Villanova Digital Library - Published. "Louis XVI: Lest We Forget." The Ave Maria. Pages 459-461.

Activate Javascript or update your browser for the full Digital Library experience. Next Page

Full Title	Published. "Louis XVI: Lest We Forget." The Ave Maria. Pages 459-461.
Author	Teresa Joseph, Sr.
Date Added	3 September 2014
Format	Article
Language	English
Publish Date	1937-04-10
Source	ACHS Elizabeth Sarah Kite.[Box 3, Folder 3, Item 9]
Topic	Louis XVI, King of France, 1754-1793.
About	More Details Permanent Link
Disclaimers	Disclaimer of Liability Disclaimer of Endorsement

OCR u My ,2 April 10, 1937 The last evening before landing in Plymouth, June Weston Rice said to her, “Helen, you w011’t stay long in Dub- lin. You’ve been such good company these years, I’m spoiled. I just lean on you.” “I want you to lean on me, Mother. I want you to lean on me always.” “You’re such a good girl. So loving; although you’re so smart, and I’m so stupid.” “Mother, if I ever again hear you call yourself stupid, I'll throw you over- board. Do you hear: overboard-into the sea.” And she knelt before her mother’s large comfortable chair, held her face within her hands. “You’re so sweet, so good! You've got sweeter and better with the years.” And the lonely woman cried quietly. “Mother, I’ll speak to Him-for you-in Dublin,” Helen whispered, her elbows on her mother’s lap, the wells of her eyes filling with tears. “To him? Is there a great heart specialist in Dublin?” “I mean Jesus.” “And is it for that you’re going? I don't know anything about religion or about Jesus; except that religion makes people queer. What do youmknow about Jesus?” Helen clasped her hands tight. “Mother, like you, I know nothing. But I'm going to ask Him to show Himself to me; and to tell me if He is, as He said He was-the Son of God. And Mother, I’ll ask Him to show Himself to you too-if He is the Son of God.” “Oh, Helen, you have a mind for it! It’s beyond me.” Next morning, saying good-bye in the same stateroom, Helen kissed her mother tenderly. And she whispered, “Mother, I'll ask Him to show Himself to us-eif He is the Son of God.” “Don't be long, dear. 1’ll be lonely for younr (To ho continued.) 459 The Sea By Katharine Terry Dooley To our first meeting he brought childish presents, Some curious shells, at starfish--things like this; And yet I felt a wonder grow within me At his sharp kiss. Well, I see through it now, and why he ofered Gifts that a child would love. Yes, utterly, I know him now: (L bold, contriving lover Possessing me! '9 Louis XVI: Lest We Forget By Sister Teresa Joseph 0 those who have not made a study of the facts pertaining to the dark days of our country’s revolution, it may be surprising that Louis XVI of France is an important personality in the American Revolution. When our men were starving, without clothing, unable to fight because of a scarcity of arms, France came to their assistance. Who, but the French king could have sanc- tioned this help? Had he been hostile to us and forbidden his subjects to give aid, the story of our struggle for Inde- pendence might have ended differently. But even more than financial help was the moral support secured through the French Alliance. This more than any- thing else infused courage into our Col- onists, and made other European coun- tries begin to recognize the sturdy people across the sea. Assuredly with- out France, America would have been doomed to bitter failure. And so it is with a sense of gratitude one studies the great, but misunderstood king of the French, Louis XVI. When Louis XV died in 1774, he was succeeded by his grandson, Louis XVI, then in his twenty-first year. The new king had married Marie Antoinette in 1770, the fourteen-year-old daughter of Empress Maria Teresa of Austria. This marriage was intended to strengthen