The Catholic World, Vol. 06, October, 1867 to March, 1868.Various
Religion
The Catholic World, Vol. 06, October, 1867 to March, 1868.
Various
Catholic Church -- Periodicals
cutting off his hair to send to his "Charlotte," we are forcibly
reminded of another prince, who was treacherously slain, sending
a last adieu to another unhappy princess of the same name. To the
doors of the convent at Warsaw, bearing the news, came the Abbé
Edgeworth, whose mission it was to console and help the
unfortunate house of Bourbon. He had attended the last moments of
Louis XVI.; he had stood by him on the scaffold, undaunted by the
crowd, and bade the "son of St. Louis ascend to heaven;" he had
been the director of Madame Elizabeth; he had joined the hands of
Madame Royale and the Duc d'Angoulême in marriage; and now he
came to break the news of the last great sorrow to Madame Louise.
The Mère Sainte Rose brought a crucifix to the princess, and her
countenance told her the rest. Louise fell on her face on the
earth, crying out, "Mercy, my God! have mercy on him!" Then she
rose, and, going to the chapel, poured out her soul before Him
who alone could comfort her.
{117}
"Pardon the faults of his youth, O Lord!" she cried, "and
remember how cruelly his blood has been shed. Glory and
misfortune have attended him through life; but what _we_
call glory--has it any merit in thy eyes? Mercy, my God! mercy!"
But her prayers did not end here. From that time forward there
rose up before the throne of God a constant cry for mercy for the
soul of Napoleon Bonaparte, from the lips of her whose dearest
earthly hopes he had destroyed. She never made a retreat
afterward without devoting much prayer and penance for the
redemption of the enemy of her name and race. Forgiveness of
injuries was an especial characteristic of the Bourbon family,
and none excelled in it more than Madame Louise.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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