Tea at Trianon: "In the End, My Immaculate Heart Will Triumph"

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, March 19, 2022

"In the End, My Immaculate Heart Will Triumph"

From Vatican News:

The message of Our Lady of Fatima is not intended to satisfy apocalyptic curiosities about the end of the world, but launches a heartfelt appeal for conversion so that humanity may be saved from the selfishness that destroys. At a time marked by devastating wars, Pope Francis will consecrate Russia.
"In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph!" These were the words of Our Lady to the shepherd children of Fatima over 100 years ago, words that give hope in the midst of the clamour of wars. On March 25, Pope Francis will consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. At Wednesday’s General Audience, he prayed intensely for peace: "Lord Jesus, who died in a mother’s arms in a bunker in Kharkiv, have mercy on us… Stop the hand of Cain!” The meekness of prayer overcomes the arrogance of evil.
But even today there are so many wars in the world, often forgotten: in Syria, Yemen, Ethiopia... In Ukraine, the Russian army continues to bomb civilians, refugees, simple people queuing to buy bread; houses, hospitals and churches are hit and devastated. In the bombing of the paediatric hospital in Mariupol, a pregnant woman died with her baby. Wars cause suffering and devastation everywhere. (Read more.)

A review of the 1917 apparitions at Fatima, HERE.

From Mother Adela at Pierced Hearts:

When we speak of a triumph we are also referring to a battle. Triumph signifies the winning of a battle.

The Blessed Virgin in Fatima speaks about the battle we are facing in these times, which includes the general loss of faith, the loss of many souls, wars, and destruction. But the worst war is the loss of faith, as Our Lord says: “Do not fear those who can kill the body, but rather those who can kill the soul” (cf. Matt 10:28). The worst death is that of a soul who loses faith – a soul far from God, far from His love and commandments, drowning in a life of sin, running the risk of eternal condemnation, or rather, eternal death.

This great battle we are waging today, which the Holy Father John Paul II calls the “culture of death,” not only includes the destruction of human life, but also the destruction of the soul. The Virgin Mary offers us Her Heart as a sure refuge, while showing us how in these particular times God has desired for the triumph to come through Her: “Tell all the world that great graces come through the Immaculate Heart of Mary” and “that God has entrusted to the Immaculate Heart the peace and conversion of the world!” (Words of the Virgin Mary in Fatima to Jacinta). When Lucia asked Jesus why the conversion of Russia would be the fruit of its Consecration to the Immaculate Heart, Our Lord responded, “Because I want it to be seen clearly that the triumph is of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and in this way I will spread knowledge and devotion to the Immaculate Heart along with devotion to My Sacred Heart.”

Why the Blessed Virgin’s battle against evil?

From the beginning of the Sacred Scriptures (Genesis 3) until the end (Revelation 12) the Blessed Virgin is revealed as being in enmity and in battle against Satan, his seductions, and his works.

Genesis 3:15: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.” Revelation 12: “A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed in the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars…Then another sign appeared in the sky: a huge red dragon…ready to devour her child when she gave birth….and the woman fled into the desert…the dragon pursued the woman, but the woman was given two wings of the great eagle, so that she could fly to her place in the desert…Then the dragon became angry with the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring, those who keep God’s commandments and bear witness to Jesus” (v. 1-17).

Since the rebellion of Lucifer, the Blessed Virgin plays a most important role in this spiritual battle. When God created Lucifer (the morning star - bearer of light) he created a magnificent creature who participated in his freedom and power. When Lucifer and his angels rebelled, claiming “we will not serve,” it was precisely in response to the announcement of the future event of the Incarnation: God would be made man, born of a woman, by the power of the Holy Spirit. God revealed His plan for the salvation of man from sin. The angels would have to serve God-made-man, His mother and all the redeemed. This he considered a humiliation, and along with his followers, he rebelled, and they were subsequently banished from heaven. Satan, from that moment on, made himself the bearer of darkness, rebellion, lies, pride and arrogance. He became (forever) the enemy of God, the enemy of the woman who brought to the world God-made-man, and the enemy of all Christ’s followers of whom She is spiritual Mother: Her offspring.

