Read on Twitter
Blessed Karl thread (as requested!)
- Born August 17, 1887
- Served as an altar boy
- Was a daily communicant
- Wore the Brown Scapular
- Made pilgrimages to Marian shrines as a youth
- Worked odd jobs to earn money for the poor
- Had no desire to rule but saw it as his duty
- Born August 17, 1887
- Served as an altar boy
- Was a daily communicant
- Wore the Brown Scapular
- Made pilgrimages to Marian shrines as a youth
- Worked odd jobs to earn money for the poor
- Had no desire to rule but saw it as his duty
- Proposed to his wife before the Blessed Sacrament
- Consecrated his family to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
- Worked for peace during WW1
- Grated Independence to the Polish
- Established the 1st Social Welfare service
- Fought against usury
- Lost his wealth due to alms giving
- Consecrated his family to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
- Worked for peace during WW1
- Grated Independence to the Polish
- Established the 1st Social Welfare service
- Fought against usury
- Lost his wealth due to alms giving
- Encouraged prayer in the military and made St. Michael their patron
- Decentralized power by creating federal unions in the Empire
- Planned to erect churches throughout Vienna
- Insisted God be referenced in laws
- Started Catholic printing presses
- Decentralized power by creating federal unions in the Empire
- Planned to erect churches throughout Vienna
- Insisted God be referenced in laws
- Started Catholic printing presses
- Established rent control and rights for workers
- Visited soldiers on the front lines and refused to send soldiers anywhere he wouldn't go
- Refused to bomb civilians
- Refused to abdicate as ruling was his God-given responsibility
- Was sent into exile by the republican gov.
- Visited soldiers on the front lines and refused to send soldiers anywhere he wouldn't go
- Refused to bomb civilians
- Refused to abdicate as ruling was his God-given responsibility
- Was sent into exile by the republican gov.
Karl still saw himself as the legitimate ruler and attempted restoration with the help of the Vatican. He refused, however, to accept shady deals or those that would result in bloodshed as a means to that end. Before he could bring any plan to fruition he fell ill with pneumonia.
He called his son to his dying-bed that he might see how a Catholic and an Emperor died-with steadfast faith and dignity. He told his wife he loved her endlessly, forgave those who wronged him, received viaticum, and spoke his last: "Yes—yes. My Jesus, Thy will be done—Jesus."
Like many Catholic politicians who govern in a truly Catholic way, his reign was short and his legacy mixed. But his beatification is of more value than the historian's assessment for it shows us that the life of a statesmen in the modern world is no impediment to heroic virtue.
