Tea at Trianon: Behold Your Mother

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, February 16, 2008

Behold Your Mother

Today I had the pleasure of pondering Heidi Hess Saxton's new book, Behold Your Mother. The fruit of prayer and study, this short but poignant series of meditations weaves together quotes from Sacred Scripture and Church documents with poetry and personal anecdotes. Heidi has a straightforward style which effectively communicates profound truths amid the humor and heartbreak of being a modern wife and mother. The experience of being an adoptive parent has given Heidi insight into the maternal mediation of Mary for the adopted children of God that would have been difficult to gain any other way.

Behold Your Mother is an excellent book for quiet meditation. It is made to be shared as well; the chapters are short enough to be read aloud at the dinner table to the entire family during the month of May. Reading it led me to see the Blessed Mother through new eyes. Heidi's reflections can only help to deepen devotion and love for the Holy Mother of God. Share