Bastille Day Reparation

[magdalena]

The Apse Mosaic -- Sacre Coeur, Paris

www.sacre-coeur-montmartre.com/english/history-and-visit/article/the-apse-mosaic

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Inaugurated in 1923, the 475 square metre Mosaic of Christ in Glory by Olivier Merson, H. M. Magne and R. Martin is one of the largest mosaics in the world. It represents the risen Christ, clothed in white and with arms extended, revealing a golden heart.
Surrounding him, in various sizes, a world of adorers is represented, including the Saints who protect France: the Virgin Mary and Saint Michael, Saint Joan of Arc, as well as a personification of France offering her crown and Pope Leo XIII offering the world.

On either side, in two rows of gilded architecture, the homage of the Church (left) and France (right) to the Sacred Heart.
Homage of the Catholic Church:
From the left, Pope Clement XIII who instituted the feast of the Sacred Heart, Pope Pius IX who extended it to the universal Church, Pope Leo XIII (offering the globe) consecrating the human race to the Sacred Heart. These are followed by figures symbolizing the five continents.
Homage of France:
From the right, various historical events linking France to the Sacred Heart are recalled: the vow of Marseilles during the plague of 1720; the vow of the Temple with Louis XVI and the royal family (1792); the national vow of generals Sonis and de Charrette carrying the banner of the Sacred Heart (1870); the initiators of the vow, Alexandre Legentil and Hubert Rohault de Fleury (1871); the reporter on the draft law at the French Parliament (1873); the Cardinals of Paris (Cardinals Guibert, Richard and Amette) who cooperated in the building and embellishment of the Basilica.

The Heavenly Church is placed on the “second floor” of the mosaic, encircling the ceiling of the apse where the Holy Trinity is represented (above Christ are the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove and the face of God the Father who holds and blesses the world), and in two rows the Saints especially linked to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (left) and the Saints of France (right).
Heavenly Church: St Peter, St John, St Paul, St Ignatius of Antioch, St Agnes, St Augustine, St Dominic, St Francis of Assisi, St Ignatius Loyola, St Gertrude, St Catherine of Siena, St Rose of Lima, St Theresa of Avila.
Saints of France: St Lazarus of Marseilles, St Mary-Magdalen, St Martha, St Denis, St Martin, St Geneviève, St Bernard, St Louis, St François de Sales, St Vincent de Paul, St Margaret-Mary, St Jean-Eudes, St Madeleine-Sophie Barrat.
At the base of the mosaic is a Latin inscription stating that the construction of the Basilica is a gift from France to the Sacred Heart of Christ: “To the Sacred Heart of Jesus, France fervent, penitent and grateful.”
The word “penitent”, often misinterpreted, has here no political connotation. It refers to an acknowledgement of the sins of mankind as the source of the misfortunes and suffering of humanity and the expression of a desire to return to God.

The word “grateful” was added after the First World War. 

[magdalena]

[magdalena]

De Monarchia -- Dante Alighieri [1559]

oll.libertyfund.org/titles/alighieri-de-monarchia

[magdalena]

King St. Louis IX, pray for us.

[magdalena]

Dedication of France to the Sacred Heart of Jesus by King Louis XVI

You see, ô my God! all the wounds which tear my heart, and depth of the abyss into which I have fallen. Evils without number surround me on all sides. My personal misfortunes and those of my family, which are dreadful, overwhelm my heart, as well as those which cover the face of the kingdom. The cries of all the unfortunate ones, the moaning of oppressed religion resounds in my ears, and an interior voice still informs me that perhaps Your justice reproaches me with all these calamities, because, in the days of my power, I did not repress the license of the people and the irreligion, which are the principal sources; because I served the weapons of heresy which triumphed, by supporting it by laws which doubled its forces and gave it the audacity to dare all.

