The Canticle Review

The following review of Trianon and Madame Royale by Genevieve Kineke originally appeared in the May/June 2007 edition of Canticle magazine. Genevieve perceived the conflicts, issues and mysteries which lie beneath the action and historical incidents of my novels. She is the author of The Authentic Catholic Woman, which was reviewed on this blog.

Here is what Genevieve has to say about Trianon and Madame Royale:

But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting down in the markets who, calling to other children, say, “We played the flute for you and you did not dance; We sang a dirge and you did not beat yourselves” (Matthew 11: 16-24).

This Scripture came to mind as I waded through the tragic story of Marie-Antoinette, Queen of France, and her only surviving child, Marie-Thérèse, known as Madame Royale. What fragments we know of the former are brief and almost wholly negative, so we must be grateful to Elena Maria Vidal, who has provided two beautiful books, exhaustively researched and yet completely accessible for those who wish to understand the events from a very personal perspective.

So many fundamental questions are raised by the events surrounding these heroic women. What is the justification for a hereditary monarchy? What is the relationship between the Church and secular authority? What are the responsibilities of the rich in the face of poverty? What is the relationship between patriotism and Christian duty? Can authentic charity and humility adequately counteract lies and innuendo? How does hypocrisy undermine the ability to evangelize? What is the Christian response to depravity and evil – and how does one protect children from it? Why do people take glee in the suffering of others – even when that suffering will not change their own status?

And yet the most important question is simply this: how does a woman embrace authentic femininity and motherhood in the most trying of circumstances?

Marie-Antoinette, an Austrian princess was wed to the Dauphin of France in 1770, and each, being conscientious and well-formed Catholics, strived to serve the other and France according to the will of God. Forces were already combining against them, stirring the masses to despise a foreign influence on the throne, to question the monarchy as an institution, to envy the nobility for their money and influence, and to rebel against the Church as a “repressive” structure. These forces represented various and competing interests – the Masons who despised the Church, the poor who wanted food and jobs, and various rival factions within the nobility who simply wanted more power.

The result was the unleashing of years of tumultuous fury – a fury which ultimately swallowed many of its own instigators, and which has not subsided to the present. With such enemies conspiring against the institutions of Church and crown, there was nothing the royal family could have done to change events. Marie-Antoinette was exasperated over accusations of extravagance for her silk gowns, yet likewise was attacked for putting the silk manufacturers at risk if she wore muslin. When she attempted to live a life of dignified transparency, she was accused of promoting opulence, yet when she retired to a preferred life of simplicity and shelter, she was suspected of subversive decadence – for why else would she avoid the public eye?

Her trials underscore one basic tenet in life – that one cannot choose a course of action to please others, rather all decisions must be made solely to please God. The changing winds of public opinion and unpredictable responses of others are hardly stable indicators of anything. Conversely, we are thus reminded not to impugn the motives of others, for we cannot know them, nor can we truly understand their trials and challenges. We must presume that all operate in good faith, according to the lights available to them – and we are called to respond consistently with love. God alone will judge in the end.

The overarching backdrop of this heartrending story is that none of us can choose the circumstances into which we are born, and yet those unique circumstances are the very proving ground of virtue, our own gymnasium of charity. All married women are called to support their husbands – whether princes or private citizens, to form their children to be saints according to their state in life, and to create sanctuaries of holiness amidst the this “vale of tears.” Marie-Antoinette and Marie-Thérèse each did that in the most trying of settings. They clung to the sacraments, prayed diligently for the cup of suffering to pass, and yet drank it dry rather than deny God or family. While the Church in France was reviled and bled, they stood firm as living icons of the martyred bride.

The answer to the most important question stated above is simply: only with God’s grace. Both women were faithful to that in desperate and tragic circumstances. Their lamps shone brightly in the contemporary gloom, consoling their own husbands who endured scorn and political intrigue, and well as Jesus, the Bridegroom, Who was defiled on every altar. Their success was ultimately in fidelity – despite the visible outcome, and stands as a stark lesson to all of us. Since they didn’t stoop to dance to capricious pipes out of season, they will, no doubt, rejoice to celestial hymns of praise at the nuptial feast. That we could all be so blessed.

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The North American Martyrs

The bravest of the brave. One of the best online accounts I could find was here.

