10/21/11 Did you know that the last Hapsburg emperor of Austria/Hungary is in line to become a saint? Pope John Paul II declared Karl of Austria “Blessed” in 2004.  St. Mary Mother of God Church in Washington, D.C. celebrated the Feast Day of Blessed Emperor Karl of Austria with a traditional Latin Solemn High Mass on Friday night.  This is the fourth year in a row that Old St. Mary’s (DC’s German parish since the mid 19th century) has offered a Feast Day Mass for Blessed Karl.

Since Blessed Karl has been beatified but not yet canonized, the Mass is offered under the auspices of the Emperor Karl League of Prayers, the ecclesiastical entity authorized by the Vatican to promote his Cause for Canonization. The head of this international League (the Kaiser-Karl Gebetsliga) in the United States, Brother Nathan Cochran, O.S.B., attended as did representatives of the Knightly Orders of St. George, Malta, the Holy Sepulchre, and St. Gregory.

[His Imperial and Royal Highness (H.I.R.H.) Archduke Christian of Austria, is the grandson of Blessed Karl.  His wife, Her Imperial and Royal Highness Archduchess Marie-Astrid of Austria is to the left in red. To the right is Annette Lantos, widow of Rep. Tom Lantos (D CA). The Lantos’ were born in Hungary.]