St. Clotilde, Queen of the Franks

Clotilda was born some time around the year of 476 A.D. to Chilperic, the son of Gundovic. Gundovic's Kingdom of Burgundy was divided into four parts and Chilperic governed from Lyons. Gondegisil and Chilperic were Catholics, but their brother Gondebad was an Arian. Clotilda was given religious instruction by her mother Caretena, who is held in high repute by historians. Sedeleuba, the sister of Clotilda, founded the church of Saint-Victor and embraced a monastic life while sometime after the death of Chilperic, Clovis asked for Clotilda's hand in marriage.

There is a pious tradition of the Arian king Gondebad slaying Chilperic, throwing Caretena into a well with a stone around her neck, and exiling the two daughters but this is largely unverifiable. Most of the source material we have of St. Clotilda's life comes from St. Gregory of Tours's History of the Franks. In fact, there is contrary evidence to this claim too as Gondebad lamented the death of Caretena and it is stated of Caretena that she died full of days having seen both her children love and embrace the Catholic faith.

Clovis was not a Catholic when he wed Clotilda and Clotilda is credited with convincing him of the truth of the Catholic faith. Clotilda bore to Clovis five children overall. The first, Ingomir, reposed shortly after his baptism which distressed Clovis and made him frighten of Christianity. But she was able to obtain permission again from the king to baptize her second son, Clodomir, which the king granted. Clovis would ultimately embrace the Catholic faith and he would be baptized by St. Remigius at Reims. Thus, Clotilda sealed the effective future of France as one of the most renowned Catholic nations in all history. It was through her marriage to Clovis that the spark of the fire of the Catholic faith would ignite and spread throughout the Frankish kingdom and her persistence in raising her children according to the Catholic faith in spite of having a pagan husband. As the serpent led the First Eve to sin and through Eve, the man sinned, it would be through the Second Eve who did not sin who would lead the man to eternal life. Thus Clotilda her marriage according to a perfect Marian imitation.

Clotilda's other children were Childebert, Clotaire, and Clotilda. Clovis reposed in the year 511 and Clotilda had him interred in the church of the Apostles which was built as a mausoleum. For this reason, Clotilda is frequently depicted in iconography holding a church. The church she holds represents this church of the Apostles which she built with her husband and would inter her husband in when he reposed. In her widowhood, she would see numerous trials beginning with her son Clodomir's conflict with his cousin Sigismund, son of Gondebad, who had succeeded Gondebad. Godomar triumphantly surrounded Clodomir's stronghold at Orléans. Clodomir had the two sons of Sigimund, Gisald and Gondebaud assassinated on May 1, 524 but was vanquished by Sigismund in the Battle of Vézeronce in that same year. Clotilda took care of his three children, Theodebald, Gunthar, and Clodoald until Clodomir's widow married Clotaire. Unfortunately, more tragedy occurred as her sons Clotaire and Childebert deceived her into thinking they would provide protection for her grandsons. Sending the children to them, she would realize their plots as they attempted to slay all three of Clotilda's grandchildren. Clodoald would escape and he would found the monastery of Saint-Cloud, giving up his hair, the symbol of Frankish royalty, rather than his life.

Clotilda moved from Paris to Tours, closer to the tomb of St. Martin where she witnessed yet another tragedy. Her daughter, the wife of Amalric, suffered from tremendous abuse, and her son Childebert came to her aid. Amalric was slain but Clotilda would repose from the journey home of the wounds she received from her abusive husband Amalric. Then she saw her two sons Clotaire and Childebert engage in conflict with each other. Clotaire hid from his brother in the forest of Brotonne in Normandy and it was at this point that Clotilda threw herself on her knees before the tomb of St. Martin of Tours asking to be spared of yet another fratricide in her family. Just then, a tempest arose and dispersed the two troops. St. Clotilda was rich in virtue and in good works, and after her 34-year-long widowhood, would return to eternal glory in the year 546, being buried in the same church of the Apostles alongside her husband and children.

St. Nicodemos the Hagiorite - On the Tongue

Though it is called taste in The Handbook of Spiritual Counsel, this next section really ought to be called "the tongue" because the topic that St. Nicodemos covers is all things related to the tongue. The mouth,according to St. Gregory of Nyssa, "is always filled yet always remains empty" (Hanbook of Spiritual Counsel, ch. 6). What is the need of all these wanton and surreptitious meals? The only need of them is to fuel the desires of the stomach and by doing so, one fuels their lusts for other sins, fornication, homosexuality, and all carnal and irrational passions are fueled by the sin of gluttony. This is nothing new to the teachings of St. Nicodemos the Hagiorite. St. John Climacus also maintains that the sin of gluttony leads to the sins of the carnal appetite. It is also established science that fat content triggers the libido in man driving his sexual desire leading him into sexual and carnal lusts.

St. Gregory Nyssa teaches us that "it is the preoccupation with the pleasures of eating that bring forth each of the many evils" (ibid). How can one contend against this? Is it not an elaborate banquet that drives man to pursue expensive and lush housings leaving within him nothing more than a love for money? Does this not only come with a pride of self in how many riches the man has? Behold, look how he hangs out with the finest and most intelligent group of individuals and serves them the best food! From this extends coveting, pride, wantonness, lust, and eventually fornication. From material attachment comes despair because man soon realizes that the material world fades to dust. Thus, gluttony ultimately drives the passions to the source of all evils.

Not only this, but those who indulge in the sense of taste are spiritually deprived as well. Which god does the Apostle Paul say these men serve? The god they serve is their belly. Thus, there is spiritual depravity that comes from overeating. The belly ends up governing the entire body. Sinfulness is what the person is led into.

"Sumptuous eating is harmful to all without exception, but especially to the young. The natural reason for this is obvious. The natural warmth of the young person is enhanced when it receives the fatty matter of various foods. The heavy foods consumed draw out the heavy excretions of digestion in the stomach. These in turn are converted into substances and blood and eventually into fatty tissue. The abundance of food creates a fat body that is susceptible to the forceful temptations of one's sexuality." (ibid)

There are three degrees in eating according to St. Gregory the Sinaite. Temperance is when we withhold from eating and even still hungry after eating. This is the best way to control the passion of gluttony. Sufficiency is when we eat no more than is necessary until we are sufficiently nourished. This teeters into gluttony. Satiety is when we eat until we are satisfied. This is not necessarily gluttonous but certainly borders into it the most. St. Basil did not forgive the young people who ate unto satiety but also the young who ate unto sufficiency. St. Basil wanted to train all people to eat temperately.

We are to keep the fasts every Wednesday and Friday. In the East, we fast every single Wednesday and Friday abstaining from all meats except shellfish, olive oil (though some jurisdictions forbid all oil), wine, and alcohol. St. Nicodemos emphasizes the importance of keeping these fasts because they keep a well-regulated routine for the Christian of constant depravity of the enjoyment of certain foods. Today, many Christians don't even fast at all, and if they do, it's only during Lent, every Friday. The ancient custom was to fast every Wednesday and Friday except for the week before Lent, Bright Week, and the week following Nativity. A Ruthenian deacon I know estimated about 200 days worth of fasting for the Byzantine Christian. God will put gluttons to the test and having a well-regulated fasting routine is important to combat this sin of gluttony.

Finally, St. Nicodemos reflects on other sins of the tongue. Christians must not conduct sins of the mouth which include "condemnation, slander, mocking, insults, unreasonable excommunications, curses, reprimands, obscene talk, and all the other idle and vain words" (ibid). We will have to give an account for this. St. Nicodemos also reproves Christians for laughter. Christians must guard against laughter as it "causes the gums and the teeth to show in those who laugh loudly just as they do with horses when they neigh". "[W]hen we take into account that our responsible and sinful life is carried on in a valley of sorrows, then even our laughter must be turned to mourning and our smile and joy to grief, as St. James the Brother of the Lord has said" (ibid). Jesus cried four times but is not recorded to have laughed once. I go into this more in another post so it is not necessary to go further here.

The sins of the tongue and taste are not limited to gluttony. Gluttony opens the floodgates to a mess of other sins including fornication and greed. The tongue must be guarded against all forms of ribaldry.

