All Purls. No Swine.
Matthew 5:44. We are instructed to pray for these appalling people. This Easter week, I can't help reflecting that it's one of the hardest things to do in all of Christianity. Because my own Christian charity extends only so far, I resolve the dilemma in my own mind, thus: "You have to live with yourselves… Continue reading A Prayer for “them which despitefully use [us] and persecute [us]”
Wow. Eight hundred twenty five years ago today, King Richard I (Lionheart) was wounded by a crossbow bolt whilst fighting in France. He died thirteen days later, on April 6, 1199. In Hoc Signo Vinces. He has a troublesome history on many fronts, not least of which is his tie-in to anti-Jewish violence, something which… Continue reading Lionheart–Sometimes She’s a Woman
Cannot believe it's here already. Where has January gone? And February almost half-over! (That it isn't quite, in about 23 hours--in my time zone--can only be attributed to the fact that this is a leap year.) Ubi sunt? (The Latinistas among us (the one or two that I know of) will understand this.) It's a… Continue reading Pancake Tuesday, 2024
There are some personal anniversaries I celebrate in my iPhone calendar app. Birthdays, death days, anniversaries, significant--even tragic--events of family, friends, and loved ones. Plenty of all those. Perhaps more than my fair share of a couple of them. But a few events superimpose themselves, irrespective of personal experience. And so, here we go, for… Continue reading “Lucent syrops, tinct with cinnamon”: The Eve of St. Agnes
Fifty-eight years ago today, on January 15, 1966, two of my family’s dearest friends were murdered. Alhaji Sir Ahmadu Bello (pictured right) was the Premier of Northern Nigeria and Sardauna of Sokoto. Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (ATB) was the first (and so far only) Prime Minister of a Nigeria that had achieved its independence from Britain on October 1,… Continue reading These Were My Father’s Muslims
Oh, as I've said a few times, sometimes these posts write themselves. I'm just the witless scribe. This morning, one of my favorite Ricochet posters linked to the hymn, Amazing Grace, as performed by Dan Vasc, a 34-year old Brazilian heavy metal singer and YouTube star. A tough pill to swallow, if you're me, the… Continue reading Amazing Grace, Dan Vasc Edition
Fewer than twenty miles from my old stomping grounds of Droitwich Spa, in the small Staffordshire village of Enville, a dedicated amateur researcher who's been on the case for more than three years has uncovered eight graves dating from the thirteenth century and believed to be those of members of the Knights Templar order. Enville's… Continue reading The Knights Templar: To Your Name Give the Glory
Tradition has it that, on April 23 in AD 303, a young and promising Roman soldier in the army of the Emperor Diocletian was beheaded after gruesome torture, and died professing his Christian faith to the end. Very little is known of his life, but it’s believed he was born into a devout Christian family,… Continue reading A Bloody Cross
The late Mr. Right was fond of observing the irony, as we neared the close of the first fifth of the twenty-first century, that--in a day and age where it was, for the first time, possible to view on film, and to listen on audio to, almost every single event of note from the preceding… Continue reading Quote of the Day: “Truth is the Daughter of Time”
It’s true that I haven’t been able to find a single source pointing me to the place where the putative author of today’s quote said exactly these words, even in translation (perhaps someone could help me out). But they are widely attributed to St. Augustine, and certainly embody the spirit of his Easter Reflections, an… Continue reading “We are an Easter People, and Alleluia is our song!”–April, 2023