Coronation of Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor

On Christmas Day, 800 took place the principal event in the life of Charles. During the pontifical Mass celebrated by the pope, as the king knelt in prayer before the high altar beneath which lay the bodies of Sts. Peter and Paul, the pope approached him, placed upon his head the imperial crown, did him formal reverence after the ancient manner, saluted him as Emperor and Augustus and anointed him, while the Romans present burst out with the acclamation, thrice repeated: "To Carolus Augustus crowned by God, mighty and pacific emperor, be life and victory" It is certain that Charles constantly attributed his imperial dignity to an act of God, made known of course through the agency of the Vicar of Christ.

Jhesu+Marie,
de Brantigny

Joyeux Noël !

La naissance de Jésus, Lumière du monde-The Birth of Jesus, Light of the world

Jean 1,1-14.

Au commencement était le Verbe, et le Verbe était en Dieu, et le Verbe était Dieu.
Il était au commencement en Dieu.
Tout par lui a été fait, et sans lui n'a été fait rien de ce qui existe.
En lui était la vie, et la vie était la lumière des hommes,
Et la lumière luit dans les ténèbres, et les ténèbres ne l'ont point reçue.

Il y eut un homme, envoyé de Dieu; son nom était Jean.
Celui-ci vint en témoignage, pour rendre témoignage à la lumière, afin que tous crussent par lui:
non que celui-ci fût la lumière, mais il avait à rendre témoignage à la lumière.
La lumière, la vraie, celle qui éclaire tout homme, venait dans le monde.
Il ( le Verbe) était dans le monde, et le monde par lui a été fait, et le monde ne l'a pas connu.

Il vint chez lui, et les siens ne l'ont pas reçu.
Mais quant à tous ceux qui l'ont reçu, Il leur a donné le pouvoir de devenir enfants de Dieu, à ceux qui croient en son nom,
Qui non du sang, ni de la volonté de la chair, ni de la volonté de l'homme, mais de Dieu sont nés.

Et le Verbe s'est fait chair, et il a habité parmi nous, (et nous avons vu sa gloire, gloire comme celle qu'un fils unique tient de son Père) tout plein de grâce et de vérité.

Gospel of John, 1-14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to give testimony of the light, that all men might believe through him. He was not the light, but was to give testimony of the light. That was the true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, he gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in his name. Who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke all begin with the Birth of the Saviour, but as we see, the Gospel of John remindes us that even at the beginning of time there was Jesus. Gods Mercy and Love is so great that from the beginning he planned on our Salvation.

The following is the text of Fr Tim's Sermon for today at Our Lady of the Rosary, Blackfen

Christ leads us to heaven

The Lord said to me “You are my Son” this day have I begotten You. (Ps 2.7)The lovely traditional carol with which we began our vigil for Christmas, “Once in royal David’s city” sings our faith in the mystery of this great feast day:

He came down to earth from heaven Who is God and Lord of all.

The eternal Word of God, born of the Father before time began, is now born in human flesh of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who herself was chosen by God and preserved free from original sin to be His immaculate Mother.The carols also tell us the purpose for which Our Lord descended in humility to be with us in human form:

And our eyes at last shall see himthrough his own redeeming love,for that child so dear and gentle is our Lord in heaven above;and he leads his children onto the place where he is gone.

“His children” refers to all of us. In the presence of the Most High God, we are all children and do well to come before him in humility. “The place where he is gone” is, of course, heaven, the place from which He came. Forty days after His resurrection, on the day we celebrate as the feast of the Ascension, Christ returned to heaven, being visibly taken from the sight of the apostles.

There, in heaven, he eternally intercedes for us. The sacrifice of which he first made offering at the Last Supper, and consummated with His death on the Cross, is a prayer that never ends. In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, that prayer, that sacrifice, is made present on our altar through the sacred ritual offered at the hands of the priest who shares sacramentally in the ministerial priesthood of Christ, the great High Priest.