St. Nicodemos the Hagiorite - On Hearing and Smell

Hearing and smell are the two senses St. Nicodemos the Hagiorite discusses the least and spends little time on in his Handbook on Spiritual Counsel. On hearing, he discusses three primary evils arising from sound and how our ears must guard against these so as not to arouse the mind. Because the mind is easily led astray by the body and the body easily leads astray the mind. The three evils that come with listening to certain sounds are that the soul becomes effeminate and lethargic, the mind is filled up with so many sensual passions that it eventually holds slave to them, and finally, even if the singer is not seen, and especially if the singer is a woman, these sounds are capable of impressing the imagination (Handbook of Spiritual Counsel, ch. 4).

St. Basil tells us not to "submit your souls to corrupt melodies that come to us through the ears" and St. Gregory the Theologian tells us to "not have the flute played to our hearing" and "in his Iambic poetry he wrote: 'Block your ears with wax, and foolish words hear not, nor pleasant songs or thrilling melodies'" (ibid). St. Nicodemos further makes his case by referencing the story of Odysseus. In the The Odyssey, there is a part where Odysseus and his men are sailing through an area of sirens who attempt to lure sailors to their watery graves with their songs. Their songs are so beautiful that the sailors are enchanted by them. Odysseus wants to hear the sirens so he has his men tie him up to the mast but he has his crew members fill their ears with wax. Odysseus is drawn to the sound of the sirens and even begins to beg his men to untie him but his men don't hear a sound. His men remain steadfast and obedient to the command they heard. Their ears are filled with wax and they remain unlured by the sirens.

Finally, St. Nicodemos addresses that we must not hear or regard slanderous thoughts or slanderous talking. While there is a point to make in regard to the more sensual sounds driving the mind to sensual thoughts and practices, there is a further point to make in regard to slanderous statements driving the mind to think evilly of one's neighbor. Especially unjustly, when we think of our neighbor in such ill-repute, we lead ourselves into entering into murderous libel against our neighbor for to hate our neighbor already makes us guilty of the sin of murder. He comments, without further statement or example, that the life of St. John the Merciful is filled with such examples of how we must not regard or listen to slanderous thoughts.

Smell has a similar line of thought to hearing. Once again, the fragrances of sweet-smelling perfumes lead a soul to becoming effeminate, desiring soft things, refusing to recognize its earthly origins. Sweet-smelling fragrances and perfumes "not only weaken the manly character of the soul and give it effeminate air, they also may incite the soul toward fornications and other moral licentiousness" (ch. 5). Veros of Sicily is read about in history books as a character resembling that of a wild boar. He never wanted to be without the smell of roses. He wore roses around him at all times. St. Nicodemos also comments on Marcus Aurelius "who was so immersed in the habit of pleasing his senses that he would literally fill up a pool of rose water and would swim in it with joy and pleasure" (ibid).

Seeing that these fragrances can lead even sound minds to such effeminate insanities, St. Arsenios would train himself "to endure humbly even the foul smells" and "would never change the water in which he soaked the palms of date trees and the young shoots which he braided into baskets" (ibid). This produced such a foul smell that he was eventually inquired as to why he persisted in doing this. St. Arsenios responded that it was a repayment of all the sweet smells of myrrh and perfume he had previously enjoyed from earthly kingdoms. If one refuses to remain idle, they must work. When one works, the body produces heat and the body emits sweat to regulate the cooling of the body. This leads to the body becoming stinky with the salts emitted from sweat. By sweating and remaining active we cut off the effeminate attachment to sweet fragrances and we also burn fats which fuel the libido and sexual drive. We become more able to combat passions.

St. Nicodemos also includes at the end of his chapter on smell that the clergy must not smoke. Several reasons he lists are that when people smoke through pipes, the smell of the smoke becomes caught in their lungs and they are forced to sneeze. They bring out their handkerchiefs in the sight of people and sneeze into it. The sneezing causes such a violent shaking of the head that people are driven to wish good health on the poor soul who was unfortunate enough to sneeze so violently. It also instills in the Christians that the clergy lead a good habit not to smoke themselves. Further, St. Nicodemos warns of the ill-effects of smoking. Writing around the turn of the 18th-19th century, he comments how smoking can actually lead to negative health effects. Some of the people who had smoked throughout their lives would be found after death with their lungs blackened and burnt. This also happened to their brains. Already, in the 19th century, St. Nicodemos knew that smoking was detrimental to physical and mental health. How is it no one else was able to see that but merely they skirted around the obvious?

