Tea at Trianon: O Rex Gentium

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

Saturday, December 22, 2007

O Rex Gentium

O King of nations, and their desired One, and the cornerstone that makes both one; come and save man whom thou formed out of earth. Share

4 comments:

Anonymous said...: Friday’s Homily during the Mass on EWTN discussed the O Antiphons, and their significance.; December 22, 2007 at 12:01:00 PM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Now how did I miss that?; December 22, 2007 at 2:55:00 PM EST
Anonymous said...: EMV, if you click on Today's Homily on this page (top left), you may be able to access it. When I clicked on "Watch," it was for Friday's Mass.

Btw, I found a cream beret. Gosh, this is going to take some getting used to--I've been under the delusion that I look life-like enough to pull off a beret look, lol. Anyway, thank you for praying me into finding one--I'll try it out at Mass tomorrow, but did you ever find that DVD you were looking for?; December 23, 2007 at 12:12:00 AM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Thanks, JustMe! The beret sounds very cute! Alas, St. Anthony is taking his time finding our Narnia DVD.;-); December 23, 2007 at 11:43:00 AM EST