Yesterday I had a wonderful discussion with a young lady named Kristen, who is very well-informed about Marie-Antoinette. From Catholic Exchange:
Catholic historian and writer Elena Maria Vidal sets the record straight on the oft-maligned Catholic Queen of France and martyr of the Revolution. While candidly acknowledging the queen’s faults, Elena’s work paints a portrait of Marie Antoinette in all her complexity.
Drawing from her years of research, Elena discusses:
- Popular misconceptions about the queen, then and now
- The origin of the “let them eat cake” rumor
- What modern TV series and movies get wrong
- Marie Antoinette’s strong Catholic faith and moral character, and many recorded charitable works
- The deeply Catholic milieu of the French court and its role in Christendom
- The truly demonic nature of the French Revolution and its pagan “Cult of Reason”
- How the queen was able to secretly receive the sacraments before her death
- Marie Antoinette’s piety and equanimity at the guillotine
(Read more.)
2 comments:
Hello Elena. Last evening, I had the pleasure of attending a lecture by Archduke Edouard von Hapsburg, Hungary's ambassador to the Vatican. He's a very positive, delightful and faith-filled family man. During the Q&A session, I asked him if Marie Antoinette (a Hapsburg as you know) was slandered in Austria, Hungary and Central Europe the way she is here in the U.S. The short answer is that yes, many perceive her to be what Sophia Coppola presented in that stupid movie of hers some years back. But, the Archduke did inform me of something about her I did know. Marie Antoinette was very distraught that her request for the Sacrament of Reconciliation prior to her execution was denied by the revolutionaries. Can you imagine most Catholics today worried about their last confession before death? But the good queen was and on the way to the guillotine in the cart, she was said to be visibly shaken, and upset. It was only after she passed by a house on the way that her demeanor changed and she became calm and went to her execution in a calm and dignified manner. The Archduke mentioned that during that horrible time, the Vatican was sneaking in real priests and knowing that the queen's cart would pass by this safe house, a priest inside absolved her of her sins as the cart passed by. I feel in my heart that both Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette are saints in Heaven who were martyred for the Faith.
Thank you, Andrew, I have heard that beautiful story. It was also the testimony of Fr. Magnin that he heard her confession and said Mass in her cell with the help of the servant Rosalie and the two Catholic guards. That was before her trial. In such an agonized circumstances the Queen probably felt that she needed all the graces that the Church could provide.
Post a Comment