Put simply, the purpose of the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas is to enable us to go to heaven. That is also the purpose of our lives, the reason we are put here. God made us to know Him, love Him and serve Him in this world and to be happy with Him for ever in the next.

We do well, therefore to consider what heaven is. In a world which routinely misunderstands our faith at best and ridicules or blasphemes it at worst, we can easily have our idea of heaven obscured or trivialised. This is a great evil because it impugns one of the most important motives for living a good and holy life and exercising charity to our neighbour – even towards our enemies as Christ taught us.

Here on earth, one of the purest joys that we can experience is to see the happiness of someone that we love. This is the reason that we give gifts to each other – to make someone happy and to enjoy their happiness. In heaven, the joy of the saints is to rejoice in the perfect goodness, beauty and perfection of almighty God, to experience his joy which is infinite and overflowing – the sentence Our Lord told us would be uttered to the blessed at the last judgement is “Come, you blessed of my Father. Enter into the joy of your Lord.” (Matt 25.21)

St Alphonsus therefore says

“Among all the acts of love to God, there is no act of love more perfect than taking delight in the infinite happiness which God enjoys. This is certainly the continual exercise of the blessed in heaven; so that he who often rejoices in the happiness of God begins in this life to do that which he hopes to do in heaven through all eternity.”

Such a prayer is the prayer of adoration from which all our other prayers properly flow. In this life, since we do not have the certainty which the saints have, of never losing the love of God, such adoration is mingled with a holy fear. We are aware of our weakness and the possibility of losing God’s grace. We are also aware of sins unexpiated which make us unworthy to be in His presence.

Our life’s work is to persevere in the grace of God, humbly asking Him to have mercy on us, to assist us to avoid sin, conquer temptation, do penance, and show generous charity to our neighbour. The beautiful feast of Christmas teaches us that there is nothing that God will not do to assist us and to bring us to heaven. He even came down from heaven to be a little child, to teach us, to found a Church to bring us the sacraments, to give himself to us in the Holy Eucharist, to suffer and die for us, and to ascend again to heaven so that we have a sure path to eternal happiness.

The salutation “Happy Christmas” is therefore filled with a great significance. We wish one another the joy of a blessed life in following Our Lord here on earth and the joy of eternal blessedness in that heaven which He came to win for us.

Jheus + Marie!

de Brantigny

The Myth of Medieval Child Brides

By Nicholas Wansbutter, Esq.

Author's Note: A version of this article originally appeared in Issue #12 of "Convictions", 480 Mckenzie Street, Winnipeg, MB, R2W 5B9. Tel: 204-589-0759 Fax: 204-589-0639. Your support of this good Catholic magazine, produced by the S.S.P.X Canadian District, would be appreciated.

...In this article I will examine perhaps the second-favourite ahistorical chestnut propagated by “popular culture” (the first being that Mediaevals had bad hygiene): the myth that young girls under the age of ten were routinely forced to marry much older men. It is true that, canonically, girls were considered by Holy Mother Church eligible to marry as young as 12 years old, and boys as young and 14.[1] However, this doesn’t mean that everyone was indeed married at the minimum age. We can use common sense to discern this, since even today Church law allows for marriage at these same ages, yet few marry that young. Furthermore, we’ve already disproved part of the myth since marriage to a girl under 12 was illegal and invalid... more...

Thanks and a tip of the beret to Nicholas.

Note: My ancestor Anne Hayot a native of Quebec, was married to Étienne De Nevers Sieur de Brantigny native of Champagne on 28 October 1652. She was born on 26 July 1640, and he was born during 1627. She was 12. She had her first child at 14.

Dieu Le Roy!
de Brantigny

La Mémorial des Martyrs de La Déportation

Elisa, a reader of my article "Au revoir les enfants", wrote "...While in Paris on summer study aboard 4 years ago, I came across the Deportation Memorial behind Notre Dame Catherdal. It was an accidental find--it's in a somewhat out of the way location. There's someone at the above ground gate who tells visitors before descending not to take photos and turn off your cell phone. Looking at all the lights for every French victim who was deported and never returned makes the visit a somber one... This comment lead me to post this short article.