“In the salvific design of the Most Holy Trinity, the mystery of the Incarnation constitutes the superabundant fulfillment of the promise made by God to man after original sin, after that first sin whose effects oppress the whole earthly history of man (cf. Gen. 3:15). And so, there comes into the world a Son, ‘the seed of the woman’ who will crush the evil of sin in its very origins…the victory of the woman's Son will not take place without a hard struggle, a struggle that is to extend through the whole of human history. The ‘enmity,’ foretold at the beginning, is confirmed in the Apocalypse (the book of the final events of the Church and the world)… Mary, Mother of the Incarnate Word, is placed at the very center of that enmity, that struggle which accompanies the history of humanity on earth and the history of salvation itself… In this history Mary remains a sign of sure hope” (John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater, 11).

The Blessed Virgin is the response of God to Lucifer. She is the new morning star who brings us the true light; the bearer of salvation; the bearer of the incarnate Word; the new Ark of the Covenant. She is the great sign that appeared in the sky clothed with the sun – shining with the light of Christ, with the moon under Her feet (the moon symbolizing time).

As a mother and queen She has authority over time. Although She lived in time, She is above the vicissitudes of time and is not limited by its condition, but rather has the God-given power to be victorious in the battles we are waging in these particular times and in each particular time. She is crowned as a participant in the true power of Her Son. She is queen of heaven and earth with twelve stars, which symbolize the triumph of the Church in Mary.

Mary’s response, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord” (Lk 1:38) is the perfect response to Lucifer’s cry of, “I will not serve.” Mary’s response to Elizabeth (Lk 1:46-55) – praise, humility, service and mercy – directly opposes that of Satan, who is proud, egotistical, filled with hatred and accusations, and seeks his own glory and autonomy.

In Mary’s perfect cooperation with the salvific plan of God, from the Annunciation unto the Cross, She with Her “fiat,” participates in the “crushing of Satan’s head.” Christ and the heel – which are Mary’s spiritual children, Her descendents – crush the head of the serpent, that is, the root of sin: pride.

The root of the battle is sin. Mary, by being created Immaculate and in virtue of Her Son’s future redemption, has power over the devil and triumphs over his destructive works. She, as Immaculate, was free from original sin and personal sin. Satan never had power over Her – neither over Her mind, Her heart, or of Her actions. Therefore, Our Lady calls us with urgency to an authentic conversion – to renounce sin, indifference, lack of faith, and the rebellion found in men of today. She, like a good mother in this decisive hour, always battles for humanity – this hour in which the eternal salvation of so many, many souls, including our own, is at stake.

Are not all the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin direct interventions of Our Mother, at any given moment, to prevent and protect the Church and humanity from the dangers and tragic consequences caused by lack of conversion? Are not the apparitions of the Virgin a shield against the works and deceptions of the devil, and are they not renewing our faith and prayer? Like a good Mother, She always places Herself in defense of Her children, between the devil and man, to counteract the dark and sinful effects of Satan’s diabolical actions.

Throughout the history of the Church, we have seen these obvious interventions and interferences of the Blessed Virgin Mary, battling and triumphing against the devil in defense of Her children; but never has Her coming to intervene been as in these last centuries. This is understood in light of what St. Louis de Montfort said: as time goes on the battle will intensify. Therefore, Her presence will also be more clearly manifested.

According to St. Louis Marie de Montfort, “God has made an irreconcilable enmity that will last and grow until the end of the world and it is between Mary, his Blessed Mother and the devil. It is between the children and servants of the Virgin and the children and subjects of Lucifer. In fact, the greatest enemy of Satan that God has raised up is Mary, his Blessed Mother, to whom he gave since the beginning of earthly paradise, even though at this point She existed only as a thought in his mind; to whom He gave so much abhorrence to this enemy of God, so much capacity to unmask the evil of this ancient serpent, so much strength to overcome, battle and crush this arrogant monster, who fears her more then all angels and all men, and in a way, even more than God himself” (St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, no.52). (Read more.)