Tea at Trianon: Holy Year of Mercy

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, March 21, 2015

Holy Year of Mercy

From Aleteia:

On the second anniversary of his election, Pope Francis today announced the celebration of an extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy, beginning on December 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and the 50th anniversary of the closing of Vatican II.

The surprise announcement came at a penitential liturgy celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica Friday evening, as Pope Francis opened the Lenten prayer initiative “24 Hours for the Lord.” The Holy Father said the celebration of this “Jubilee of Mercy,” also called an “extraordinary Holy Year,” will commence with the opening of the Holy Door of the basilica and “will conclude on November 20, 2016, the Sunday of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe and living Face of the the Father’s mercy.”

Addressing the faithful, the Pope said: “Dear brothers and sisters, I have often thought about how the Church might render more evident her mission to be a witness to mercy.

“It is a journey that begins with spiritual conversion,” he said. “That is why I have decided to announce an extraordinary Jubilee centered on God’s mercy. It will be a Holy Year of Mercy. We want to live in the light of the Lord’s word: ‘Be merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful’ (cf. Lk 6:36).” The Pope then added: “this is especially true for confessors.”

In Christian tradition, a year of Jubilee is a time of joy, remission or universal pardon. The Vatican points out that the opening of this “Jubilee of Mercy” will take place on the 50th anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council in 1965.

Pope Francis has entrusted the organization of the Holy Year to the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization.

The last “ordinary Jubilee” year was in 2000, when Pope St. John Paul II held the “Great Jubilee” which was likewise a celebration of the mercy of God and forgiveness of sins. The most recent extraordinary Holy Years were those in 1933, proclaimed by Pius XI to celebrate 1,900 years of Redemption, and in 1983, proclaimed by John Paul II on the occasion of 1,950 years of Redemption.

The last “ordinary Jubilee” year was in 2000, when Pope St. John Paul II held the “Great Jubilee” which was likewise a celebration of the mercy of God and forgiveness of sins. The most recent extraordinary Holy Years were those in 1933, proclaimed by Pius XI to celebrate 1,900 years of Redemption, and in 1983, proclaimed by John Paul II on the occasion of 1,950 years of Redemption.

In a statement released on Friday, the Vatican explained that, during the Jubilee Year, the Sunday readings for Ordinary Time will be taken from the Gospel of Luke, who is referred to as “the evangelist of mercy”. St. Luke’s Gospel contains many well-known parables of mercy: the lost sheep, the lost coin, the merciful father. (Read more.)