The Memorial to the Martyrs of the Deportation is in a quiet garden, the Square d'Ile de France, at the eastern end of Ile de la Cité. The island upon which stands the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris.


It is located directly behind the Cathedral of Notre Dame, the Square Jean XXIII, and across the street, Quai de l'Archevéché.

The entrance is simply a descending stairway on the south-east side of the garden. Alongside is a low, white stone wall defining the edge of the Square. Inscribed in red on this low wall are these words:

1940 AUX DEUX CENT MILLE MORTS DANS LES CAMPS MARTYRS FRANCAIS DE LA DEPORTATION 1945

In English: 1940 To the Two Hundred Thousand Deaths in the Camps French Martyrs of the Deportation 1945

This monument was designed by the architect Georges Henri Pingusson and inaugurated by President Charles de Gaulle April 12, 1962.

It memorializes the 160,000 people who were deported from France to the concentration camps between 1940-1945, 85,000 of whom were political activists, resistance fighters, homosexuals and gypsies.

76,000 of them were Jews, including 11,000 children. Only 2,500 of those deported survived.

This Memorial to the Martyrs of the Deportation was designed to represent features of the concentration camps; narrow passages, tight stairways, spiked gates and restricted views with no sight of the horizon.

Inside, inscribed on the walls, are texts and poems of Robert Desnos, Louis Aragon, Paul Eluard, Jean-Paul Sartre and Antoine de St. Exupéry.

The black triangles embedded in the walls and inscribed with the names of the death camps contain soil and the ashes of the victims from those camps.
The Hall of Remembrance is lined with 160,000 pebbles. It represents the Jewish tradition of placing a stone on the grave of a loved one.

Memorial to the Martyrs of the Deportation Hours

The Memorial to the Martyrs of the Deportation is open daily from 10 a.m.-noon, and again from 2 p.m.-7 p.m. during April- September. The rest of the year, the Memorial closes at 5 p.m. There is no admission fee. Appropriate attire is requested as well as your cell phone being turned off.

Thank you Elisa.

Jhesu + Marie,
de Brantigny

White Rose Society

Fr Tim Finigan Parish priest of Our Lady of the Rosary, Blackfen has posted at his blog The Hermeneutic of Continuity. a redirect from John Smeaton about the Anti-Nazi resistance group called the White Rose (1). This non-violent group of students and their professor printed and distributed anti-Nazi tracts from June 1942 to February 1943. The six core members were captured by the Nazis and were beheaded. All of these were influenced by their moral teachings.

“Isn’t it true that every honest German is ashamed of his government these days? Who among us can imagine the degree of shame that will come upon us and our children when the veil falls from our faces and the awful crimes that infinitely exceed any human measure are exposed to the light of day?” — From the first leaflet of the White Rose.

The courage of these youths is especially appropriate for today, in a time when abortion may be had at any time, when Christian morality is ridiculed, and at a time when euthanasia is permitted by law in some countries.

This week the film Valkyrie will come out in theatres. While I welcome the films theme, it is a film which will portray the violence in the attempted tyrannicide of Hitler by Claus Graf von Stauffenberg. How much more inspiring is the story of these few who chose to stand up to oppression non violently?

The words of the White Rose echo down to us today.

“ Since the conquest of Poland three hundred thousand Jews have been murdered in this country in the most bestial way … The German people slumber on in their dull, stupid sleep and encourage these fascist criminals … Each man wants to be exonerated of a guilt of this kind, each one continues on his way with the most placid, the calmest conscience. But he cannot be exonerated; he is guilty, guilty, guilty!" — From the second leaflet of the White Rose.

Today this might read: “Since the 1973 1.37 million babies have been murdered in this country in the most bestial way … The people slumber on in their dull, stupid sleep and encourage these criminals … Each man wants to be exonerated of a guilt of this kind, each one continues on his way with the most placid, the calmest conscience. But he cannot be exonerated; he is guilty, guilty, guilty!"

