“There is no greater drama in human record than the sight of a few Christians scorned or oppressed by a succession of emperors, bearing all trials by a fierce tenacity, multiplying quietly, building order while their enemies generated chaos, fighting
When I was a kid, perhaps because I was the son of an Air Force veteran, I always thrilled to the tracking of Santa by Norad (North American Air Defense). I am happy to see that Norad is still doing
A Christmas present from those wonderfully twisted folks at The Lutheran Satire.
In 1944, seventy-four years ago, at Christmas, the American and German armies were fighting it out in the Battle of the Bulge, the last major German offensive of the War. Patton’s Third Army fought its way through to relieve the Americans
On December 23, 1981, President Ronald Reagan addressed the nation. The video above is an excerpt from that speech. The portion of the address dealing with the attempt by the then Polish Communist regime to crush Solidarity, the Polish labor
First broadcast in 1956, Bishop Sheen puts his own unique spin on the eternal mystery of Christmas, God becoming Man, Creator becoming Created. It is interesting how philosophical and complicated Sheen’s presentation is. Recall that his show was broadcast on commercial
Sidney Melbourne (Bob Hope): Santy Claus don’t drink. Gloomy Willie (William Frawley): Oh, no? Well, how come he’s always falling down chimneys? Screenplay, Lemon Drop Kid (1951) Damon Runyon and Bob Hope make a terrific combination in The
Christmas Mass on the Rhine! In 1916, our midnight mass was under the open sky along the Rio Grande; in 1917, in the old medieval church at Grand in the Vosges; now, thank Heaven, in this year of grace, 1918,
Each year, as Christmas is approaching, I think of a Christmas long ago in 1776. The year in which we declared our independence from Great Britain was a year of military disaster for the United States. Washington
MCCOY: Captain, I see on your report Flavius was killed. I am sorry. I liked that huge sun worshiper. SPOCK: I wish we could have examined that belief of his more closely. It seems illogical for a sun worshiper to
Colonel Deutsch- my compliments colonel. Tell me, how did you know it was a blank? Colonel Hogan – If it were a live grenade, you would have been the first to run. (Deutsch’s smile quickly turns to a frown)
A contemplation of the compleat attainment (at a period earlier than could have been expected) of the object for which we contended against so formidable a power cannot but inspire us with astonishment and gratitude. The disadvantageous circumstances
Death had to take him in his sleep, for if he was awake there’d have been a fight. Thomas R. Marshall, Vice President of the United States, on hearing of the death of Theodore Roosevelt One of his worst
Dudley: All right. Let me think. This happened many, many years ago. Debby: That’s not the way to begin. Stories start “Once upon a time”. Dudley: Yes, that’s true. Once upon a time there was a little boy and he
(I publish this each year before Christmas. It evokes sweet memories of Christmases past when my children were young.) Francis Pharcellus Church was a newspaper man to his marrow. As a young man he had covered the Civil
Hattip to commenter Dale Price. I saw this and thought that it was made for TAC!
First broadcast in 1956, Bishop Sheen puts his own unique spin on the eternal mystery of Christmas, God becoming Man, Creator becoming Created. It is interesting how philosophical and complicated Sheen’s presentation is. Recall that his show was broadcast on commercial TV
When you go home, tell them of us and say, for your tomorrows we gave our today. Inscription on the memorial to the dead of the 2nd British Division, Kohima, India
Assume thy greatness, for the time draws nigh, Dear child of gods, great progeny of Jove! See how it totters- the world’s orbed might, Earth, and wide ocean, and the vault profound, All, see, enraptured of the coming time! Ah!
Now Judas celebrated the festival of the restoration of the sacrifices of the temple for eight days, and omitted no sort of pleasures thereon; but he feasted them upon very rich and splendid sacrifices; and he honored God, and delighted
As an explanation of why we celebrate Christmas each year, the above video is superb and concise. The words of Linus are of course taken from the Gospel of Saint Luke: And there were in the same country shepherds abiding
So said Pope Francis: “In our times, especially in Europe, we’re seeing a ‘distortion’ of Christmas,” the pope said in his final General Audience of 2017. “In the name of a false respect for non-Christians, which often hides a
I choked up when I saw the above. Go here to learn more about Wreaths Across America. Go tell the Spartans, passerby: That here, by Spartan law, we lie. Simonides, Epitaph for the Spartan dead at Thermopylae
Some things simply cannot be unseen no matter how strongly you wish that were possible. From November 17, 1978. For the masochists among our readers, the entire Holiday Special is available on You Tube. It is amazing that
How wonderfully daffy the golden age of Radio tended to be. A broadcast on December 19, 1944 of the show This Is My Best: Norman Corwin’s comedic poem The Plot to Overthrow Christmas, a hilarious look at a plot by Hell
In our third look this Advent at sermons of Saint Augustine, he describes for us what the coming of Christ means: Awake, mankind! For your sake God has become man. Awake, you who sleep, rise up
At the Wednesday night rehearsal of our parish instrumental group (trumpet, two clarinets, guitar, two flutes, tympani–and me on a bowed psaltery) the director played a recording of a carol we will play in the prelude before the 7:30 pm
“I am an historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history.”
(I publish this each year before Christmas. It evokes sweet memories of Christmases past when my children were young.) Francis Pharcellus Church was a newspaper man to his marrow. As a young man he had covered the
And away we go: I loved watching re-runs of The Honeymooners when I was a kid. I appreciated the fact that they were more broke than my family and, like my parents, they met that circumstance with good humor.
Now Judas celebrated the festival of the restoration of the sacrifices of the temple for eight days, and omitted no sort of pleasures thereon; but he feasted them upon very rich and splendid sacrifices; and he honored God, and
As an explanation of why we celebrate Christmas each year, the below video is superb and concise. The words of Linus are of course taken from the Gospel of Saint Luke: And there were
Something for an Advent weekend. Hark the Herald Angels Sing. Written by Charles Wesley in 1739, the hymn we enjoy today developed and changed over a century with input from many hands. No hymn I think better exemplifies the