Tea at Trianon: The Battle is Here and Now

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, August 13, 2016

The Battle is Here and Now

From The Integrated Catholic Life:

The battle isn’t spectacular or dramatic. It is quiet and commonplace. It is found not in public professions of faith with our arms outstretched in front of the firing squad. It is found in the quiet defiance of parental peer pressure that says our kids have to go to certain movies or have certain gadgets. It is not found in secret hiding places. It is found in monitoring the social media use of your sons and daughters, using things like Covenant Eyes to help them be chaste, and being an example to them by your own behavior.

We used to talk about the battle. But we never dreamed it would look so ordinary. Perhaps it would be easier if it were more dramatic. Maybe we would feel like we were doing something if it was spectacular. Instead we feel weighed down by the mundane, like our trivial daily tasks are meaningless. Or we feel helpless like Sisyphus against the rock that is the secularization of culture. We had grand dreams of heroism. But now, in the midst of Honda Odysseys, school lunches, commutes, and coworkers, do we recognize that we are being heroic?

Maybe someday, the battle will be what we pictured. When we hear stories of martyrdoms in France or in Africa, perhaps our vision of an underground Church is not far off. But for now, for those of us raising children, ministering to parishioners, or working in the world, we are called to save the world in much more ordinary ways. The battle is not out there, in some grand last stand. It is in here- in your home, your school, and your workplace. It is fought by raising children who know the love of God because they’ve witnessed it from you. It is fought by resisting the cultural confusion over gender identity and the brainwashing of our minds about the meaning of marriage, family life, and even love. It is fought by persevering in holiness, even when society tells you it’s not worth it because the future is too bleak. (Read more.)