Fr Tim ends his article, All these years later, it is apposite to compare the White Flower campaign of SPUC to the White Rose campaign of the resistance within Nazi Germany. They were working in very different times, certainly; but the parallels are most striking.

In the Nazi Germany of the 40's, dissidents were hunted down. Those who would not conform to the ideology were suppressed brutally, as here with 6 beheadings. Today if one challenges a woman's so called "right" to abortion or any other immoral practice one is labeled as backward, or homophobic, or anti-abortion, or biased, or racist, or simply as intolerant. This is our "beheading". This is the Christian's modern persecution. This is how the liberal minority tries to silence us. We must not sleep. We must be awake to the evil that surround us. We must choose Christ. There is no other way.

Thanks to Father Tim in Blackfen.

Jhesu+Marie.
de Brantigny

Photo Description: Photograph of a student resistance movement called the White Rose, active in Germany during the Third Reich. The image shows Christoph Probst (left), Sophie Scholl (center), and Hans Scholl (right)(Willi Graf and Alex Schmorell are missing on this picture), Munich, Germany, 1942. Photograph from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

(1) Although Wikipedia is used as a reference herein, care must be exersized when reading entries there, as it is known that some groups who do not agree with material have been known to edit entries to mislead the reader. The entry used here is consistant with the facts as of this date, 22 Dec 2008.

Fight FOCA

Christine has posted this on her site, Laudem Gloriae about FOCA. The Freedom of Choice Act is "...a measure that will codify Roe v. Wade and guarantee the right to choose for future generations of women..."(a)

The Obama website has posted a 55-page document issued by pro-abortion groups, whose top priority is signing FOCA into law. The site is open for comment; add yours to the cacophany. (There are, pleasantly enough, an overwhelming number of pro-life comments.)(As of about 10:00 the Obama site has taken down the entry. No comments must mean everybody supports them even if they have to make it appear that way.)

The most recent wording of FOCA is this...

“A government may not (1) deny or interfere with a woman’s right to choose – (A) to bear a child; (B) to terminate a pregnancy prior to viability; or (C) to terminate a pregnancy after viability where termination is necessary to protect the life or health of the woman; or (2) discriminate against the exercise of the rights set forth in paragraph (1) in the regulation or provision of benefits, facilities, services, or information.(b)

Ever ask yourself why abortion is so important to them? It can only be that they are agents of satan. At this time of year it is especially worthy to remember that Herod had the children killed too. Satan continues to parody the life of Christ, even to killing the children as Herod did.

(a)NARAL
(b)Catholic Online

Jhesu+Marie
de Brantigny

Bóg się rodzi - God is born

A Polish traditional Christmas carol from 18th century; words by Franciszek Karpiński; music by Karol Kurpiński; performed by the Polish folk group Mazowsze

Polish version

Bóg sie rodzi, moc truchleje,
pan Niebiosów obnażony,
ogień krzepnie, blask ciemnieje
ma granice Nieskończony!
wzgardzony, okryty chwałą,
śmiertelny król nad wiekami
a słowo ciałem się stalo
i mieszkało między nami!
Podnieś rączkę Boże Dziecie,
błogosław ojczyzne miłą
W dobrych radach, w dobrym bycie
wspieraj jej siłę swą siłą
Dom nasz i majętność całą
i wszystkie wioski z miastami
a słowo ciałem się stało i mieszkało między nami!

