PEACE EMPEROR

Brandon Hoang

In order to prepare His disciples for His coming Passion and Death, Our Lord Jesus Christ declared, “[I]n me you may have peace. In the world you shall have distress: but have confidence, I have overcome the world.”[1] Today, nearly two thousand years after His Resurrection, the world continues to present the faithful with trouble and distress. Abroad, the threat of war looms over our brothers and sisters, and at home, forces seek to undermine the family by redefining sacred institutions like marriage. Above all, the powers of hell seek at every turn to extinguish life in Christ.

Yet, in spite of these increasing difficulties, our Lord’s words remain true. Friends, we have peace in Him, for He is our mercy and our refuge.[2] And there is perhaps no better example in modernity whom we can emulate in obtaining and relying upon our Lord’s peace than Blessed Charles (Karl) of Austria.

His Imperial and Apostolic Majesty, Blessed Charles I of Austria and IV of Hungary (r. 1916-1918), was the final Catholic monarch to reign over Austria-Hungary before its dissolution, having ascended to the throne at the height of the First World War. With the crown, Charles quickly became accustomed to the worldly chaos and turmoil that our Lord warned us about. Yet, Emperor Charles persevered with burning love for his peoples, his wife and children, and, above all, his Lord.

In Charles’ faithful life, he zealously devoted himself to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Despite great personal and global suffering, he modeled an extraordinary interior peace and confidence enabled by the Sacred Heart. Like Charles, we can turn to that Heart which poured forth Its Blood to the last drop at Calvary so that we may find refuge in Christ’s love for us!

The Twelve Promises Of The Sacred Heart

A popular devotion is an external practice of piety which expresses an interior affection and love for God.[3] This expression of love and faithfulness emerges from one’s own faith, culture, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.[4]

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is one such devotion dedicated to the literal, human Heart of our Blessed Lord. This practice was given to the faithful by our Lord when He appeared to a young French Catholic nun named Margaret Mary Alacoque from 1673 to 1674. In these visions, Jesus allowed Margaret Mary to rest her head on His Heart, in the same way the disciple John reclined on Jesus’ bosom at the Last Supper.[5] Thus, devotion to the Sacred Heart is, plainly, devotion to the source of the Redeemer’s unbounded and excessive love demonstrated at Calvary.

That Heart, burning with the flames of love for Man, desires nothing more than for Man to return that love. Certainly, our finite, fallen selves can never truly reciprocate God’s infinite, perfect love, yet when Christ’s side was pierced on the Cross, a window was opened to His Heart. Through that window, we can find the refuge and peace He offers to us in the Gospel of John by placing ourselves in His Heart.

To St. Margaret Mary, Jesus gave the following set of 12 Promises to all who venerated and promoted devotion to His Sacred Heart.

1. I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life.

2. I will establish peace in their homes.

3. I will comfort them in all their afflictions.

4. I will be their secure refuge during life, and above all, in death.

5. I will bestow abundant blessings upon all their undertakings.

6. Sinners will find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.

7. Lukewarm souls shall become fervent.

8. Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.

9. I will bless every place in which an image of my Heart is exposed and honored.

10. I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.

11. Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in my Heart.

12. I promise you in the excessive mercy of my Heart that my all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on the First Fridays in nine consecutive months the grace of final perseverance; they shall not die in my disgrace, nor without receiving their sacraments. My divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.

In the first four of these promises, our Lord promises peace, but not by swearing a new oath. He is renewing and reaffirming His original promise to those that follow and take refuge in Him.

The Promises In The Life Of Blessed Charles

In the life of Blessed Charles, we can see the fulfillment of those promises, and by his example, we can learn how, through the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we can find peace in our careers, our family lives, our sufferings, and ultimately our interior lives in the presence of God.

The Peace Emperor

In the First Promise of the Sacred Heart, Christ pledges to sustain His followers in doing His will in their calling, whether they are called to serve a particular community, travel the world preaching, or live a quiet secluded life.

Charles’ state in life was to lead a vast multiethnic empire and protect his peoples, a responsibility he received in the middle of a terrible war he had no part in starting. His crown was not merely ornamental; he strove to uphold the virtue it signified and demanded. As king and emperor, Charles was a minister of God, from Whom he received his duties.[6] Since Christ reigns as the Prince of Peace, Charles’ most sacred responsibility as monarch was peace, which he placed at the heart of his ministry and reign.

