So I recently turned 38... though for the last year I was pretty sure that I had already been 38 all year long... I guess this happens to some people when they get older. There are many things that people would like to forget in our lives, of course. But as a community of human beings, "the hive" as some might argue, we ought not to forget the reality of the history of things. As has oft been said, "To ignore history is to repeat it," which apparently I am now doing this year in my "second year" of being 38 years old.
Regardless of me, sadly even in our own modern day it appears some want to do away with the Old things and cover them over with the new, for example
a French Chateau:
Nevertheless, the things of history hold riches that we can mine and savor (not
literally, unless you are talking wine... or a Good Scotch... or good Irish cheddar cheese! But I digress...) But our souls can be greatly enhanced the more we understand the things of our ancestors. Those who have gone before us have gained wisdom, sometimes by choice, but often by accident.
Catholics, in particular, have much to understand and much to savor in the stories of the Great Saints of our Tradition. I am working with a young woman in order that she be Baptized and we were talking about "reparation for sin" tonight in the context of the Sacrament of Confession. It reminded me of the glorious and, at the same time, sad story of the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart on the hill of Montmarte in Paris, which I have had the great privilege and blessing to visit and to adore the Lord in. That is, while I was at Franciscan University I had the opportunity to study abroad at the Campus in Gaming, Austria. From there, a friend and I, who last name rhymes with "Doctor" (for those who would know him), were able to make a visit to Montmarte.
Though the Basilica was only begun in 1873, the foundations of it go much further back, as the
Basilica's website explains:
The name signifies "mount of martyrs" because by tradition it is the place of the martyrdom of Saint Denis, the first bishop of Paris (late 3rd century) and his companions. Many saints have come to this hill (Saint Germain - Saint Clotilde - Saint Bernard - Saint Joan of Arc - Saint Vincent de Paul, …) and, of course, Saint Ignatius of Loyola and Saint Francis-Xavier who, with their companions, founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) here in 1534.
A big benedictine Abbey occupied the whole hill until the French Revolution at which date the nuns were guillotined and the Abbey destroyed. A village called Saint Peter's survived in this former lime quarry in the late 19th century; the working people were short of employment.
There is much there, but notice that the original Benedictine Abbey was only destroyed at the French Revolution. The young lady I am working with mentioned she was contemporaneously studying the French Revolution and I asked her what she had learned of it. I asked this particularly since she attends Government-based education, which is decidedly more and more devoid of religion - and in particular the Christian Faith in History. She was not aware that the French Revolution was largely waged as a way to reject and attack the Catholic Church and her Faith in France.
So intense was the persecution of the Church that many religious (i.e. monks and nuns) and priests were killed merely for maintaining their Catholic Faith. While many went along with the Revolutionaries and subjected their Faith to the State, others understand that only by being faithful to Christ will mankind come to know the Only Living and True God. In Notre Dame Cathedral it is reported by eyewitnesses that the statue of the Virgin Mary was toppled and she was replaced with the so-called "Goddess of Reason" who was nothing more, by some accounts, than a prostitute spontaneously exalted by the people.
In fact, there were some people in the Northern Region of the Vendee that rose up to try to stem the destructive tide of Revolutionaries - many of whom were Freemasons that reportedly instigated and promoted much of the killing of the Catholic People of France. Unfortunately, these people were unsuccessful as the rejection of God had become far more deep than merely a political struggle. It was a spiritual virus. As Napoleon Bonaparte rose to power, now that the Kingdom of France had become an almost officially anti-Catholic Democracy, this assault on the Faith had found deep root among some people. To the point that, as many have reported, Napoleon would not allow himself to be crowned by the Pope, but took the crown and crowned himself. A very symbolic act of that time, denoting his authority equal or superior to the Vicar of Christ, Pius VII!
Some time after Napolean's coronation, some 66 years later,the Germans came to invade Rome. Again from the Basilica's website:
In 1870, war broke out between France and Germany. The Council taking place at the Vatican broke up and the Pope, no longer protected by French troops, felt himself to be a prisoner in the Vatican City. France faced military defeat and occupation of part of the country by German troops. The response of MM. Alexandre Legentil and Hubert Rohault de Fleury was spiritual. They vowed to build a church consecrated to the Heart of Christ in reparation (in penitence for sins commited) since for them, the misery of France stemmed more from spiritual than from political causes... The work was financed by gifts, often modest, from all over France.The names of the donors are carved in the stone.
So even to this day there is perpetual adoration in the Basilica of Sacre Ceour (or Sacred Heart, in English) specifically for the reparation of the sins of the people of France that lead to the French Revolution among other calamities. The lesson we should take from all of this is that the wisdom of repentance, which led so many of the early great Saints to the desert and other great ones throughout history to worship Christ, is that acts of reparation allow us to unite amongst ourselves before God, but also to plead the cause of others to receive the grace of repentance.
Last night, my beloved wife and I went to eat at a French Restaurant downtown where i had the dish pictured at the beginning of this post! Steak with Roquefort Cheese in a port reduction, with Pommes Frites (basically, "souped up french fries")!!! GLORIOUS!!
What I find so sad is that many today cannot understand a Catholic culture that gave us great French Food, but also gave us one of the greatest acts of reparation for the sins of the people of that very culture. Perhaps we Catholic Americans ought to consider things we too might do to make acts of reparation for our own country's sinfulness, if we hope to gain the wisdom passed on from our forebears.
