work was done through the lives of these holy men, so did His work continue after their deaths. Likewise, just as people were drawn closer to God through the lives of these holy men, so did they (even if through their remains) inspire others to draw closer even after their deaths. This perspective provides the Church's understanding of relics. Share

1 comment:

Vara said...: This reminds me of two incidents in my life. One, was in Jerusalem before the partially-incorrupt relics of Ss Yelizaveta and Varvara the New Martyrs in the Russian Convent on the Mount of Olives. Upon entry, there was an odour a tad out of the ordinary and a "feeling" of a place "set apart" (I am sorry. Words are failing me, forgive me.). The only thing I found that I could do was prostrate myself in veneration before the shrines (I also wept, and was unable to speak in their presence, I am afraid). I pressed my chotki to the cover of the shrines, and I treasure it to this day.

The second was in an a rather ordinary-looking parish church in one of the working-class suburbs of Moscow. This parish was exceptionally alive, and I remarked on that to my host. She took me by the hand, and said, "Come and see the source of all this". She stopped at the shrine of one of the New Martyrs (I confess I forgot which one, it was a minor figure (that is, if one can ever call a martyr "minor"!)). These people have the privlege of attending liturgy in a church which contatins the relics of one who gave their blood for Christ. It DOES make a difference.

I apologise for my lack of detail, but I find that I cannot describe the feeing of being in the presence of the relics of the holy martyrs adequately or well. One has the experience, and it is St Paul's "words cannot express what I saw and felt there".

Pray for this sinner.

Vara; September 26, 2007 at 5:33:00 PM EDT