English version

God is born man's might is amazed;
the Lord of heaven empties himself!
The fire subsides,
the splendour is veiled
the Infinite is encompassed.
Scorned, yet clothed with glory,
the mortal King of the ages.
And the Word become flesh and dwelt among us!
Raise your hand divine Child!
Bless our dear country with good counsel
and well-being
Sustain their strength with your own
Bless our home, our fields
and all the villages and towns
And the Word become flesh and dwelt among us

Jhesu+Marie
de Brantigny

Petit papa noël par Josh Groban

Petit papa noel

C'est la belle nuit de noel
La neige étend son manteau blanc
Et les yeux levés vers le ciel
A genoux les petits enfants
Avant de fermer les paupières
Font une dernière prière
Petit papa noel
Quand tu descendras du ciel
Avec des jouets par milliers
N'oublie pas mon petit soulier
Mais avant de partir
Il faudra bien te couvrir
Dehors tu vas avoir si froid
C'est un peu à cause de moi
Il me tarde tant que le jour se lève
Pour voir si tu m'as apporté
Tous les beaux joujoux que je vois en rêve
Et que je t'ai commandés
Petit papa noel
Quand tu descendras du ciel
Avec des jouets par milliers
N'oublie pas mon petit soulier
Et quand tu seras sur ton beau nuage
Viens d'abord sur notre maison
Je n'ai pas été tous les jours très sage
Mais j'en demande pardon
Petit papa noel
Quand tu descendras du ciel
Avec des jouets par milliers
N'oublie pas mon petit soulier
Petit papa noel

Bonne fête!
de Brantigny

Au revoir les enfants

I am reviewing a film which takes place in France during World War II. The occupation was a frightful time and should linger long in the hearts and very soul of the French nation.

After France was overrun by the Nazis, the nation was cut in two, part Occupied France and part Vichy. Vichy was presided over by the hero of Verdun, Marechal Petain.

Mark Amesse writes of Marechal Petain...

"...Had he been a secular liberal like his successor, Charles de Gaulle, I'm quite certain that rather being condemned to death for collaboration, the founders of the Fifth French Republic would have merely characterised him as a good man who did what he could in impossible circumstances..."

This article does not seek to justify Vichy, nor does it seek to bring up old wounds. I seek to only review a film, the background of which the reader should be aware.

Au revoir les enfants is a film about a class of boys in a Carmelite school set in Vichy (I am led to this belief as a scene of the film portrays Vichy milice making a surprise identity check.)

A student, Julien Quentin befriends a new boy in the school called Jean Bonnet, who in reality is

Jean Kippelstein, a Jew. The priest at the school have been hiding Jewish boys at the school to prevent them from being rounded up by the milice and Nazis and sent to a concentration camp.

This is an excellent film. this is the story of sacrafice. I tis the story of the stuggles of the students to maintain an affected ignorance all the while knowing some of their classmates are Jewish boys in secret. Julien could not have known the horrors of the concentration camp yet knowing the Nazis wanted his friend Jean Bonnet was enough for him to resist, even if in a small way. This is the story of a short friendship, the type of which one can recall for the rest of ones life.

This is a true story based on the early life of writer and director Louis Malle, who experienced these events during the war. They left an indelible image on his soul and the viewer will come away marked as well.

The film is in French with English subtitles, which the mind quickly adapts to so that the flow of the film is not lost.

Fairwell to childhood. May we never suffer though times like those again.

Jhesu+Marie

de Brantigny

We are coming Santa!

My dogs love the Christmas season. This year they feared that Santa Claus would not make it to their dog houses with that yearly bone which they love so well. So two of them, Coco our female chocolate lab/sheep dog/mutt,(left) and Benedict our male, (right) bloodhound/Rottweiler (a bloodwieler or Rotthund, or just plain-"Ol" big honking dog) decided to take matters into their own paws (as it were) and volunteer to help Santa by augmenting the sleigh. I think they will hardly be noticed...

Brantigny

The Holy Infant Face of Jesus

Sister Marie St. Pierre’s last revelation, made to her early in April, 1848, three months before her death, is as follows:

“…Our Lord made known to me that many pious souls meditate upon the humiliations of His Passion, but few think of the abasements of His Infancy. He wished me to dwell on these in order to oppose the spirit of pride, ambition and independence, the poverty of the Crib and the captivity of the swaddling clothes.

