THE POPE'S BLESSING

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Mar 18, 1903

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 29, No. 11.

THE POPE'S BLESSING.

The pope sent the Golden Rose to Bomba, king of Naples, and in less than twelve months he lost his crown and kingdom. He sent his blessing to Francis Joseph, emperor of Austria, and in less than twelve months he was defeated at Sadowa, and lost his Venetian dominions. He sent it then to Queen Isabella of Spain, and in a short time she lost both crown and dominions. He next sent it to Louis Napoleon, or rather to the Empress Eugenie, which is more remarkable still, as she called the war with Germany her war. In less than twelve months France was defeated by Protestant Germany, and the emperor had to flee to Protestant England for shelter, where he died in exile; the Prince Imperial fell by the hand of the Zulus, and the papal favorite alone is left to mourn the extinction of that once proud dynasty.

Mrs. W. T. Sherman got the Golden Rose as a special mark of favor for her service to the church; and it was too much for her, as she died soon after. The pope cursed Italy as he had cursed England, and excommunicated King Humbert for taking the papal dominions, and making Rome the capital of the kingdom. Since then she has risen from being a cipher among the nations to be a voice and a power in the council of Europe. He cursed Germany, and she became the greatest power on the continent.

The pope blessed the French showman, Boulanger, and in less than two weeks he had to flee to Germany for refuge, and is now an exile in Guernsey. The princess of Brazil, when near her accouchement, requested the interposition of the pope, and his blessing on her child. She received it, and the child was born deformed. Maximilian was killed a short time after being blessed by the pope as emperor of Mexico, and his wife became insane after going to Rome, and receiving the benediction. The pope neglected some official business in order to give his special blessing to an English steamer laden with Sisters of Charity for South America in 1870, and it never reached its destination. Every soul on board perished. The empress of Brazil was blessed but once; that was enough, she broke her leg three days afterward. It may be remembered that the floating palace delayed its starting from Montevideo to Buenos Ayres until it received the assurance of safety in the papal blessing. It then raised its anchor, sailed out to sea, and went down in two days. “The order of Christ” was conferred by the pope upon Dr. Windhorst, his great champion in Germany. He died in less than a year.

August, 1895, the Archbishop of Damascus, in addressing the Spanish troops at Vittoria, when about to start for Cuba, declared that the pope, like a new Moses, had raised his hands to heaven, and prayed for victory. We know the result. The Spanish arms, the queen regent, and boy king have had his blessing many times. On the last occasion it was at the commencement of the Spanish-American war, and the result was that Spain was miserably defeated, her navies sunk, her foreign possessions dropped from her grasp, and the once proud and leading State in Europe sank into insignificance; the remnants of her troops returned home ragged, miserable, and sick.

The Grand Bazaar de Charite in Paris, on May 4, 1897, had the papal nuncio to deliver the benediction. It was scarcely five minutes afterward when the building was in flames, and nearly 150 of the society ladies of Paris lost their lives. The late empress of Austria was the recipient of the Golden Rose, accompanied by Leo's blessing. That did not protect her from the dagger of the assassin.

It is not superstition to regard with dread the special marks of the pope's favor with such a history. It would be madness to ignore this dreadful record and its manifest instruction to the Christians of the globe.—Primitive Catholic, Nov. 15, 1898.