Both smelling and hearing can lead to stirring up effeminate thoughts, inciting effeminate behavior, and corrupting the soul through attachments to effeminate things of nature. These two senses must be guarded. There must be holy sounds that fill their presence. The sound of hymns, the sound of praise, the sound of love. The smells of hard work are the best way to combat the effeminate fragrances we come across throughout the day. The smell of hard work will also greatly assist us in combatting the libido that drives the sensual passions.

St. Rita of Cascia's desert spirituality

One of my Latin friends was posting about this saint recently. St. Rita's life is a story well worth reading if one has not read it yet but there are also elements of desert spirituality that forge a significant part of St. Rita's spirituality. Born to wealthy, but aging parents, she always had the desire to pursue a monastic life but her parents, fearing their own death and worried they would repose without leaving her a caretaker, married her off to a man when she was but the age of 12.

Obedience is emphasized strongly in the Evergetinos (Bk I, Hypothesis XXXIII-XXXIX). In the Life of St. Barsanouphios, an elder states that "he who wishes to be a monk is not entitled to have his will in anything" (Hypothesis XXXV). Hypothesis XXXIII of the Evergetinos show us different examples of monks entering into the monastery being forced to show their devotion to the monastic life by willing even to sacrifice their own children. In Rita's case, it is not a monk she is becoming but a nun. Her first act of this obedience is to her parents. Though she certainly has no obligation to follow their instruction as the religious life is a higher calling than marriage, she submits to their desires any way. She is wed to a man named Paolo Mancini who is abusive to Rita. But she nevertheless, being the faithful wife, submits to his commands. Likewise, the desert fathers tell us that when we are submissive to even the worst of teachers, those teachers may also be saved through us (Hypothesis XXXVII-XXXVIII). This is a different type of devotion for Rita as it is not a monk-elder relationship but a husband-wife relationship yet even St. Peter confirms that her obedience to her abusive husband can lead to his salvation (1 Pet. 3:1).

Paolo Mancini began to show signs of repentance in their marriage.

"His unbridled savagery was finally overcome by her constant gentleness, and there came a day when, after one of his usual outbursts he was so overcome by shame and remorse that he knelt at her feet and begged her pardon, promising a better life. That promise, aided always by his perfect wife, he faithfully kept as long as he lived." (Jacobus Doran)

Having accumulated multiple political enemies throughout his life though, Rita's husband was savagely murdered leaving her a widow with two sons. St. Rita trusted her husband's soul to divine providence though confident that he had met his end because he was ready to be received into Heavenly glory and forgave his murderers. But her sons seemed to begin hatching plots to avenge their father. St. Rita then entrusted them to divine providence that they be protected from this sin. A cry of a mother of one of the victims of the Holy Fathers slain by barbarians at Sinai Rhaithou seems to have an echo in Rita's plea for her sons.

"To thee, Master, I entrusted my son, and I rejoice that now and in the future age he has been saved. To thee I surrender my son, and Thou art He Whom I considered his protector; I thus rejoice, indeed, that he has been preserved safe from the hands of the Devil." (Account of the Murder of the Holy Fathers at Sinai and Rhaithou, Evergetinos, Hypothesis XII)

She besought that their hearts either be changed or that they be taken without this action having been completed. They both died within a year, and though filled with a natural sorrow of a mother for her children, was also filled with joy knowing that the state they were in was one of grace. Though many sin gravely, as long as one is alive, there is still time to repent. St. Rita spends much of her prayers for her husband and sons concerned about their final state, not their current state. The emphasis of the final state is shown in the the Gerontikon cited in Hypothesis II as a elder is asked the question of a monk and a layman's intentions left unfulfilled, the Elder responds, "The monk died as a monk and the layman a layman; for whatever their state at the moment of death, so they departed this world."

