Tea at Trianon: The Legacy of the Incorruptible Sr. Wilhelmina of the Most Holy Rosary

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, May 27, 2023

The Legacy of the Incorruptible Sr. Wilhelmina of the Most Holy Rosary

From Church Militant:

The Benedictine Sisters of Mary, Queen of the Apostles in Gower, Missouri, exhumed their founder, Sr. Wilhelmina of the Most Holy Rosary, on April 28, the Feast Day of St. Louis Marie DeMontfort.

Sister Wilhelmina went home to the Lord on May 29, 2019, at the age of 95. She was not embalmed. Sister Wilhelmina was buried in a simple wooden coffin without a vault. The top of the grave caved in at the time of her burial, and upon exhumation, there was a puddle of water at the bottom of the grave.

Her body is currently resting in the parlor of the monastery while a new altar is being constructed. Near her feet lay explanatory notes for visitors. The fifth paragraph of the note reads:
Not only was her body in a remarkable preserved condition, her crown and bouquet of flowers were dried in place, the profession candle with the ribbon, her crucifix, and rosary were all intact. Even more remarkable was the complete preservation of her holy habit, made from natural fibers, for which she fought so vigorously throughout her religious life. The synthetic veil was perfectly intact, while the lining of the coffin, made of very similar material, was completely deteriorated and gone.
Depending on conditions such as humidity, temperature and submergence in a substrate like water, the fifth and final stage of decomposition, skeletonization, can occur anywhere from three weeks to several years. (Read more.)