I will not have temerity, ô my God! to justify to myself before You; but You know that my heart was always subject to faith and morals; my faults are the fruit of my weakness and seem worthy of Your great mercy. You forgave King David, who caused your enemies to blaspheme You and King Manassès, who had involved his people in the idolatry. Disarmed by their penitence, you restored them one and the other on the throne of Juda; you made them reign with peace and glory. Would You be inexorable today towards a son of Saint Louis, who takes these penitent kings for models, and which, with their example, wishes to repair his faults and to become a King according to Your Heart?

O Jesus-Christ! divine Redeemer of all our iniquities, it is in Your Adorable Heart that I want to deposit the overflowing of my afflicted heart. I call upon the help of the tender Heart of Mary, my majestic protector and my mother, and the assistance of Saint Louis, my most famous patron and of my ancestor. O adorable Heart, by the so pure hands of my powerful intercessors, receive with kindness the wishes that confidence inspires in me and that I offer to You like the humble expression of my feelings. If, by an effect of the infinite kindness of God, I recover my freedom, my crown and my royal power, I promise solemnly:

1. To revoke as soon as possible all the laws which will be indicated to me, either by the Pope, or by a Council, or by the four Bishops chosen among most enlightened and most virtuous of my kingdom, with the purity and the integrity of the faith, the discipline and the spiritual jurisdiction of Holy Catholic, Apostolic Church, Roman, and in particular to revoke the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.

2. To take, in a one year interval, in union with the Pope and the Bishops of my kingdom, all measurements necessary to establish, according to the canonical forms, a solemn festival in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which will be celebrated in perpetuity in all France, on the first Friday after the octave of the Blessed Sacrament, and always followed by a general procession, in repair of the insults and profanations made in the time of the disorders, by the schismatics, the heretics and the bad Christians.

3. To go myself in person, within three months from the day of my delivery, to the church of Notre-Dame of Paris, or in any other principal church of the place where I will be, and to pronounce, one day of Sunday or festival, at the foot of the high altar, after the offertory of the Mass, and between the hands of the celebrant, a solemn act of dedication of my person, my family and my kingdom to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, promising to give to all my subjects, the example of the worship and the devotion which are due to this adorable Heart.

4. To set up and to decorate at my own expense, in the church which I will choose for it, within one year from the day of my delivery, an altar which will be dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and which will be used as an eternal monument of my recognition and my confidence without end in the infinite merits and in the inexhaustible treasures of grace which are contained in this Crowned Heart.

5. Finally, to renew every year, in the place where I will be, on the Feast of the Sacred Heart, the act of dedication expressed in the third article, and to attend the general procession which will follow the Mass of this day. Today I pronounce only in secrecy this promise, but I would sign it my blood if it were needed; and the most beautiful day of my life will be that where I will be able to aloud publish it in the temple. O Adorable Heart of my Savior! Let my right hand be forgotten and let me curse myself, if I forget Your blessings and my promises, if I cease to love You, finding my confidence in You and all of my consolation. Amen.

teaattrianon.blogspot.com/2007/06/vow-of-louis-xvi-to-sacred-heart.html

[Voxxkowalski]

A cautionary tale! Act while you can.

[magdalena]

Sainte Chapelle could be considered a huge reliquary built to house the relics of the Crucifixion.
In 1239, Saint Louis bought the crown of thorns from Venetian merchants for 135,000 Pounds. Fragments of the Holy Cross fragments as well as instruments of torture were bought from Baudoin II, king of Jerusalem in 1241.
Saint Louis did not want these holy relics to be scattered.

Such precious relics deserved to be sheltered in a special place. Hence, Saint Louis chose to have a church built inside the Royal Palace on Cité isle in order to emphasize the close relationship between the Holy Relics and the monarchy (that palace was later replaced later by the Law Courts building). Indeed, building Sainte Chapelle was not only an act of faith; it was also a political deed.

additional images and information can be found here:

architecture.relig.free.fr/chapelle_en.htm

[chestertonian]

I remember back when I was able to attend Mass theyhada traditional Requiem Mass for king louis. It was beautiful. not sure if they still do it. New York Purgatorial society