The Catholic World, Vol. 25, April 1877 to September 1877Various
Religion
The Catholic World, Vol. 25, April 1877 to September 1877
Various
Catholic Church -- Periodicals
Don Carlos, as if conscious of the insecurity of his life, also ordered
De Foix to construct a machine with pulleys and weights by which he
could himself open and shut his chamber door while in bed, and yet no
one could enter the room against his will. De Foix seems to have been
faithless to the prince; for on the 18th of January, 1568—by the king’s
order, to be sure—he stopped the movement of the pulleys, unknown to Don
Carlos, whose chamber was thus opened and he conveyed to prison. De
Thou’s account of this is confirmed by the letter of an Italian at
Madrid written eight days after, in which the door with its pulleys is
mentioned.
Louis de Foix (or _sans foi_) is said to lie beneath the tower he
erected; so we could not say: “Light be the turf above thee!” even had
we been disposed.
Six or eight miles south of Cordouan we came to Soulac, amid the
sand-dunes and salt marshes, with its antique church of Notre Dame de la
Fin des Terres, held in great veneration by the sailors of the middle
ages, and recently dug out of the sands in which it had been buried for
one hundred and twenty years. In fact, it had been partly buried since
the fourteenth century. Few churches have so strange a history as this.
Tradition attributes its original foundation to the pious Veronica, on
whose linen veil the weary Saviour, on his way to Calvary, left the
impress of his sacred face. It was strange to come upon her traces on
this distant shore, and we took great interest in hunting up all the
local traditions respecting her. Lady Eastlake considers her _de trop_,
both morally and pictorially, and regards her very existence as
problematical; but we who have so often met her in the sorrowful _Via
Crucis_, and pondered on the touching lesson she has left us, feel how
utterly that somewhat stringent author is mistaken. Seraphia, Bernice,
Beronica, or Veronica—no matter by what name she is called—is a being
full of reality to us. As to her identity with the Syro-Phœnician woman
of the Gospel, we are disposed to say with Padre Ventura: “It is not
certain the _hémorroïsse_ was the same as Veronica, but it is probable
that she who had the wonderful favor of wiping the sweat and blood from
the divine face of our Saviour was the same matron who touched the hem
of his garment with so much courage and faith, and gave such a testimony
to his divinity.” Even if the contrary were proved, this would not
affect the ancient tradition respecting her apostolate in France, which
modern research is far from shaking. Holy chroniclers of the middle ages
assert that Veronica was not only an intimate friend of the Blessed
Virgin, but one of the women whom Jesus healed of their infirmities and
who consecrated themselves to his service, following him in his round of
mercy, and aiding him with their substance. The learned Lucas of Bruges
declares her positively the Syro-Phœnician woman healed by our Saviour,
who, says Julian in his chronicles, lived part of the time at Jerusalem
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