Tea at Trianon: Pius XII and the Olivet Discourse

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

Sunday, April 10, 2016

Pius XII and the Olivet Discourse

From Unveiling the Apocalypse:

As most readers are aware, one of the central arguments of the first version of my book (which has been furthered throughout this blog) is that the world wars which took place over the course of the 20th century were directly related to the "wars and rumours of wars" mentioned by Christ in His Olivet discourse as being one of the birth pangs of the Second Coming. These wars are said to take place when "the end is not yet", but would ultimately result in a major falling away from the faith: "because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold". (Matt 24:12). It is well enough known that both Benedict XV and Pius XII shared the belief that the wars which took place throughout the courses of their respective pontificates were the ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy. As Pope Benedict XV famously stated in his 1914 encyclical Ad Beatissimi Apostolorum: "Certainly those days would seem to have come upon us of which Christ Our Lord foretold: "You shall hear of wars and rumours of wars - for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom" (Matt. xxiv, 6, 7). Another quote by Pius XII is frequently cited to confirm that he shared this belief: “We believe that the present hour is a dread phase of the events foretold by Christ. It seems that darkness is about to fall on the world. Humanity is in the grip of a supreme crisis.” (Read more.)