Left, Sr Marie St Pierre

“I understand that the little Face of the Infant Jesus, unknown and covered with tears in the Crib, is an oblation as valuable and precious as the Face of Our Lord despised and covered with Blood on the Cross….I offer this Divine Child to the Eternal Father to appease His wrath: ‘Eternal Father, I offer Thee the adorable Face of the Infant Jesus to pay off our debts.’”

Below: St.Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face

From the Little Manual of the Confraternity of the Holy Face

Compiled from Approved Sources
by the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Buffalo, N.Y. 1960

Nihil obstat: Stanislaus J. Brzana, S.T.D.
Imprimatur: + Josephus Aloisius Burke, Episcopus Buffalensis
Die 29 Augusti, 1960

Thanks to Byron Bullock who graces my page from time to time with some good devotionals.

Bon Noël! Jhesu + Marie!
de Brantigny

Loreena McKennitt- Un flambeau, Jeannette, Isabelle

"Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella" (French: Un flambeau, Jeannette, Isabelle) is a Christmas carol which originated from the Provence region of France in the 16th century. The song is unique among Christmas carols in that it is in 3/8 time.

The carol was first published in 1553 in France, and was subsequently translated into English in the 18th century. The song was originally not a song to be sung at Christmas, but rather dance music for French nobility.

The carol tells the story of two milkmaids, Jeanette and Isabella, who went to milk their cows in a manger in Bethlehem, only to find the baby Jesus sleeping in the hay. The two girls ran to town to tell the village of the coming of Christ, and the townspeople came with their own torches to view the sight for themselves. However, they had to keep their voices down so little Jesus could enjoy his dreams.

To this day in the Provence region, children dress up as shepherds and milkmaids, carrying torches and candles to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, while singing the carol.

The painter Georges de La Tour painted a nativity scene based on the carol.

Un flambeau, Jeanette, Isabelle --
Un flambeau! Courons au berceau!
C'est Jésus, bonnes gens du hameau.
Le Christ est né; Marie appelle!
Ah! Ah! Ah! Que la Mère est belle,
Ah! Ah! Ah! Que l'Enfant est beau!
C'est un tort, quand l'Enfant sommeille,
C'est un tort de crier si fort.
Taisez-vous, l'un et l'autre, d'abord!
Au moindre bruit, Jésus s'éveille.
Chut! chut! chut! Il dort à merveille,
Chut! chut! chut! Voyez comme il dort!
Doucement, dans l'étable close,
Doucement, venez un moment!
Approchez! Que Jésus est charmant!
Comme il est blanc! Comme il est rose!
Do! Do! Do! Que l'Enfant repose!
Do! Do! Do! Qu'il rit en dormant!

Bonne Noël! Jhesu + Marie!
de Brantigny,

Lyrics and information are from the net.

Il est né le divin enfant

Mon chant de noël français préféré.
de Brantigny

Refrain:
Il est né le divin enfant,
Jouez hautbois, résonnez musettes !
Il est né le divin enfant,
Chantons tous son avènement !

Depuis plus de quatre mille ans,
Nous le promettaient les prophètes
Depuis plus de quatre mille ans,
Nous attendions cet heureux temps.

Refrain

Ah ! Qu'il est beau, qu'il est charmant !
Ah ! que ses grâces sont parfaites !
Ah ! Qu'il est beau, qu'il est charmant !
Qu'il est doux ce divin enfant !

Refrain

Une étable est son logement
Un peu de paille est sa couchette,
Une étable est son logement
Pour un dieu quel abaissement !

Refrain

Partez, grands rois de l'Orient !
Venez vous unir à nos fêtes
Partez, grands rois de l'Orient !
Venez adorer cet enfant !

Refrain

Il veut nos coeurs, il les attend :
Il est pour faire leur conquête
Il veut nos coeurs, il les attend :
Donnons-les lui donc promptement !

Refrain

O Jésus ! O Roi tout-puissant
Tout petit enfant que vous êtes,
O Jésus ! O Roi tout-puissant,
Régnez sur nous entièrement !

Refrain