« Time Marching | Main | Threatened by the Helpless »
December 21, 2003
Imperial Saint On the Way
Miracle approved for Charles I of Austria-Hungary
Charles' miracle reportedly came when a cloistered nun in Brazil prayed for his beatification in the 1970s and was cured of a deadly disease, the emperor's grandson George Hapsburg told the Hungarian Catholic monthly publication Uj Ember last year. The Vatican would not confirm that or discuss details of the miracle.Charles I took the throne in 1916, during World War I, and worked for peace as the Austro-Hungarian empire neared its end. He abdicated at the end of the war in 1918 and died in Portugal in 1922 at age 34.
Posted by Amy Welborn | Permalink
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/320656
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Imperial Saint On the Way:
Comments
Gott erhalte, Gott beschütze
Unsern Kaiser, unser Land!
Mächtig durch des Glaubens Stütze
Führ´ Er uns mit weiser Hand!
Laßt uns Seiner Väter Krone
Schirmen wider jeden Feind:
Innig bleibt mit Habsburgs Throne
Österreichs Geschick vereint.
In Verbannung, fern den Landen
Weilst Du, Hoffnung Österreichs.
Otto, treu in festen Banden
Steh´n zu Dir wir felsengleich.
Dir, mein Kaiser, sei beschieden
Alter Ruhm und neues Glück!
Bring den Völkern endlich Frieden,
Kehr zur Heimat bald zurück!
Posted by: Patrick Rothwell at Dec 21, 2003 3:36:41 PM
Sometimes I really despair!! Why does the world need another crowned head to venerate? What is the message here? Am I missing something?
Posted by: Tom Kelty at Dec 21, 2003 4:26:20 PM
Tom: "Emperor Charles I: World War I peace campaigner".
Who cares if he was a peasant or an emperor? He was a pretty cool guy who may be a saint.
Posted by: Colleen at Dec 21, 2003 8:04:37 PM
Emp. Charles I was a loyal son of the church, and lived his faith as leader of the Asutro-Hungarian empire in its final days. He was only in his 20s when he became the leader of the empire, and was inexperienced in politics, but he tried to push for peace. His children, many of whom are still alive and grandchildren still follow in their traditional and are also loyal children of the church.
Posted by: John B at Dec 21, 2003 9:57:04 PM
Remember "The Good Soldier: Schweik"??
So much for Austro-Hungary. I speak as a decendent therefrom...
Posted by: Good Ole Charlie at Dec 22, 2003 9:23:13 AM
The Emperor Karl is a big cause for RadTrads so this may be another attempt to placate them as was the canonization of Pius IX. A daughter of Louis XV was making her way through the process a few years ago but I don't know what's happened to her cause.
Posted by: Sandra Miesel at Dec 22, 2003 9:29:53 AM
Well, I do have a snooty rad-tradish predeliction for royal and aristocratic saints, even though my "limpieza de sangre" is disreputable by normal rad-trad standards. Certainly, the cause for Karl of Austria's canonization is an easier sell to the world than the more famous one of Isabel of Castile
Whatever happened to Louis XVI's cause? He is undoubtedly a Christian martyr.
Posted by: Patrick Rothwell at Dec 22, 2003 6:17:30 PM
Why the seeming hostility to the cause of Emperor Karl? (It wasn't just his heroic efforts to end WWI that ared noteworthy. There was also his genuine concern for social justice and, obviously, his personal piety.) Or the hostility to the cause of Queen Isabel, for that matter? I don't get it. (There's a good biography of Karl and his wife, Empress Zita, entitled "A Heart for Europe" by Joanna and James Bogle, written about 10 years ago. I think it is still in print.)
Posted by: Bill at Dec 23, 2003 11:56:58 AM
Perhaps the hostility is just the typical simple-minded anti-Monarchism of semi-educated people these days (Americans especially), who make an absolute fetish of democracy.
For some great insights into Emperor Karl, read anything by the great Austrian writer Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn. The man seems to know everything about everything, yet still manages to be an accessible read. Kuehnelt-Leddihn demonstrates how Woodrow Wilson's efforts to turn WWI into an ideological war to "make the world safe for democracy" doomed Karl's efforts to negotiate a peace during the two years of his reign. The result of Woodrow's efforts? Millions more dead, and a chaotic post-war political environment that all but guaranteed a future war more devastating than the first. In their zeal, Woodrow et al. forgot to make democracy safe for the world!
It's nice too, that Karl's son and heir, Otto von Habsburg is still alive at age 91 to see his father honored in this way.
As for the assertion above that there are too many "crowned heads" to venerate, I can think of only two off the top of my own decidedly uncrowned head - King St. Louis IX of France, and Edward the Confessor of England. There are probably some more, but they are clearly a very small minority of all beatified and canonized individuals. Following the logic of Mr. Kelty's post, should we despair at the beatification of Mother Teresa? After all, do we really need another little old nun to venerate?! The message of the recognition of a miracle in the cause of Karl I is that regardless of one's rank or station in life - rich or poor, Emperor or slave - all are equally called to holiness and faithful service to the Gospel. Yes, even Emperors can be saints!
Posted by: Dennis Wheeler at Dec 23, 2003 1:04:35 PM
The problem with Isabel is the establishment of the Spanish Inquisition and her expulsion of the Jews and Moors from Spain.
There are lots and lots of crowned heads to choose from.
St. Edmund the Martyr
St. Canute
St. Olaf
St. Constantine
Bl. Charlemagne
Bl. Kinga
St. Margaret of Scotland
St. David
St. Hedwig (Jadwiga)
There must be lots of others.
Posted by: Patrick Rothwell at Dec 23, 2003 3:13:17 PM
