LifeSite editor-in-chief John-Henry Westen recently interviewed Hungary's ambassador to the Holy See, Archduke Eduard von Habsburg-Lothringen, about his new book on raising a family.
(LifeSiteNews) -- LifeSite editor-in-chief John-Henry Westen recently interviewed Hungary's ambassador to the Holy See, Archduke Eduard von Habsburg-Lothringen. They discussed Habsburg's book, Building a Wholesome Family in a Broken World: Habsburg Lessons from the Centuries.
After briefly discussing why Habsburg decided to write the book and how the archduke quickly became engaged to his wife, Westen asked him about the modern notion that couples should date for a few years before getting engaged, owning a house, being established in a career, or having enough income to raise children before getting married.
Habsburg emphasized that this is worldly thinking and Catholic couples need to instead take God into consideration.
"That's the wisdom of the world. And for many people, this is so clear that they never question it," the archduke said. "[Couples] have to take God into consideration. And if God makes you meet the person that He wants you to spend the rest of your life with. And if you both, in prayer and in sacraments, come to the conclusion that this is your future wife or your future husband, get married."
READ: Hungarian archduke's new book encourages young people to create wholesome families
"Go for it! Don't do the rational thing of the world, but do the crazy thing of the Catholic faith," he added. "I'm not inviting people to be absolutely stupid. I give a lot of hints [on] how to do it [prudently], but be more daring. ... If you do the right thing, then God is with you." The father's role in raising devout Catholic childrenLater in the interview, Westen turned to the father's role in raising pious Catholic children. Habsburg underscored the importance of fathers living their faith to influence their children.
"I believe that the key person for the development of faith, of self-esteem, of strength, especially in daughters, but in all your children, is the father," the archduke said. "It is known from studies that if the mother is a saint and the father is a skeptic and doesn't live the faith, most of the children will have difficulties [believing]. If the mother is far from the faith and the father believes, all children will believe."
READ: How can faithful Catholics lead their families to virtue? Father of 16 weighs in
Habsburg further stressed that children need to see their fathers taking their Catholic faith seriously.
"Children have to see their father kneel during Mass, they have to see their father queue up for confession. They have to see their father being the one who pulls out the Rosary from [his] pocket and say, 'Let's pray a Rosary,'" he said.
"And if the father doesn't have this [inclination] naturally, his wife can help him," he added. "But the father should be the leader in religious things. And that will change the lives of the children forever."
To hear more from Eduard Habsburg, watch the full interview.
To purchase Habsburg's book, click HERE.
