Tea at Trianon: Jose Sanchez del Rio

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

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Jose Sanchez del Rio

From TFP:

The Mexican constitution of 1917 -- socialist at its core -- sparked this terrible conflict. It put the Church under the strict control of the State: it regulated Catholic preaching, allotted a fixed number of priests per state, dictated Mass attendance, baptisms, weddings, the Sacraments, and tithing. Even the ringing of Church bells was hampered, and prelates caught disobeying these unjust laws were exiled or killed.

The president at the time, Venustiano Carranza, did not immediately enforce the anti-Catholic laws, but showed temporary tolerance. When Plutarco Elías Calles took power in 1920, however, the new constitution was brutally enforced. Calles sent more than two hundred priests into exile, along with a number of archbishops and bishops.

The worst persecution was unleashed by the iniquitous Ley Calles (Calles Law) of July 31, 1926. It prohibited the practice of the Catholic religion in public. All education was removed from the care of the Church and put under direct State control. Religious vows were illegal. Monasteries and convents were dissolved, and religious could no longer use habits. Church property was confiscated.

Moreover, it was illegal for anyone, especially priests, to speak out against the government or the constitution. Priests wishing to exercise their ministry had to ask the State for permission. Frequently, this “permission” was not granted. Finally, those who did not obey these immoral laws were fined or imprisoned. A “serious” or repeated offense often meant execution. (Read more.)