[7] He strove to bring Christ’s peace at a time when the world only knew war, first by accepting Pope Benedict XV’s Peace Plan. This proposal suggested that nations lay down their armaments to settle their territorial disputes through negotiations pursuing welfare and justice. However, all other sovereigns besides Charles rejected it in order to fight the war to a bloody conclusion on their own terms. Later, in the Sixtus Affair, Charles attempted to sue for a separate peace with France, yet, again, his efforts failed when his bellicose ally Germany intervened to continue pursuing total war. At each and every turn, Charles pursued peace foremost.

After the war, the dissolution of Austria-Hungary into independent nation-states bred countless revolutionary movements which threatened to send his lands into war. Charles, feeling a great responsibility to his people, refused to abdicate from his crown and responsibilities. Yet, at the same time, he willingly chose to enter exile rather than to stage a coup in order to prevent one of his lands — Hungary — from descending into the bloodshed of civil war, declaring, “The return of my crown is not worth the spilling of innocent Hungarian blood.”

Charles’ reign showed that his nickname of “Peace Emperor” and status as a patron of world peace were well-deserved, but his merits are above all owed to his deep love for God, the ultimate bringer of peace. The world around Charles tempted him with promises of false peace; belligerent powers and politicians within his own government pressured him to prolong the bloodshed in pursuit of victory, dominance, and glory. Yet, despite these sources of discouragement, Charles remained faithful in his duties and convictions by placing all his worries in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as the Apostle Peter commends.[8] Charles trusted in Christ, Who, out of the great love and compassion of His Heart, sustained and strengthened the Emperor with an interior peace throughout a tumultuous reign.

Patriarch Of The House Of Habsburglorraine

“I will establish peace in their homes.”

Our Lord’s Second Promise assures us of tranquility and order within our families, as this is where our first responsibility lies.

The life of Charles shows us how we can turn to Christ to fulfill that responsibility, foremost by highlighting the importance of holy marriage. On the morning after his wedding, he said to his wife, Zita of Bourbon-Parma, and said, “Now we need to help each other get to heaven.” Charles’s statement reminds us of the purpose of the marital vocation, and their marriage was totally centered around that goal of mutual salvation. Charles and Zita fully gave themselves to each other and prayed for Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary to bless their union. As a testament to the sanctity of their marriage, both Charles and Zita are undergoing the process of canonization in the Catholic Church.

Their holy marriage bore many more fruits, including eight cherished children, and this resulting household likewise had Christ at its center. Charles and Zita personally ensured their children were taught prayer and the truths of the faith — especially total trust in the peace of Christ — from an early age. Daily, this family prayed together, especially before meals and before bed, and Charles regularly commended his family to God. When Charles was away attending to the duties of his imperial office, his children, taking Charles’ example, entrusted their father’s welfare and life to Christ, likewise finding peace and freedom from anxiety in God.

Caring for the spiritual and temporal needs of a vast empire alongside those of his intimate, personal household must have been a daunting task for Charles. To find peace, Charles abided in our Lord’s invitation for those who are burdened to come and find refreshment in Him.[9] In this perpetual entrustment, Charles allowed Christ to take on all of Charles’ own burdens of caring for his family. He prayed to Christ for guidance and ultimately let Christ work in him to sow and reap the good fruits of family life. From the fruits of a holy marriage and faithful children, it is clear that for Charles and his family, Jesus fulfilled His promise to provide the necessary grace for a blessed home. The peace of Christ remained with this family in spite of the external distresses of war, exile, and personal tragedy.

Dry Martyrdom

“I will comfort them in all their afflictions.”

The Third Promise of the Sacred Heart provides us with confidence in the midst of our sufferings, inspiring us to persevere with joy and hope.

The life of Charles, particularly his last years, were filled with great suffering. Reduced to complete poverty, he and his family were exiled to a cold, drafty cottage on the Portuguese isle of Madeira, where he quickly became bedridden after contracting deadly pneumonia and influenza. Yet, in imitation of Christ at the Garden of Gethsemane, he wholly accepted and trusted the will of the Father to suffer.[10] He chose not to complain about his great pain and agony, saying, “When you know God’s Will, all things are good.”