It is also the anniversary of the death of Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte of France, daughter of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette at Frohsdorf in Austria in 1851. Share

Older Women at Home

A reader asked me for my thoughts on an article about the value of ladies staying at home even after their children are grown. In our utilitarian society, anyone who is not bringing in an income is considered to be wasting time. Homemaking is not regarded as having any value. However, we need to look at the things that are beyond price. An older lady who is able to be at home has the spare time to do volunteer work, to aid the poor, to advise younger women, to help with grandchildren, and maintain a home that is a refuge for the extended family.

My grandmother did all those things in her old age; she devoted herself to making clothes for us, to knitting sweaters and caps for family and for charity. She joined Catholic Daughters and worked very hard for the various causes supported by that organization. She also was available for long chats, in which she shared family history and anecdotes from her life. My other grandmother did the same. Most of all, older ladies often have more time to pray, to assist at Mass, and to become involved in church activities.

It is also wonderful for a woman who has a vocation as a nurse, a doctor, a teacher, a writer, an artist, a counselor, taking up such work on a deeper level once the children are gone. Other older women may enjoy working in a department store or even starting their own shop or a business of some kind. It must likewise be remembered that many older women are compelled by necessity to work outside the home, sometimes even past the age of retirement, whether they want to or not.

The important thing for a mature lady, whether she is at home or working in the world, is to conduct herself with the dignity and wisdom gleaned from her life experience. It is vital for the older generation to give a good example to the young, even if does not seem to be appreciated. Too often now we see retired people indulging in a second adolescence.

Some older ladies have boundless energy. My mom is almost seventy but she still works, maintains an immaculate home, cooks delicious meals, helps us with our homes and families, paints, and is always there when we need to talk. I do not know how she does it. Share

My Grandfather's Son

A book review. To quote:

Even so, since there is a God, and thus it matters what we do quite apart from the swill, there is rather more to Clarence Thomas than the political context through which his soul was revealed. In this hemisphere, Thomas’s genetic line formally emerged seven generations ago, shortly after the united states became independent, when a man and his wife first appeared in Georgia’s Liberty County records, as property. After emancipation their son, in his mid-fifties, bought 40 acres of land that had once belonged to his slavemasters; and he in turn witnessed the birth of the grandfather to whom Thomas would dedicate his book, as the Justice would, in a manner, his life.

My Grandfather’s Son is accordingly not simply a riveting tale, though it surely is. (According to the New York Times, Justice Thomas’s memoir has been purchased by more Americans than any other hardcover in the country. ) In showing a man who refuses to be degraded by the dead souls who run the show these days, it reminds of a standard older and more enduring than any passing Empire, one towards which the rest of us, still, remain free to aspire.

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Natural Remedies for Cancer?

Do the Chinese herbs really help?

And I guess everyone knows about the children's cold medications that might be dangerous, but here is an article which lists the ones to avoid. Share

Reds

In the study of Revolution it often happens that we come across intriguing characters on both sides of the struggle. Among those rebels who agitated for social change is my own great-grandfather, James Vint Laughland (1885-1957). He was of a generation who hoped to transform the world through political reform, which more often than not in the twentieth century resulted in violent revolution and totalitarian regimes.

James Vint, however, was a sincere idealist who was willing to sacrifice everything for the cause of bettering the lot of the workers. In his efforts, although he was not a Catholic, he mirrored the social teachings of the Roman Church. With zeal and conviction for what he thought was right, he risked imprisonment, ostracism, and exile. Heroism inspires and attracts; so often we have seen such heroism in radical groups, and we can only lament that every Christian is not aflame with the same courage for the Gospel.

Jame Vint was born into a well-to-do family in 1885. His parents, William and Margaret Laughland, had come from Kilmarnock in Ayrshire, Scotland to Southampton, England in 1879, where they had thirteen children. William operated a prosperous tailor shop in which the uniforms for cruise ships were made, and he sat on the city council for many years. A contemporary described “Councillor Laughland” as a “slightly enigmatic figure” who “played a lone hand and enjoyed doing it,” with traits of “effervescing good humor” and “grim heroism.” Margaret MacGuigan Laughland, called the “Belle of Southampton” for her striking beauty, was active in liberal ladies’ political clubs. She simultaneously nourished fixed, traditional ideas of behavior. Once when her daughter-in-law desired some kind of employment, Margaret locked her in her room, since (in her opinion) ladies were not ever to work outside the home for money.

