Tea at Trianon: Bl. Julia Rodzińska, OP, Martyr

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 1, 2016

Bl. Julia Rodzińska, OP, Martyr

From Catholic Saints Guy:

Sister and some others had to go live with some local Vincentian Sisters (their order was founded by St. Vincent de Paul). Furthermore she was now effectively unemployed. She sought out odd jobs with local Polish families, but this coincided with the Nazi occupation, and many of these homes were destitute.

Making matters worse, the Nazis largely forced the Church underground. Gaining access to the sacraments became increasingly difficult. Monks, bishops, priests, and Sisters were arrested. Many were either executed outright or sent to a slow death in concentration camps. Retired priests found their pension from the local diocese cut off.

Furthermore, after conquering Poland, the Nazis had made teaching Polish culture illegal, so the community’s traditions and foundation were in jeopardy.

Thus it was with great courage and using the skills she had learned over the years, Sister went around secretly teaching children and youth the Polish language, history, and religion. She also conducted humanitarian activities by getting food for destitute retired priests and arranging for lay families to take in these men.

In July 1943, however, on charges of political activities and aiding Polish partisans, the Gestapo arrested and imprisoned her in Lukiškės Prison in central Vilnius, the site of many mass executions of Poles during WWII. There she was placed in solitary confinement in what amounted to a pitch black, cold, damp, cement closet. The air supply was insufficient, and she got cramps because she had no room to fully stretch her limbs. This went on for a year, and she received much harsher treatment than others in her cell block. (Read more.)