Tea at Trianon: Saint Catherine and Saint Joan of Arc

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

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Saint Catherine and Saint Joan of Arc

St. Catherine of Alexandria is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. To quote:

Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret had rich crowns on their heads. They spoke well and fairly, and their voices are beautiful--sweet and soft. The name by which they often named me was Jehanne the Maid, Child of God. They told me that my King would be restored to his Kingdom, despite his enemies. They promised to lead me to Paradise.~ Jehanne La Pucelle

lara77 said...: What has always puzzled me was if God did place in Joan's hands the strength to drive out the English from the Kingdom of France why did He ignore the prayers of King Louis XVI? I certainly don't know God's plans but when you think of all the death and destruction in France from Louis XVI's murder to the fall of Napoleon; it is frightening. I also think of the leaders of the Third French Republic who after passing laws against the Catholic Church knelt in Notre Dame pleading with God to save them from Hitler's panzers. Maybe someday God will reveal to us mere mortals His divine plan.; March 30, 2011 at 8:39:00 AM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Lara honey, the mind of God is so far beyond us that we will not know until Heaven the reason for things happening the way they did. I do know that Our Lord appeared to St. Margaret Mary in the 1600's and told her that the King of France must consecrate the kingdom to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in order to prevent a terrible revolution. The consecration was never made although Louis XVI made it as best as he could while under house arrest at the Tuileries. Perhaps because of the King's prayers things were not as bad as they might have been (hard to imagine but still....) Also, the faith was restored to France and many great French saints were given to the world during the century that followed.; March 30, 2011 at 9:00:00 AM EDT
lara77 said...: You are right Elena Maria; who among us can contemplate God's mind? The nation did give birth to so many great saints and founders of religious orders. I guess though the governments changed quite often in France; the faith and heritage of many French People would never change.; March 30, 2011 at 9:53:00 AM EDT