James Vint was educated in North America where he graduated from the University of Toronto and from Meadville Seminary in Pennsylvania. He became a Presbyterian minister. He was concerned for the plight of the workers, too often the victims of injustice and unsafe laboring conditions. In 1908, he married Margaret MacDougall, the descendant of Highland Scots who had ended up in the coal mines of Nova Scotia. Margaret was a practical nurse and in later years her profession supported the family while James Vint pursued his calling as an activist. They had two sons, Milton and Emerson, named for their favorite poets. James was also a poet and wrote his wife very romantic verses over the years. They returned to England to a thriving London parish and settled into respectability which came to an end in 1918. In the words of a fellow minister:

At the close of World War I, when all churches in Great Britain were invited and expected to celebrate the signing of the Versailles Treaty, Mr. Laughland observed it in his church as a day of mourning instead, believing the Treaty to be so revengeful in substance and spirit that it would eventually lead to another war. How far sighted he truly was at that time! For this courageous realism, he was rewarded by losing his pulpit.

Not long after, he was called to Pembroke Chapel in Liverpool - another famous pulpit. It was a time of considerable unemployment in Great Britain as in many other countries. Mr. Laughland became the Secretary of an organization to help the unemployed and worked tirelessly for unemployment insurance or what has since come to be called “the dole” in British Labor Circles. The late Prime Minister, J. Ramsay MacDonald once said of Mr. Laughland that he had done more than any other individual in the country to get “the dole."

Because Vint Laughland was incapable of double talk and certainly incorruptible when it comes to calling things by their real names, he not frequently said or did the right thing at the wrong time, that is to say before many people were able to see that it was indeed the right thing to say or do….

James Vint ran for British parliament on the Labor Party ticket in 1924 without success. He nevertheless helped thousands to find jobs. He planned protests and spoke at rallies. Once he was arrested and beaten by the police for leading some workers in protest. The family eventually found themselves in upstate New York, where he became a Unitarian, more of an activist than a preacher, working for the unemployed and disadvantaged. He was a newspaper editor and a lecturer for many years, all the while writing extensively to his various “comrades” throughout the world. He was later described by a fellow socialist in the following manner:

Vint Laughland had a fierce hatred, not for any one of his fellowmen, but for some of the things they stood for…. He hated a coward as he did the liar and hypocrite, for he knew that in the minds of such there could be no room for honest thoughts and deeds….He believed that there is only ONE aristocracy, and that is of the mind and character.

(Sounds a bit like Cyrano de Bergerac....)

It is interesting to me how what was considered in those times a radical element had more of a sense of honor and decency than many fine, upstanding Christians do today. James Vint was not, in the words of a minister friend “embittered by his experience but rather transfigured by it.” He died in Rochester, New York on November 7, 1957, eloquent, brilliant, poor and greatly beloved.

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Fallingwater

An organic house.

Though its materials aren't necessarily eco-friendly, Fallingwater is indeed an organic house because of how well it merges with its natural surroundings. Glass isn't edged in metal frames; it's caulked to stone. The terraces mimic rock formations. The waterfall echoes throughout the house. "I'm designing a building to the music of the stream," Wright once told Kaufmann.

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Last Words of Marie-Antoinette

On reaching the scaffold she inadvertently trod on the executioner's foot. "Pardon me," she said, courteously. She knelt for an instant and uttered a half-audible prayer; then rising and glancing towards the towers of the Temple, "Adieu, once again, my children," she said. "I go to rejoin your father."--LAMARTINE (Quoted in Madame Campan's Memoirs)

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Revolutionary

I do not know how this post for October 8 by Daniel Mitsui escaped me, but here it is now.

The word revolutionary is not a compliment. (Neither is the word humanist, which is used far more often in Catholic discourse, but that is a topic for another time.) Its use as a compliment is more worrisome than a mere malapropism; it reveals the frightening degree to which an antitraditional culture has infected the religious mind. For the last several centuries, history has been written by the humanists, the reformers, the enlightenmentarians and the modernists. Their legacy is one of death, failure, and the destruction of everything that was ever good, beautiful and true in mediaeval Christendom. Of course, they do not want to admit this, so in writing their histories, they proposed the most fantastic of fallacies - that change is good in itself, and that their heroes were great precisely because they changed things so much. Never mind that the changes were for the worse; the important thing is that they were original and influential.

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