Tea at Trianon: St. Geneviève

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, January 3, 2009

St. Geneviève

Today is the feast of Saint Geneviève, Patroness of Paris. She was a virgin consecrated to God from her earliest childhood, and displayed wisdom and courage. She guided kings, fed and taught the poor, worked miracles, cast out demons and courageously withstood the Franks and Atila the Hun. She encouraged the people of Paris to pray and do penance in order to avert the plague. She died in 512 and her tomb was for centuries a sight of pilgrimage and healings for all of France. Louis XV began to build a new church in her honor in 1764 after he was healed through her intercession. During the Revolution the church was converted into a pagan temple called the Pantheon. Most of the Saint's relics were destroyed in 1791.

Catherine Delors said...: Thanks for remembering Paris's patroness, Elena! True, most of her remains were destroyed during the Revolution, but a shrine at the nearby Church of Saint-Etienne-du-Mont still contains some relics. John Paul II prayed there during his visit to France.

And now the Pantheon is not only a burial place, but it contains a wonderful series of life-size paintings by Puvis de Chavannes, dedicated to Saint Genevieve, in particular honoring her religious and political role as a friend of Clovis and Clothilde. A tribute worthy of an amazing woman.; January 3, 2009 at 5:18:00 PM EST
elena maria vidal said...: I am so glad her relics are still in existence. Thank you for reminding us of those beautiful wall-paintings, Catherine, which I remember being inspired by as a young girl!; January 4, 2009 at 12:31:00 AM EST
Susan said...: Thanks to Catherine for reminding us that the Pantheon has such a wonderful collection of paintings dedicated to St. Genevieve.

Thanks Elena for these columns and the wonderful job you do supporting Marie Antoinette.

Susan; January 4, 2009 at 6:50:00 PM EST
lara77 said...: I remember seeing a statue in Paris dedicated to Admiral Coligny(Protestant who was murdered during the religious wars); the memorial inscribed how intolerance allowed this to happen. I wonder how many memorials are inscribed throughout Paris describing the intolerance and barbarism of the republic especially toward churches and cemeteries??; January 6, 2009 at 8:13:00 AM EST