The Narthex
Inspirer of Enthusiasm
The bicentennial of Catholic Lafayette’s 1824-1825 national tour -- Part 7
By James Thunder | December 2nd 2024 1:03 PMGeneral Lafayette made a second visit to Jefferson at Monticello. He arrived from Fredericksburg on August 15, 1825. On August 20 he visited Charlottesville and was feted again over dinner at the University which had opened the previous March. He left the next day for Montpelier.[1] Lafayette was…
READ FULL BLOG POSTJefferson Talks of Slavery
The bicentennial of Catholic Lafayette’s 1824-1825 national tour -- Part 6
By James Thunder | November 26th 2024 12:22 PMThere is little record of the conversations that occurred at Monticello for the next nine days, November 6-14, 1824, either between Lafayette and Jefferson, or with the other temporary or permanent residents who included Madison, the Wright sisters (more about them below), Thomas Jefferson Randolph, Levasseur, George Washington Lafayette, Jane…
READ FULL BLOG POSTA Patriotic Celebration
The bicentennial of Catholic Lafayette’s 1824-1825 national tour -- Part 5
By James Thunder | November 20th 2024 11:44 AMWith Lafayette, Jefferson, and Madison in a single carriage, the large entourage -- the Committee of Arrangements, cavalry, and “a numerous body of citizens” -- left Monticello at 10 a.m. on Friday, November 5, 1824, for Charlottesville, about five miles distant. The population of Albemarle County (which did not include…
READ FULL BLOG POSTA Walk on Charles Bridge
The famous Prague bridge features sculptures of saints and a Calvary scene
By John M. Grondelski | November 18th 2024 12:59 PMYesterday, November 17, marked an anniversary: 35 years ago the Lord freed the Czech and Slovak peoples from Communist oppression through the Velvet Revolution. Let us not forget that great moment in human freedom in 1989. Five years ago, I walked across Charles Bridge, that famous span in Prague, going…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThe Greeting at Monticello
The bicentennial of Catholic Lafayette’s 1824-1825 national tour -- Part 4
By James Thunder | November 15th 2024 1:05 AMThe principal source for what occurred on Lafayette's November 1824 visit to Jefferson is the November 10 issue of Charlottesville’s Central Gazette, later credited to Charles Downing.[1] While it has not survived, it was reprinted in whole or in part in papers of Richmond, Alexandria, Lynchburg and Fredericksburg. READ FULL BLOG POST
Lafayette's Stay with Jefferson
The bicentennial of Catholic Lafayette’s 1824-1825 national tour -- Part 3
By James Thunder | November 11th 2024 12:53 PMI now turn to Lafayette’s extended stay with Thomas Jefferson at his home in Monticello. In November 1824, Lafayette spent ten full days with Jefferson and visiting the University of Virginia and Charlottesville (where yours truly now lives), and four days with James and Dolley Madison in their home at…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThe Frenchman Who Revered Gen. Washington
The bicentennial of Catholic hero Lafayette’s 1824-1825 national tour -- Part 2
By James Thunder | November 4th 2024 12:23 PMA young Frenchman, Julien Icher, founder of the Lafayette Trail, has been working with the American Friends of Lafayette to erect historical markers at each of Lafayette’s stops.[1] Also during this bicentennial, there will be a number of reenactments. For example, one woman planned reenactments of his visit…
READ FULL BLOG POSTPatriotism Today Compared to 1824
The bicentennial of Catholic hero Lafayette’s 1824-1825 national tour -- Part 1
By James Thunder | October 28th 2024 11:58 AMThe waving of a 24-star flag, red-white-blue bunting, banners, and fireworks throughout the country to celebrate Revolutionary War hero General Lafayette during his up-close and in-person visit in 1824-25 contrasts sharply with the anxiety and unease many Americans today feel when they see Old Glory flying.[1] For me…
READ FULL BLOG POSTIt's Columbus Day, Not Indigenous Peoples' Day
The idea of a government-recognized holiday named after a group of people is odd
By James Thunder | October 10th 2024 10:58 AMThe District of Columbia and other jurisdictions have passed laws to re-name Columbus Day Indigenous Peoples’ Day or Native Americans Day. In 2021, President Biden proclaimed Indigenous Peoples’ Day to be celebrated on the same day as Columbus Day. (Given my surname, you might suppose that I favor this development.…
READ FULL BLOG POSTRemembering the Fire of Freedom
Normal people can recall when they saw or were near history-altering events
By John M. Grondelski | October 4th 2024 2:45 PMTim Walz has been called out several times over the accuracy of his claims, most recently about his alleged presence in communist China during the Tiananmen demonstrations of June 1989. During the October 1 Vice Presidential debate, “Knucklehead” Tim walked back his earlier claims to being an eyewitness to history,…
READ FULL BLOG POSTIf I Ran the Zoo(s)
On gangster-like activity, tepid tolerance, and much more
By James Hanink | September 8th 2024 9:36 PMIf I were to run the Big City Standard Zoo, it would become a whole lot smaller. Snakes and turtles, birds and bugs would stay. But there’d be no mammals except for “rescues,” and they’d be temporary guests only. Pleased with my zoological reform, I’m emboldened to think big. What…
READ FULL BLOG POSTHistorical Context Is Key
The sequence of causes of the current Middle East conflict is long and complex
By David Daintree | September 5th 2024 12:10 PMAn almost perpetual cultural cringe is a feature of what passes as intellectual life in the West nowadays. If we are “white” we have much to be ashamed of; if we're elderly males as well we are almost beyond the pale. So in commenting on any current events that touch…
READ FULL BLOG POSTSt. Maximilian Kolbe: A New Kind of Martyr
Before him, martyrdom traditionally involved the element of 'in odium fidei'
By John M. Grondelski | August 14th 2024 12:18 PMAugust 14 is the feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe, martyr. Kolbe, a 47-year old Polish Franciscan, gave his life in substitution for another man in Auschwitz’s starvation bunker. To recap: Kolbe was arrested by the German occupiers of Poland in February 1941 and sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. In…
READ FULL BLOG POSTCaptive Nations Week
Freedom still needs to come to places like China, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, and Cuba
By John M. Grondelski | July 26th 2024 11:53 AMJuly 21-27 is Captive Nations Week. Congress designated in 1959 the third week of July as Captive Nations Week and asked the President to proclaim it annually. (Congress initially designated Captive Nations Week by itself in 1953). Joe Biden issued an executive proclamation on July 19. Captive Nations Week commemorates…
READ FULL BLOG POSTInterreligious Suffering
Jews and Christians were united as victims of godless atheists
By John M. Grondelski | July 24th 2024 11:37 AMJuly 22 used to be a state holiday in Communist Poland marking the day that the traitors imported by the Soviet Army installed themselves in Lublin in 1944 as the “Provisional Government of National Unity” and would proceed, for the next 45 years, to torture Poland with their pretensions to…
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