It Started

I feel I have to mark this moment: 11pm on the 4th August 1914, when Britain declared war on Germany and the First World War began for us. Thousands of Irish men fought in the British army, which was at that time our army and our country, and many of them died defending not just King and country, but for the cause of freedom. My great-grandfather was among them, thankfully he survived, but he bore the scars of battle for the rest of his life.

Their noble gesture was made in the light of the crazy refusal of powerful men to talk to each other, to find a peaceful way of resolving their differences, a great refusal which led to the deaths of millions. Pope Benedict XV pleaded with the warring factions, they ignored him. When Blessed Charles of Austria became Emperor of Austria he sought to make peace, to end the war, they ignored him too. Peace was rendered mute.

There are many lessons to be learned, we haven't learned them yet. But let us remember in prayer all those souls who died in this bitter conflict. Among them heroic priests like Fr Willie Doyle who offered his life for those he served in the trenches, dying a martyr of charity. And we must not forget that nobility and courage was to be found among those the allies were fighting, we remember them too.

Sir Edward, later Lord, Grey, Foreign Secretary, famously said that with the outbreak of this war "The lamps are going out all over Europe. We shall not see them lit again in our lifetime". Tonight people are extinguishing lamps and candles to mark the beginning of the war. I'm not so sure about that. Perhaps we should be lighting them again - why withdraw into darkness as we remember the horrors of war? Rather should we not come out into the light, and spread that light throughout the world so peace can speak in the light rather than be muffled in the darkness?

Let us pray for all those who died: 

Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord, 

and let perpetual light shine upon them, 

may they rest in peace. Amen.

Blessed Charles of Austria, pray for us

Fr Willie Doyle, pray for us

Blessed Peacemaker

Today is the feast of Blessed Karl of Austria - the last emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, who tried to broker peace during the First World War.  He was a true peacemaker, but suffered for it.  Refusing to renounce his crown because he saw it not as an honour, but as vocation of service to his people, the allies and new regime in Austria sent him into exile, eventually putting him on the island of Madeira where he died in 1922.  He was accompanied by his faithful wife, the Empress Zita, who is now also being considered for sainthood.  Those who knew him recognised his holiness, and his desire to offer his life in service for his people.  He was treated shamefully by the allies, a good man who fell victim an unjust desire for vengeance, a vengeance which would eventually be a major cause of the Second World War.

Blessed Karl has been occupying my thoughts since my visit to Vienna this summer.  In fact I am developing a devotion to him.  He is a wonderful model for Christian men - for politicians, yes; but most importantly for husbands and fathers.  He had no interest in worldly honours, he saw himself called to a duty and a responsibility - that of a father to his people, and he sought to fulfill that responsibility as faithfully as he could.  That he should find himself in the middle of one of history's most contentious periods was providential because he reveals how a Christian should respond.  He was the only ruler to heed Pope Benedict XV's calls for peace and he tried to implement the pope's plan for bringing the war to an end - he got nowhere because people were not prepared to listen - they had too much at stake - power and national pride. 

In a sense, I think Blessed Karl is a martyr of sorts - one who became an oblation for peace.  In exile he sensed that he was being called to offer his life for his people and for peace.  He spoke to Zita about it, and she discouraged him from making any such offering to the Lord knowing full well that it would be accepted.  He prayed intensely about it, and he was led to understand that is what God was asking.  Karl being Karl responded generously, and made an act of oblation, offering himself for his people and peace.  He died soon after.

He and his family lived in poverty in their exile, and for a time he was not allowed by his keepers  to go to Mass.  He and Zita were separated from their children and not allowed visit them - the children were eventually brought to Madeira.  He was loved by the people of the island, and he grew to love his exiled home.  When he died, his remains were buried in the church of Our Lady of Monte, where they rest to this day. There have been attempts to have his relics translated to Austria, but up to now they have failed.  Perhaps Blessed Karl, having found his last home with the people of Madeira, wants to stay with them, and so Austria, as it exiled its emperor has also lost a saint whose major sanctuary may remain among a foreign people who welcomed him as one of their own.  There is something biblical about that - the first and the last, the ones who take the places of others at the banquet....  His website is here.

His wife, the Servant of God, Zita, suffered a great deal after this death.  She moved to Spain, then, with Hitler on her heels, she had to flee across Europe, eventually finding a home in the US.  In 1982 she was allowed to return to Austria for a visit.  The government of Austria demanded that if she renounced her titles she could come home, she refused, but public pressure became too much for the government and they allowed her return.  She did not stay, and returned to Switzerland where she died in 1989.   Her remains were brought back to Vienna where, after a huge funeral in the cathedral, her remains were laid with the emperors and empresses in the crypt of the Capuchin church.   Read more about her here.

Wonderful footage of Blessed Karl and Empress Zita's wedding:

During World War I, a visit to Bolsano:



His arrival on Madeira: