Tea at Trianon: Embrace Today

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

Monday, November 4, 2019

Embrace Today

From Patti Maguire Armstrong at Catholic Lane:

"Don’t let the demons of yesterday ruin the blessings of today,” An exorcist once told me during an interview. Exorcists understand how the devil invades lives and steals away peace and holiness. They also know that the people they help have a past they would like to forget and a future that might loom large and intimidating before them. Simply wanting peace is no guarantee we will not walk around like a ball of regret, stress, and worry. Finding it is the challenge.

Since I hate stress and am also the mother of ten children, I do my best to eliminated it from my life. At this point, the youngest is going to be a senior in high school and we now have 9 grandchildren. Oh, I know stress., whether it’s regrets, worry, or just a lot of commotion. Occasionally, I do have those middle of the night worry sessions, but for the most part, I work hard at eliminating stress. Here is how:

Go to Confession to settle up with God and restore friendship with him. You are sorry and God is merciful—a match made in heaven. “Only God can forgive sin. In imparting to his apostles his own power to forgive sins, the Lord also gives them the authority to reconcile sinners with the Church…. “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven,” (CCC 1444). Everyone has regrets. For help to let go of any resistant guilt, consider that the ex-satanic priest Bartolos Longo, converted, lived a holy life and was beatified in 1980. No one’s sins are bigger than God’s mercy. (Read more.)