Indeed, Charles embraced his cross and regularly offered up his suffering as a sacrifice for the good of his peoples. His prayers during his final days were oriented not towards petitioning God for the immediate alleviation of his suffering; he prayed that he should suffer well rather than see his own realm suffer. And like Christ upon the cross, Charles forgave his enemies and those who had condemned him.

Finally, on April 1, 1922, at the age of 34, Charles died while uniting himself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the will of God. His lips proclaimed, “Yes, yes. As you will it … Jesus!” as he passed from this life.

To suffer like Christ, to forgive like Christ, and to die like Christ are extraordinary tasks. Yet, Charles had the interior peace necessary to accept and to do God’s will in the midst of great personal pain. Charles found this peace by turning to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and asking our Lord for the same peace found in that Heart, the very same peace that our Lord promises. It is that peace which became a refuge from his external torments.

BLESSED CHARLES: A SAINT FOR OUR TIMES

“I will be their secure refuge during life, and above all, in death.”

Charles lived a life filled with tragedy and difficulty, yet he remained unwavering in his faith in Christ and His Church. The secret to Charles’ perseverance and enduring faith was the Sacred Heart of Jesus. On his deathbed, Charles was overheard saying to himself, “How good it is that there is confidence in the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Otherwise, it would be impossible to bear with all this.”

While reigning as Emperor, he frequently visited the Blessed Sacrament to pray, often for hours at a time, in between his daily duties. He also received Jesus in the Holy Eucharist daily whenever possible, and he consecrated his entire family to the Sacred Heart. These little acts were great expressions of inviting that Heart to come into and to guide his life.

In his final days in exile, he kept an image of that fountain of love under his pillow, which became a source of great consolation and solace before he expired into the hands of our Lord. That image constantly reminded Him of the Heart which had suffered so much more greatly out of pure love for Man. In fact, Charles’ actions even show us a fulfillment of the Ninth Promise of the Sacred Heart: “I will bless every place in which an image of my Heart is exposed and honored.”

The life of Blessed Charles shows us that Christ’s promise of peace to his disciples in John 16 is not an empty platitude, but a commitment truly fulfilled by Jesus. This peace is not an absence of conflict or turmoil in our lives on earth, but the assurance of an interior joy and harmony that allows us to meet the distress of the world with confidence.

Although Charles had a very unique calling as Emperor, we today can still take example from his saintly life — his utter dedication to his earthly duties, his commitment to peace and Christian virtue, his care for the spiritual welfare of his subjects and his family, and his willingness to suffer. All of these attributes had Christian love at their center: love for his neighbor and love for God.

This true Christian charity originates in the Sacred Heart of Jesus. By entrusting ourselves and conforming our own hearts to His Sacred Heart, we can obtain the grace to love and suffer as Christ did. When we enter into His love, His peace flows from that Heart to guard and secure our own hearts and minds from the ultimately fleeting troubles of the world.[11] So, by placing ourselves in His Heart, we allow Him to bring His reign of peace into our own hearts.

To Jesus Christ be glory and empire, forever and ever. Amen.[12] ❖

[1] John 16:33, DRA.

[2] Psalm 143:2, DRA.

[3] Thurston, Herbert. “Popular Devotions.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911, <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12275b.htm>.

[4] “Prayers and Devotions.” United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2022, <https://www.usccb.org/catholic-prayers>.

[5] John 13:23, DRA.

[6] Romans 13:4, DRA.

[7] Isaiah 9:6, DRA.

[8] 1 Peter 5:7, DRA.

[9] Matthew 11:28, DRA.

[10] Matthew 26:39, DRA.

[11] Philippians 4:7, DRA.

[12] 1 Peter 5:11, DRA.

Brandon Hoang is a senior studying International Relations, with academic interest in Catholic political theories of monarchy and democracy. He also serves as Co-President of the Catholic Leadership Team, on which he also works in Faith Formation. Brandon is deeply in love with the Traditional Latin Mass, with St. Thérèse of Lisieux, and with the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Alvin Tan

Bella Vincent

Brandon Aponte