All monastics are expected to go through robust testing prior to their entrance to the monastery (Hypothesis XXVI). St. Rita persistently attempted to enter into the convent of the Augustinian nuns but each time she was refused. The Augustinian nuns would not permit widows entrance. But St. John the Baptist, St. Augustine, and St. Nicholas of Tolentino appeared to Rita leading her to the convent of Cascia with its bolted doors. With a simple touch, the doors opened and the nuns were astonished to find Rita within their midst. They accepted her into the convent.

"In her religious life, Rita excelled in the perfect observance of her Rule and the holy vows, in charity for God and her sisters, in profound humility and sacrificial labour. Love of our suffering Saviour urged Rita to perform heroic penances. She possessed the spirit of prayer and contemplation in a high degree. In her cell she devised a little mountain with a cross to remind her of our Saviour's torments in his Passion. With tearful compassion she followed our Lord, in spirit, to Calvary and to death." (St. Rita of Cascia)

Although there is more to say about this pious woman, I will end on this note as the primary point is to show the echoes of the spirituality of the desert fathers within the life of St. Rita of Cascia. Her greatest virtue was obedience, even in things she did not desire. She was given over wholly to the Will of God. This is what led to her husband's repentance and then to her sons' salvation from vengeance. This is what greatly improved her life in the convent of Augustinian nuns. He wishes to be a monk is not entitled to have his will in anything so she who wishes to be a nun is not entitled to have her will in anything. St. Rita wholly surrendered her will to the Divine Will of God.

Historicism Debunked, Pt. 5 - Origins of Futurism

It is fictitiously claimed by historicist conspiracy theorists that the origins of the doctrine of futurism were concocted by the Jesuit ministers of the Roman Catholic Church as a clever way to distract people from knowing "who the real Antichrist is". One such character who does this is a character we've seen in this series before. His site can be found here. It is quite clear from reading his sources on both preterism and futurism, the former we will tackle in the next article of this series, that he straw-mans both positions! Futurism does not insist on the "resurrection" of a Roman Empire. Futurism rather holds the postulation, historically Rome has not been divided up into ten kings and the Roman Empire may not have actually fallen to begin with as even Spain can claim legitimacy to the Roman Imperial Throne due to its connections with the Habsburgs. We established this position in the previous entry.

He contends that the Futurist school was created out of "panic" as the Pope was being exposed as the Antichrist as Martin Luther and the Reformers began "exposing" the Pope as the true Antichrist that Scriptures identified. Let alone, they can't even tell you which Pope was the Antichrist! But that's beside the point, the historicist school says the Papacy as an office is the Antichrist conflating its ecclesiastical role with the role of the Church played by those operating mostly independent of the Papacy and confusing its role as a secular role as opposed to a religious role. Thus, the historicist argument continues to be void of actual historical substance to back it up. I always found it rather odd that the Papacy even lacks a military. One could say the Swiss Guard is their military but that's more of a body-guard unit of Swiss soldiers. In fact, among the requirements to being in the Swiss guard is that you have to be Swiss. That's not a Papal militia but a secular militia supplied by an independent sovereign. Historicism can never make up its mind as to whether the Papacy is the Beast or the Whore of Babylon. Some say the entire Catholic Church led by the Papacy is the Whore of Babylon. Maybe the reason why historicism is such a bungled mess of interpretation has less to do with the book of Revelation being difficult but rather because the historicist school belongs in the trash-bin of history.

So the Pope, now freaking out (allegedly) because he was identified as the Biblical Antichrist got this guy named Francisco Ribera. The rest of the article's polemics is actually a bit humorous so let me quote it:

"Like Martin Luther, Francisco Ribera also read by candlelight the prophecies about the Antichrist, the Beast, the little horn and that man of sin. But because the Pope was his boss, he came to conclusions vastly different from that of the Protestants. “Why, these prophecies don’t apply to the Catholic Church at all!” Ribera said. Then to whom do they apply? Ribera proclaimed, “To only one sinister man who will rise up at the end of time!” “Fantastic!” was the reply from Rome, and this viewpoint was quickly adopted as the official Roman Catholic position on the Antichrist."

Thus, Ribera is now the "father of Futurism". Only this is wrong. Very wrong. Futurism actually had a very strong history in the Roman Catholic Church prior to the Protestant Reformation. It goes back to St. Irenaeus of Lyons. St. Irenaeus was the disciple of St. Ignatius who was a disciple of St. John, the one who wrote the Apocalypse. This is why the futurist school has maintained weight even with a position that the Olivet Discourse was entirely fulfilled (though most Furturists contend the Olivet Discourse was not entirely fulfilled). We'll go back to different preterist schools in another post though. For now, we will look at the classical futurist position developed by St. Irenaeus.

In Against Heresies, St. Irenaeus interprets the four beasts in Daniel 7 as Babylon, Medo-Persia, Macedonia, and Rome (Bk. V, ch. 26). St. Irenaeus describes the fall of the Roman Empire particularly as "The ten toes, therefore, are these ten kings, among whom the kingdom shall be partitioned, of whom some indeed shall be strong and active, or energetic; others, again, shall be sluggish and useless, and shall not agree" (ibid). On the number 666, St. Irenaeus has this to say:

"the name Evanthas (ΕΥΑΝΘΑΣ) contains the required number, but I make no allegation regarding it. Then also Lateinos (ΛΑΤΕΙΝΟΣ) has the number six hundred and sixty-six; and it is a very probable [solution], this being the name of the last kingdom [of the four seen by Daniel]. For the Latins are they who at present bear rule: I will not, however, make any boast over this [coincidence]. Teitan too, (ΤΕΙΤΑΝ, the first syllable being written with the two Greek vowels ε and ι, among all the names which are found among us, is rather worthy of credit. For it has in itself the predicted number, and is composed of six letters, each syllable containing three letters; and [the word itself] is ancient, and removed from ordinary use; for among our kings we find none bearing this name Titan, nor have any of the idols which are worshipped in public among the Greeks and barbarians this appellation. Among many persons, too, this name is accounted divine, so that even the sun is termed Titan by those who do now possess [the rule]."

Clearly, St. Irenaeus holds the interpretation of Daniel 7 as being a literal division of ten kings and one man coming to uproot three of the kingdoms possessed by those ten kings. But he holds Antichrist as a literal man, not an "office" of the Papacy. The Papacy was of course alive and active in the days of St. Irenaeus and St. Irenaeus even has a list of the prominent Popes in order to prove Apostolic Succession! (Bk. 3, ch. III) So the Papacy did not arise from obscurity as this little horn did.

St. Hippolytus follows St. Irenaeus and writes this of the ten horns:

"As these things, then, are in the future, and as the ten toes of the image are equivalent to (so many) democracies, and the ten horns of the fourth beast are distributed over ten kingdoms, let us look at the subject a little more closely, and consider these matters as in the clear light of a personal survey." (On Christ and Antichrist)

And of course, this is futurist thinking. The Barbarian kingdoms, though uncivilized, were monarchies, not democracies. Thus, the division into ten horns could not be the division of the Western Half in 476! Further, Sts. Hippolytus and Irenaeus are indeed thinking holistically of the Roman Empire. It is difficult to tell whether they would have thought the Holy Roman Empire the legitimate succession but they would have definitely acknowledged the legitimacy of Constantine's successors! Of course, if historicism is merely the position that Biblical prophecy unfolds throughout history, then technically all of the early church's positions on the subject are historicist. Because they felt the collapse of Rome was to come and that it would be divided into ten kingdoms. This was a prophecy in the making.

The Ven. Bede also maintains a futurist approach in his Explanation of the Apocalypse and we can see a clear depiction of the reign of Antichrist as futuristic in St. Hildegard of Bingen's Scivias (Bk. 3, Vision 11). All of these came long before St. Robert Cardinal Bellarmine and Francisco Ribera so to say that the origins of futurism lie with the Jesuits is an intellectually dishonest and deceitful abuse and misunderstanding of historical theology on this subject.

