" ... then, paler than the moon in day light, the son of the absent King, sat on the stone next to the fireplace. he watches the branches delivered to the action of the flames. From their embracement light is born!"
That is a quote from a little book I got for six pence in the sales of the Library, in the french Institute in London. I've thought then, it would make me relax as a break from the various intense activities of my mind. It is by Bertrand Dumas de Mascarel and the title of this book is 2Saint Louis, quand il avait 12 ans" ... when he was twelve ...
I have not oped it ever since, until today. I tried to take a chequebook out of a pile of software manuals next to my computer desk. And there was the S I G N! The little book felt on the floor and here it is, in my hands now!
The author inherited a house from the XIth century; a little house with a huge cooking fireplace. Louis IX, the Saint King, has been in the surroundings for few weeks and he served Supper every evening to the poor peasants in this very place.
By the end of his life St Louis said to his old friend Joinville:
"There is the no one that loves his life that much as I do love mine!"
He also said refering to his supper with the simplest people of his Royaum, that he sat at the table of the Lord! I just wish some contemporary politicians could read that, them that are so cut of reality and so far away from the lives of their voters ....
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thanks.
http://www.historyherstory.gather.com
Thanks!
As I'm sure our virtual acquaintanceship will be, Alkistis.
Happy Wednesday (I would say 4th of July but neither of us are celebrating it) from Spain.
Anyway now I'll check out St. Louis.
Kevin, I read it, not all of it, years ago on the ship to Myconos - then what happened?!
But, being ground workers it is earthy! Peasants and their table compagnions is as earthly as human can be!
..
U
Louis IX, King and Saint, was loved by the people, as he loved them.
Despite the disastrous wars that marked the beginning of this reign, the long latter years were filled with peace and a true thirst for earthly justice and peace.
Acclaim of the wise adn supernatural discernment of the French King spread throughout the known world, and appeals were made to him to mediate conflicts and resolve long quarrels.
A legacy of delight, and a golden age in the 13th Century.
" The prestige and respect felt in Europe for King Louis IX was due more to the attraction that his benevolent personality created rather than to military domination.
For his contemporaries, he was the quintessential example of the Christian prince."
quote from the Wikipedia
If you study love, you will come to Faith.
I was charmed by your story of finding the six-penny volume about Louis IX at the French Institute in London.
Blessings, artist and philosopher of love, from your friend
Louis IX
Go in Peace, Alkistis.
Dear King Louis IX, Thanks for all the blessings, I could not have enough! (I understood also the altin phrase, but i cannot answer it in the same language, but thanks for such a little jem!)
I went twice to the airport because in my exitement and having booked a month earlier and having painting forgeting everything else in the between, I went there 24 hours before the booked date. But, still I arrived to the galery and was present at the opening.
Not that I am greedy but a bit of respect nust be there. I found that the other artists were quite low with their prizes, and therefore I have my doubts whether will be any sales there. But with the higher grace I let the things flowing. I will paint, even if not so frenetic as in the last couple of months from now on, and I am looking forwards for the possibility of a New York exhibition. The invitation of my friend to the October celebration of the sanctification of the foundatrice of their order was a brise of angelical lightness as soon as I renetered the apartment, back from Hamburg. Thank God We did not come any near St Pauli but visited two important exhibitions that run now in two museums in Hamburg. The most exciting view was from the top of a belfry, near the Rathaus, remnant of a medieval church, anexed to an ancient monastery.
Also the view of the landscape and the sailing boats in a little city lake were an oasis of peace and healthy traumerei.
Thanks for all the blessings.
All of you, friends of Saint Louis, welcome France, welcome home. You will be here gests of the heart.
"Chère fille, écrivait Saint Louis à Isabelle, sa bienheureuse enfant chérie, mettez dans votre coeur la certitude de ne jamais recevoir de récompense pour le bien que vous ferez et, cependant, faite-le, purement par amour..."
Qu'il est doux, pourtant, de recevoir une récompense ! Votre échange, chère Alkistis W., à propos de mon livre, en est une. Cela m'a profondèment ému. Merci pour cette grande et simple joie.
J'ai bien reçu quelques témoignages, à sa parution, cependant personne n'avait encore dit l'avoir lu comme vous l'avez lu.
Ce livre s'adresse normalement aux enfants. Mais un adolescent ne saurait pas exprimer s'il a été touché. Je crois bien que Saint Louis leur parle au coeur. Et tant mieux si le coeur d'un enfant garde ses trésors pour lui ; cela le nourrit de l'intérieur et l'aide à grandir. Cependant l'exemple de Saint Louis s'adresse à tous.
Si nous n'avons plus un coeur d'enfant, sans doute faut-il avoir alors, comme vous, un coeur d'artiste.
A mon tour de témoigner sur votre oeuvre : j'y vois un rassemblement de joie. Une multitude s'y retrouve, avec un paisible impression d'unité et une généreuse abondance de couleurs qui expriment toutefois une harmonie vraie. Je me suis aussi permis d'imprimer votre dessin de Saint Louis, pour le garder sur mon bureau. Merci beaucoup.
Il vous faut exposer en France ! les Français d'aujourd'hui sont trop souvent gris et solitaires. Ils ont besoin de couleur et de paix.
La fécondité que vous venez de donner à mon petit livre, Outre-Manche, me touche d'autant plus que ma belle-famille est en partie d'origine britannique et que l'exemple de Saint Louis, oui, est universel. J'aime beaucoup les "six pence" et le SIGNE qui l'a fait réapparaître sur le sol. Votre histoire entre un livre et une lectrice, une histoire vraie, est bien plus intéressante que tout ce que je pourrais tenter d'imaginer en vain, un jour, dans d'autres livres.
Permettez-moi, enfin, de vous demander si votre nom est d'origine lituanienne ? Si oui, vous aurez sans doute remarqué que les Editions s'appellent VILTIS (ce qui veut dire Espérance en lituanien). Ma femme et moi sommes parents adoptifs d'une fratrie de trois enfants lituaniens nés à Radviliskis...
Une raison supplémentaire pour vous dire très simplement que notre famille est désormais aussi la vôtre.
Nous serions très heureux et honorés, un jour, de recevoir votre visite. Vous êtes attendue à une table où recevoir est un héritage du bon roi Saint Louis.
Et merci à la Providence, à l'Etoile du Matin, qui nous a permis de se lire.
Bien affectueusement.
Bertrand Dumas de Mascarel
PS/ Our private mail is : bdm.viltis@wanadoo.fr