Tea at Trianon: The Source of Art and Beauty

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

Friday, January 1, 2021

The Source of Art and Beauty

From John Horvat at The Catholic Thing:

Paris is the City of Light, full of spectacle, beauty, and art. Yet in these dreary times of coronavirus lockdown, the theaters and concert halls are silent and dark. Artistic beauty finds no refuge from the draconian restrictions that constrain the body and stifle the soul.

The New York Times culture critic in Paris, Laura Cappelle, recently sought to fill the cultural void. She found solace in what she called the only authentic cultural event now re-allowed by authorities – the Catholic Mass. Indeed, she claims the Catholic Mass expressed by tradition in the city’s magnificent churches is the only setting where art can repose unperturbed. It is “the only show in town.”

Of course, the Mass is not a show, but there is something profound about her affirmation. The Church teaches that the Mass is an act of worship by which Catholics fulfill their obligation to adore God. Many times, the faithful do not realize the sublime beauty or the cultural richness expressed by the Mass. Sometimes it takes the eyes of an avowed nonbeliever to help worshipers appreciate the treasures in their midst.

Traditionally, the Church has done everything possible to appeal to humanity’s aesthetic sense. The primary aim of liturgy is God’s public worship, but that activity also produces intense beauty. Before modern innovations intervened, the Church’s ancient liturgies were spectacles of poetic expression and solemn ritual.

Everything liturgical has meaning and purpose that teaches the truths of the Faith with great dignity and seriousness. Choral arrangements are composed having in mind heavenly joys, not earthly bliss. The Church understood that the beauty of her liturgy was an occasion for grace to act upon souls so that they might better know, love, and serve the Blessed Trinity. (Read more.)