The gathering of the House of Austria for the 90th birthday of HI&RH Empress Zita

The arms of the Houses of Austria and of Hungary combined


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HI&RH Archduke Rudolph of Austria

fifth son of the Blessed Emperor Charles of Austria
is in the second row of adults, fourth from the left, below, just behind his eldest brother,

HI&RH Archduke Otto of Austria,
the eldest son and true successor of the blessed emperor.

Archduke Rudolph was ever a fine Catholic gentleman of the old school and all who knew him, loved him, and will be greatly saddened at his departure.

Ora pro eo et requiem aeternum dona ei, Domine. RIP.

God save and bless the ancient and noble House of Austria that once so benignly ruled the Christian Roman Empire, and its successor, Austria, of whom it was said:

Alii bella gerent, tu, felix Austria, nubes

"Others make war but Thou, O happy Austria, simply marry!"

because they did not gain their empire through conquest but by the peaceful means of marriage and family life and the blessing of the Church and of God

and for whom the acronym was devised

A.E.I.O.U.

Austriae est imperare orbi universo

"Austria's destiny is to rule the whole world"

and

Austria erit in orbe ultima

"The House of Austria shall be the last surviving in the world"

May this great House subsist until the end of time and may it lead the world through an example of love and fidelity to God, to the Church and to all mankind.


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Let us pray, then, for the soul of the lately departed HI&RH Archduke Rudolph, 5th son of the Blessed Emperor Charles of Austria, and all the deceased members of the House of Austria.


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Iustorum autem animae in manu Dei sunt et non tanget illos tormentum mortis visi sunt in oculis insipientium mori et aestimata est adflictio exitus illorum et quod a nobis est iter exterminii illi autem sunt in pace.

“The souls of the just are in the hand of God…in the sight of the unwise they seemed to die and their departure was taken for misery and their going away from us was seen as utter destruction but, in truth, they are at peace”

Wisdom iii.1-3


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Restoration NOT revolution

In short, then:

Revolution is always wrong

but

Restoration is generally right

The Restoration of King Charles II was not perfect because it was not a fully Catholic restoration but it was right to the extent that it restored the English Constitution that had been so mutinously overthrown by Cromwell and his Puritan revolutionaries.

The Congress of Vienna in 1815 restored much of old Christian Europe - but not all.

A better example of Restoration was the restoration of the Habsburgs to their throne after the Congress of Vienna - but even that was flawed since the Congress did not restore all Catholic lands to their rightful owners.

Better yet is the restoration in 1273 of the Emperor after the Great Interregnum (1250-1273) following the death and reign of the ex-communicate Frederick II and his son Conrad, the last of the Hohenstaufen. The new Emperor was the first Habsburg, Rudolf I.

The cenotaph of the tomb of Emperor Rudolf I in Speyer in the Rhineland-Palatinate.

The best example of restoration was the restoration to life of JESUS CHRIST after his crucifixion and entombment.

Peter Paul Rubens. Christ Risen.
1616. Oil on canvas. Palazzo Pitti, Galleria Palatina, Florence, Italy.


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