Blessed Margaret of Lorraine, Duchess of Alençon

Blessed Margaret of Lorraine married René, Duke of Alençon at the age of 25 in the year 1488. She would bear the Duke three children in their four years of marriage as he reposed in the year 1492. Left a widow, she would take charge of much of the duchy of Alençon as well as the charge she already held of her children. She also arranged the marriage of her younger daughter Anne to William IX Paleologos, the Marquis of Montferrat. While her son was still a minor, "she ruled the duchy so capably that when her children came of age, their inheritance had increased over and above what had been left at the time of their father's death." (Joan Carroll Cruz, The Incorruptibles, 135)

It was during the early part of her widowhood that she had come under the instruction of St. Francis of Paola and developed an interest in living an ascetical life. When she was relieved of the duties to her children, she did end up pursuing the monastic life. She first joined the Franciscan Third Order and established a convent in Argentan for Poor Clare nuns. She would eventually take on the habit in 1519 and, though she would be offered it, refused the honor of being the abbess. In this, she humiliated herself greatly as she held the state honor of a Duchess but then would become a Sister. For the first shall be last and the last shall be first. This became her life.

When her body was exhumed in 1792, a "skeletal body was wrapped in thin cloth and transferred to the Church of St. Germain in Argentan" and the  casket held "a small reliquary that contained the heart of the saint" (ibid). But among the crimes of the traitors in 1793 included the desecration of the body of the saint as it was thrown into a common graveyard. Currently, only a few bones and the heart survive of the relics of this saint. As the Church has never been without its unsavory politicians, it wasn't until 1921 that this pious woman was finally beatified by Pope Benedict XV. Her daughter Anne would follow up her own political career by entering into a convent of Dominican Sisters of Catherine of Siena.

The Pious Queen Etheldreda

St. Etheldreda is a model for royalty. It is typical among the holy monarchs, not to seek the earthly glory and power they are given but to conscientiously ascend forward as they become ever mindful of their trust and dependence on God. In a democracy, the political elite are duped into believing their power comes from the people and they seek nothing or little to do with God. Whereas the holy monarchs set us an example for how rulers are to govern according to humility. For this pious queen, lording over people was never something she sought. Rather, she desired to give up her possessions and pursue a much a higher status than the queenly status she held in the secular world. She was born to King Anna and Queen Hereswide of England.

She desired to remain a virgin but her parents married her for political reasons to the Prince Tonchbert, "the ruler of a territory bordering her father's" (Joan Carroll Cruz, The Incorruptibles, 8). But he respected her vow to remain a virgin. After three years, she was widowed. She was then married yet again at age 30 to King Egfrid, who was estimated to be around 16 (9). Despite the advice of her confessor and the desires of her husband, she persisted in remaining a virgin.

"She had long requested the king, that he would permit her to lay aside worldly cares, and to serve only the true King, Christ, in a monastery; and having at length with difficulty prevailed, she went as a nun into the monastery of the Abbess Ebba, who was aunt to King Egfrid, at the place called the city Coludi, having taken the veil from the hands of the aforesaid Bishop Wilfrid; but a year after she was herself made abbess in the country called Ely, where, having built a monastery, she began, by works and examples of a heavenly life, to be the virgin mother of very many virgins dedicated to God." (Ven. Bede, History of the English People, ch. XIX)

It is to be further mentioned that upon prophesying her repose from the plague and having been buried for 16 years, her sister, Sexburga, according to the chronicle of the Ven. Bede, states that her body was found "free from corruption as if she had died and been buried on that very day". This virgin who remarkably was married twice, retained her virginity in accordance to her wishes, and was found remaining incorrupt even after death!

It is in this act that we finally see the Holy Virgin reach the heights of her earthly glory which would eventually lead to her Heavenly glory. The power of the secular state today says that the only thing that matters is the material world. The sacral monarchy shows the monarch as never fully complete in the lofty life of the secular governance until they excel to the pious and religious life. How many other monarchs have we seen do this? Certainly St. Elizabeth of Hungary and the Empress Eudocia of Russia, wife of Prince Dmitry Donskoy, who wrapped her body in chains after his death. Certainly, one could make the statement that these were just queens who saw their kings repose, but they did not cling to their king's stately honor, for they knew the monarchy was to be respected by its obedience to the Church. It is in their actions of humility, pursuing not earthly power but heavenly glory, that the argument for divine right monarchy is sustained. A divine right monarchy upholds humility while a democratic mob breeds arrogance and buffonery.