"To the poorest daughter of Carmel,honor speaks louder than fear."

Mother Marie: Sister Blanche...

First Commissary: I forbid you to continue...

Mother Marie: You have the power to force me to silence, but none to command me to it. I represent here the Reverend Mother Prioress and I shall take no orders from you.

A Commissary: Confounded old hag! She cannot be made to hold her tongue, fellow Citizen, but remind her that the Republic has a machine at its disposal that will leave her somewhat short of breath!

First Commissary: Enough! I repeat that you must behave as a true representative of the people! [He turns to Sister Blanche:] Young citizen, you have nothing to fear from us, who are your liberators! Say but one word, and you will find yourself beyond the sway of those who, to better put you in their power, have not feared to offend nature in usurping even the sacred name of "mother". Henceforth, you are under the protection of the Law.

Mother Marie: But she is first under my protection. Do you think I shall permit you to take any further advantage of the terror of a child? I shall take great care to avoid a language that you cannot understand. You know nothing of that which holds us here and keeps us united unto death - or, if once you knew it, it is now certainly forgotten. But there are still perhaps words which are common to us, and which can touch your conscience. Well, sir, you must know that to the poorest daughter of Carmel, honor speaks louder than fear.

Georges Bernanos
Dialogues des Carmélites

On the day following her feast, the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel would receive her dear French daughters, martyred for their faith in her Son and for their loyalty to His Church.

O glorious Martyrs of Compiègne, pray for us!

[Our regular July 17 homage.]
[Personal recess for several weeks]

Bernanos, Bresson and McDonagh: Shedding Light on the Catholic Priesthood

 I must confess to being annoyed when people ask me what my favorite anything is:  book, movie, music.  I am annoyed because I am not the type of person that has one favorite of anything.  But if someone asked me which books or films or music have had an important impact on my life, I could definitely answer that question.  There is one book, made into a film, that has impacted my life in a deep way both as a Catholic and as a priest.  That book is George Bernanos’ The Diary of a County Priest and the film based on that book by the French director, Robert Bresson.  When a young man comes to see me to talk about a possible vocation to the priesthood, I always ask him to read The Diary of a Country Priest and then to come back to talk to me about it.  I must say that most of the young men have come back perplexed by the book and by the character of the priest.  That is when I tell them that I will pray for their vocation but that someone else may be more helpful in the process of discernment.

Book suggestions for summer

- Do you pray to Angels?

- My God, yes,... certainly.

- We do not pray to Angels often enough. They frighten the theologians, like those ancient heresies from the East, a nervous fear, indeed! The world is filled with Angels. And the Blessed Virgin, do you pray to the Blessed Virgin?

- Certainly!

- We say that... Yet do you pray to her as you should, do you pray well? She is our mother, certainly. She is the mother of the human race, the new Eve. But she is also its daughter. The ancient world, the world of pain, the world before Grace, nourished her for a long time in its desolate bosom - centuries upon centuries -, in the confusing, incomprehensible, expectation of a Virgo Genitrix... Centuries upon centuries, it protected within its old hands filled with crime, in its heavy hands, the wonderful little girl whose very name it ignored. A little girl, this queen of Angels! And she remained that, forget it not! The Middle Ages had understood this well, the Middle Ages understood everything. But just try to stop these imbeciles from reimagining in their own way the "drama of the Incarnation", as they say! Now that they think they must, for the sake of their prestige, dress up as modest justices of the peace, [...] it would ashame them to no end to proclaim to unbelievers that the one and only drama, the drama of dramas - for there is no other - took place without a backdrop and without trimmings. Think about it! The Word was made flesh, and the journalists of the time knew nothing of it! 

Georges Bernanos 

Diary of a Country Priest (Journal d'un curé de campagne)
1936

In the voice of the old and experienced priest, Bernanos saw clearly through the fog of modern theology, that often (mostly) hides imbecility, or worse, under the appearance of literary-inspired rhetoric -- as well as the emptiness of most journalistic coverage. May Our Lady of Mount Carmel, whose dear daughter of Lisieux inspired so much of his work, intercede for his soul. 

What about you, what are your book suggestions for this summer (winter for our readers in the Southern Hemisphere)? (You may suggest any publication, in any language, with any content you believe may enrich our lives.)

Audio and video suggestions - Summer edition

On Midsummer Day 1944, Allied troops fought in Normandy and Soviet forces continued their unstoppable westward march. In Vienna, with death, misery and unspeakable crime all around a Reich that was about to crumble, Hans Knappertsbusch conducted the Philharmonic - including an inspiring performance of one of the most well-loved sets ever composed, the Brandenburg Concertos (here a recording of the 3zo, III-Allegro). 

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Six years later, Robert Bresson would direct his version of Georges Bernanos's most famous novel, Diary of a Country Priest (Journal d'un curé de campagne), released in 1951 - and fully available online (with English subtitles):

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What about you: what are your audio and video suggestions for this summer (winter, for our readers in the Southern Hemisphere) - concerts, presentations, motion pictures that can delight and improve our Catholic life?

[We will have a book suggestions thread next week.]