Adélaïde de Bourbon-Penthièvre, Duchesse d'Orléans

On the opposite wall, gazing rather sadly at the portrait of the Duc, was a Vigée-Lebrun original of a lady who bore a marked resemblance to Louis XIV. In Turkish dress, her high, frizzled coiffure artfully stuffed into a turban with long, dark ringlets flowing to her waist, the lady's face glowed with quiet resignation, shadowed only by the melancholy sweetness of her smile....
~ from Madame Royale by Elena Maria Vidal

Since the prologue of Madame Royale opens with a description of the portrait of the Duchesse d'Orléans, I was delighted to find that Catherine Delors has written a post about the duchess' fascinating life. To quote Madame Delors:

Yet the story of Adélaïde began in a very ordinary fashion, insofar as the destiny of a princess can be deemed ordinary. Of the eight children of her parents, she was the only daughter to survive to adulthood. Her father was the Duc de Penthièvre, grandson of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan. Her mother was an Italian princess, Marie Thérèse Félicité d'Este-Modène. Her only surviving brother, the Prince de Lamballe died at the age of twenty, leaving a young widow who would become one of Marie-Antoinette's closest friends.
This left Adélaïde, known as Mademoiselle de Penthièvre, the sole heiress to the largest fortune in France, and one of the most marriageable princesses of her time. As fate would have it, her father, when she was sixteen, arranged a match with another member of the royal family, Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, Duc de Chartres. The wedding was duly celebrated in the Royal Chapel of Versailles.

The young couple settled in the Palais-Royal, in the heart of Paris. And they had many children (six in eight years.) Were they happy? Not quite. Adélaïde's husband, now Duc d'Orléans, was a libertine who found his lovely bride very boring. He preferred the company of many mistresses, including the infamous Comtess de Genlis, by whom he had an illegitimate daughter named Paméla. Unfortunately not a unusual occurrence for princely and aristocratic marriages in the 18th century.

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Carnival of Venice

Lucy reports on the famous Carnival of Venice, past and present and the masks which enchant us all.

More HERE.
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The Case of the "Cottingley Fairies"

Our friend Richard discusses the hoax which seems obvious to us, although at the time so many people were dabbling in spiritualism; they were willing to believe anything. Share

The War on the High Life

Charles Coulombe laments the demise of civilized dining, in his own inimitable fashion. Share

The Domestic Church: Room by Room

One of the hardest tasks in the world is to stay home alone all day with small children, doing all the minuscule yet vital tasks which keep a family physically and spiritually healthy, but which the world no longer values. Work is measured in terms of how much money it makes. It is forgotten that children have only one childhood and the love they don't get from their parents they will never get at any other time. What greater success in life is there than the raising of happy, faith-filled children? To do that properly requires one's entire being.

There is a wisdom about life and people which can only be learned by being a mother. The Domestic Church: Room by Room by Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle is redolent with such wisdom. We have forgotten the secret to sanctity that past generations possessed. Holiness is to be found in the present moment, in the humblest tasks which, when performed with love, are of greater merit in the eyes of God than works that are magnificent but loveless. Donna-Marie discusses the nature of a mother's sacrificial love, as follows:

The list of sacrifices and sufferings is endless, as is a mother's love. If we really love our children properly, there must be sacrifice; otherwise, there is no real love. A mother's connectedness to her child, which continues even after the umbilical cord has been severed, allows her to truly experience a sacrificial love- a love that puts her own interests and needs on hold, a love that continues to give even when it hurts. (pp. 156-157)

Donna-Marie explores many issues which at times beset mothers of families, saying:

Mothers, as we know, have a difficult job in the home coupled with the fact with the fact that society oftentimes demeans the role of a mother by 'measuring' her worth by the size of her paycheck. There are areas that a mother may try to 'escape' to in order to feel more accomplished while inadvertently neglecting her family....

Diapers, demands, laundry, and dishes are not the only activities filling a mother's time. However, a mother may begin to feel frustrated and dwell on what she feels is her lack of accomplishments. She may also fail to see Our Lord's hand in her housekeeping because of the mixed messages from our society aimed at mothers and also because she may be exhausted and in need of encouragement. Mothers should strive to help one another with Christian camaraderie and encouragement for the journey. (pp. 113-114)

The book integrates the basics of Christian spirituality with the practical side of running a home. Although the means of giving apostolic witness may seem limited for housewives, we are reminded about the power of the little things which are at our disposal. To quote:

While remembering that our example speaks louder than our words, we can feel confident that even out at the grocery store, the post office, the bank, and other places where we do our errands, God is sure to put people in our path. A simple smile, a door held open, a listening ear to someone we meet who has an immediate need, giving a hand to a mother with many children in tow- all kinds of situations arise in which we can lend a hand....Through little acts of kindness, miracles do happen. A simple smile and a kind word may have been just the little act of love that a lonely person absolutely needed so as not to fall into despair that particular day.... (p.213)

Donna-Marie is an excellent teacher; after reading The Domestic Church it came as no surprise to discover that the author is a lay Missionary of Charity, following the path of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. I am especially impressed by the order and clarity with which this book is written, complete with study guide that would make it perfect for a parish discussion group or a wonderful companion on a retreat. Quotes from Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI about the condition of marriage and family life in the modern world make the book particularly relevant to the present time. I am looking forward to next reading Donna-Marie's newest book, Grace Café.

(*The Domestic Church was sent to me as a gift by the author.)

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Eucharistic Convention in Auckland, April 2009

I am happy to announce that I have been invited to speak at the Eucharistic Convention in Auckland, New Zealand. The dates of the convention are April 17, 18, and 19. I look forward to visiting such a beautiful country and reaping the spiritual benefits of the convention. For those from New Zealand who have read my books and who visit this blog, I look forward to meeting you in person. Please pray for a safe journey. I have never been so far from home before, although my mother the world traveler assures me that there is nothing to it at all. At any rate, going to Colorado to visit my sister will now seem like nothing. Share

Fireproof (2008)

Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle reviews the recent film, saying:

This movie has it all. Not only does it attract men as a “guy flick” because of the action, the firehouse banter, fires and rescues; it is also all about relationships, romance, emotional real-life struggles, and the meaning behind the covenant of marriage.

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A Word on Fr. Maciel

Fr. Blake weighs in and such is the excellence of his words that I for one will be reading his post more than once. As Father writes:

One of the mysteries of the Christian life is, "where sin is, there grace abounds," or "God writes straight with crooked lines". In the second half of the twentieth century there where extra-ordinary founders like Escriva, Theresa of Calcutta, and yes, Marcial Maciel, maybe even Lefebvre could be included. There were also movements like Charismatic Renewal, Liberation Theology, the Ecumenical Movement and more localised movements like Taize or Medjugorge, possibly even the personal devotion to JPII himself.

It was an age in which the person was pushed to the fore, and in which we looked for immediate fruit and bathed in the charisms of others and searched anxiously for own. We disregarded the "charism" of being a good husband or wife, mother or father, or even just a good person and promoted the extra-ordinary. In the secular world too it was the age of the celebrity and the sound-bite.

I hope we are moving away from all that with the aid of a bit of healthy Augustinian skeptical pessimism, a return to Tradition, to a close examination of texts, to the law and what it says.

The change from the age of John Paul "the Great" to that of Benedict, described by one French journalist as, "the Ordinary" in a way epitomises the transition of the 20th to the 21st century, it is movement to solid ground.

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Friendly Persuasion (1956)

Jessamyn West's 1946 novel was the inspiration for William Wyler's film about an Indiana Quaker family during the Civil War. Gary Cooper and Dorothy McGuire star as Jess and Eliza Birdwell, whose austere way of life and commitment to pacifism are tested by the encroachments of mainstream society and the violence of war. Each member of the family has a unique test to face. Jess' love of buggy racing and music bring him into conflict not only with the Quaker elders but with his headstrong wife. Eliza, who is a Quaker minister, is terrified not only of what people will think but of her own human weakness. The oldest son, Josh (Anthony Perkins) is not certain whether his commitment to pacifism is sincere or whether he is just afraid to fight. Maddie, the grown daughter, finds herself in love with a Union officer, whose ways are not the ways of the Quakers. Even the youngest, Little Jess, has his conflict with his mother's pet goose, with whom he absolutely does not want to get along.

The film is fraught with humor which lends poignancy to the serious questions the characters must face. What I always liked the best was the often playful, sometimes stormy but always loving relationship of the parents, Jess and Eliza. Their commitment to each other and to the proper raising of their children were aspects of life once taken for granted but now regarded as high virtue, and inspiring to watch. All of this is expressed in the theme song which Pat Boone croons at the beginning of film. (Yes, it is pure 1950's sentimentality but sweet.)

Thee is mine, though I don't know many words of praise
Thee pleasures me in a hundred ways
Put on your bonnet, your cape, and your glove
And come with me, for thee I love.

Steve Greydanus has some insightful reflections on Friendly Persuasion:

Friendly Persuasion, William Wyler’s popular adaptation of Jessamyn West’s tales of Quaker life, is a warm, gently satiric portrait of a family of the "Friendly Persuasion" living in the shadow of the Civil War. Gary Cooper plays Jess Birdwell, a less than entirely devout Quaker farmer whose pious wife Eliza (Dorothy McGuire) is a minister at their local "meeting house."

Scenes of silent, unstructured Quaker meetings are contrasted without comment or judgment to the boisterous singing of the local Methodist church, but — despite Eliza’s best efforts — the film is largely an account of the compromises the Birdwells are and aren’t willing to make. Their principles are repeatedly put to the test, at the local fair, on the Sunday morning ride to the meeting house as a smug neighbor blows past Jess’s slow horse every week, and so on. One of the best vignettes concerns an impasse between Jess and Eliza over the shocking purchase of an organ, and the delightful way the conflict is finally resolved.

The film’s main weakness is the way it handles the theme that most interested the director, the conflict between Quaker pacifism and nonviolence and the practical necessities of wartime. Here the film becomes muddled, and does justice neither to Quakerism nor to just-war principles. A truly thoughtful Hollywood look at religious nonviolence would have to wait until Peter Weir’s Witness, starring Harrison Ford.

In spite of this, Friendly Persuasion’s warm affection for its subjects makes it worthwhile viewing.

I agree. The film explores the fact that in a time of crisis, not even the most committed Christian knows for certain how they will respond when their principles are tested. Humility, and trust in God rather than in self, are necessary before stepping into the fray.

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