A Shrine for Bl. Charles of Austria in Minnesota

Last Monday, October 21st, was the day appointed in the ecclesiastical calendar for the commemoration of Bl. Charles of Austria. 

Last year the New Liturgical Movement had an article by J.P.Sonnen about a new shrine to the Emperor that had been created in the parish church of St Agnes in St Paul, Minnesota. The parish was founded in 1887, which was coincidentally the year of the future Emperor’s birth, by immigrants from Austria-Hungary. The church as built in 1912 is very much in the Baroque architectural tradition of the Habsburg dominions, and the parish has maintained links with both Austria and the Imperial Family. Indeed the Gebetsliga and its work for the canonisation of the Emperor appears to be very active generally in the US.

The generously illustrated article can be seen at New Shrine Dedicated to Blessed Karl by Canning Liturgical Arts

Bl. Emperor Charles pray for us

Emperor Charles Novena

Today I began the Novena for the canonisation of Bl. Charles of Austria as part of the lead up to his feast day on October 21st. For convenience I have downloaded it to my mobile phone.

 

 Bl.Charles of Austria

Image:Wikipedia

The Novena and other prayers as well as a biography and background information together with a gallery of photographs can be found on the Emperor Karl League of Prayer website, at
emperorcharles.org/English/leagueofprayer_english.shtml

Bl.Emperor Karl commemorated by Juventutum in Washington

On The New Liturgical Movement website there is a post about the recent celebration on October 21st of an EF Mass at St. Mary, Mother of God Catholic Church in honour of Bl.Karl of Austria in Washington D.C.

The text is that of a talk given after the  Mass by Juventutem DC leader Daniela Petchik. This was delivered at a reception which followed the Mass, with speeches from H.I.R.H. Prince Bertrand of Orleans-Braganza, the Prince Imperial of Brazil (Vassouras Line), Raymond de Souza and by Daniela Petchik. Miss Petchik was kind enough to provide NLM with her own remarks, which serve as a thoughtful meditation not only on the life and witness of the Emperor but also about the traditional spirituality that Juventutum encourages amongst the young faithful.

The blog post with the speech can be read at Blessed Karl of Austria — Sanctity and Perfection in his Footsteps

Blessed Emperor Karl of Austria

Today is the appointed feast day of the Blessed Emperor Karl of Austria. The day was selected as it is the date of his wedding to the future Empress Zita in 1911, and their exemplary married life was recognised as part of his claim to beatification. This is covered on the official website for his cause at The Emperor Karl League of Prayers, and which has a biography, photographs and prayers for his canonization.

The Mad Monarchist blog has an illustrated profile of him at Blessed Emperor Charles I, and Roman Christendom has a blog post from 2008 which concentrates on the piety of the Emperor which can be read at The holy Peace Emperor: Feast Day of the Blessed Emperor Charles of Austria on 21 October. The blog Nobility and other Analogous Elites had a good post last year about him which can be read at Karl of Austria

The Coronation procession of Blessed Karl as King of Hungary in Budapest on December 30th 1916

Image: iwm.org.uk

The psalmody at several points in both Lauds and Vespers today, in the ordinary course of the psalter, appeared very apposite on a day I was observing for a beatified monarch, the successor of both Charlemagne, recognised as a beatus at least by the Catholic Church ( even if his canonisation was by an anti-Pope) and St Stephen of Hungary as founders of the Empire and of the Apostolic Kingdom.

Quite apart from his genuine attempts to end the war in 1917, if the Austro-Hungarian Empire had survived ,WAvoid tragic loss of life if empire had survived it would have by its very existence have been a means of preventing so much more dreadful bloodshed and misery for the peoples of Europe.

The Emperor in the uniform of a Field Marshal

The uniform mayhave been field-grey, but the plumes of the hat would be green. I assume the black arm-band is for the Emperor Francis Joseph.

Image: Mad Monarchist blogspot

Quinta do Monte in Madeira
The Emperor died here on April 1st 1922

Image:panoranio.com 

Novena for Bl. Emperor Karl

I have set up my mobile phone to give me the link to the Novena for the intercession and canonisation of Bl. Emperor Karl of Austria in the days leading up to his appointed feast day on October 21st.

The Emperor Karl

Image: newworldencyclopaedia.org

If you are interested in his story and his cause I would recommend the novena which can be found in the prayers section of the website of the Emperor Karl League of Prayer, and the readings provided are a telling insight into the life and spirituality of this good and tragic figure. The website of the League gives, amongst other features, an illustrated biography of the Emperor King.

There is an article about the Emperor from the blog of the Mad Monarchist here, and there are illustrated online biographies of him here and here.

Imperial monogram of Emperor Karl

Image: Wikipedia