Tea at Trianon: Fatima, Vatican II, and the Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

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

Tuesday, November 1, 2022

Fatima, Vatican II, and the Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Louis XVI not Louis XIV is the King of France who would "regret it" since Louis XIV died in his bed, but Louis XVI died on the guillotine. From CNA:

The devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary spread widely after the apparitions of Fatima in 1917. The request to consecrate the world to the immaculate heart of Mary was expressed in the second of the three secrets of Fatima.
“When you see a night illuminated by an unknown light, know that it is the great sign that God gives you that he is about to punish the world for its crimes by means of war, hunger, and persecution against the Church and the Holy Father. To prevent it, I will come to ask for the consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart and the reparative Communion on the first Saturdays. If they accept My requests, Russia will be converted, and they will have peace; if not, she will spread her mistakes around the world, promoting wars and persecution of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, and various nations will be destroyed. Finally, My Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, which will be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world.”
On June 13, 1929, Sister Lucia had a splendid vision of the Holy Trinity and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, during which Our Lady told her that “the moment had come when she wanted her desire for the consecration of Russia to participate in the Holy Church and his promise to convert her.”
According to Sister Lucia, Our Lady underlined that “the moment has come when God asks that the Holy Father make, in union with all the bishops of the world, the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, promising in this way to save her. There are so many souls that God’s justice condemns for sins committed against me, so I come to ask for reparation: sacrifice yourself with this intention and pray.”
Sister Lucia, through her confessors and the bishop of Leiria, managed to get the request of the Madonna delivered to Pope Pius XI, who promised to consider it.
Sister Lucia said that the Lady then complained to her that the consecration of Russia had not been realized. “They didn’t want to listen to my request. Like the king of France, they will regret it, and they will. But it will be late. Russia will have already caused her mistakes in the world, causing wars and persecution of the Church. The Holy Father will have to suffer a lot.”
The allusion was to the French King Louis XIV, the so-called “Sun King.” In 1668, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque asked to have the Sacred Heart of Jesus applied to the royal banners. However, Louis XIV did not, and his dynasty fell under the guillotine with Louis XVI.
Sister Lucia wrote several letters about the devotion. Finally, on Dec. 2, 1940, Sister Lucia wrote directly to the pope, asking that he bless the devotion of the First Saturdays. (Read more.)