Remembrances for May - 2024

 

Dear friends, if you have time, please pray for these members of the Southern family on the day they reposed.  Many thanks.

But one may ask:  ‘What good does it do to pray for the departed?’  An answer is offered here:  https://orthochristian.com/130608.html

Along with prayers and hymns for the departed:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6je5axPodI

May 1^st

Harry Hosier and George Liele. (The exact dates of their deaths are not recorded, so the approximation of 1 May is used instead.)

Harry Hosier was a slave, born in North Carolina, folks reckon, and after gaining his freedom he became a very talented preacher who rode with Bishop Francis Asbury on his circuits.

http://gcah.org/history/harry-hosier

George Liele was a slave from Georgia who became a fruitful missionary in Jamaica upon gaining his freedom.

https://nlj.gov.jm/project/george-lisle-liele-1750-1826/

May 2^nd

William Dawson

The head of the School of Music at the Tuskegee Institute.  A noted composer and conductor of choral/orchestral music.

https://www.tuskegee.edu/student-life/join-a-student-organization/choir/william-l-dawson-tribute

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPhDb3XnXHs

May 4^th

William Henry Trescot

‘Writer, diplomat, historian.’  A native of South Carolina who wrote an important short essay titled ‘The Position and Course of the South’.

https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/trescot-william-henry/

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa;idno=ABT5714

May 6^th

Judah P. Benjamin

A Louisiana lawyer and senator, and later Secretary of State for the Confederacy.  He went through hard times with the grace characteristic of the South. 

https://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/blog/the-neo-confederate-scotus-justice/

He may have had a hand in planting States’ Rights ideas into the Canadian constitution from his time as a lawyer in England.

https://cbr.cba.org/index.php/cbr/article/download/2641/2641

May 9^th

Augusta Jane Evans Wilson

‘Augusta Jane Evans Wilson (1835-1909) was one of the most popular American novelists of the nineteenth century and certainly the most successful Alabama writer of her time. Her literary fame made her a prominent citizen of Mobile, where she spent most of her life.  . . .  She published nine novels, of which Beulah and St. Elmo are the best-known.’

http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1072

May 10^th

Gen Thomas J. ‘Stonewall’ Jackson

One of the South’s finest men.

https://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/blog/thomas-j-stonewall-jackson/

https://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/review/stonewall-jackson/

May 10^th

John Gould Fletcher

A Pulitzer Prize winning writer.  A craftsman of both poetry and prose.

https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/john-gould-fletcher-1646/

May 10th

Confederate Memorial Day for North and South Carolina

https://www.southernagrarian.com/holidays/

May 11^th

Roger Busbice (2019)

A man from our own time, but a man nevertheless dedicated to Dixie’s well-being.  He was a kind mentor to those who asked him for help in learning about Southern ways.

https://attakapasgazette.org/attakapas-gazette-volume-1-2014/leonidas-polk-fighting-bishop-louisiana/

http://www.youngsanders.org/guerrilla.html

May 12^th

Gen J. E. B. Stuart

One of the South’s best cavalry commanders.

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/j-e-b-stuart

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/986/james-ewell_brown-stuart

May 17^th

Gen John C. Breckinridge

A talented orator who became the youngest VP in uS history.  He served well in the War as a general and as Sec. of War for the Confederate States.  He died young, only 54, nine years after the War.

https://www.history.com/topics/us-government-and-politics/john-c-breckinridge

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/132/john-cabell-breckinridge

May 25^th

Sarah Breedlove (Madam C. J. Walker).  ‘This child of sharecroppers transformed herself from an uneducated farm laborer and laundress into one of the twentieth century’s most successful, self-made women entrepreneurs.’

https://madamcjwalker.com/about/

https://www.biography.com/inventor/madam-cj-walker

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/madame-c-j-walker

May 25^th

Rev Benjamin Morgan Palmer

An influential pastor in New Orleans both behind and away from the pulpit.

https://banneroftruth.org/us/about/banner-authors/b-m-palmer/

http://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/palmer-benjamin-morgan/

May 25^th

George Garrett

Virginia’s Poet Laureate from 2004-6, amongst many other literary achievements.

https://evblog.virginiahumanities.org/2008/05/george-garrett-1929-2008/

https://www.poetrysocietyofvirginia.org/content/poets-laureate-virginia

May 26^th

Eliza Lucas Pinckney

An enterprising matron in the worlds of business and art.

https://www.nps.gov/chpi/learn/historyculture/eliza-lucas-pinckney.htm

https://www.sc.edu/uscpress/books/1997/3186.html

http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/becomingamer/peoples/text5/elizapinckney.pdf

May 30^th

Confederate Memorial Day for Virginia

https://www.southernagrarian.com/holidays/

Also, to celebrate some of the saints of May from the South’s Christian inheritance of various lands, visit these pages:

https://southernorthodox.org/orthodox-saints-for-dixie-may/

https://confiterijournal.blogspot.com/2020/06/happy-feast-for-saints-of-may.html

--

Holy Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!

Anathema to the Union!

Offsite Post: ‘Prophet Jeremy the Pillar-Dweller’

 

Jeremy Matthews entered his northern Virginia home,

A typical deracinated Southern creature,

Pleased with another day’s work at the DHS,

Undermining threats to the Establishment in D.C.

On came the lights, on came the television.

The imagery of the news glided smoothly across the screen,

Following the script he and his colleagues had sketched.

Most of it was easy enough to write by now,

Formulaic as an FM pop song –

Praise the Ukraine, execrate Russia;

Trust in Science, disparage the dissenters;

Denigrate the South as an obstacle to Progress . . .

He started to yawn; “A little too familiar,” he thought.

But then something unexpected did befall him.

Charlottesville.  Lee.  His statue broken.

Broken and melted.  That face!  That face!

Mournful and haunting beyond the tongue’s telling!

He looked away from the screen; he changed the station;

But still that piteous, noble face remained,

Glowing with its golden light, etched in his mind.

He did what he could to forget –

Watched a football game, ate a meal.

But when sleep fell upon him, the image returned.

The visage tormented him, drove sweet rest

From his weary limbs, disturbed his soul.

The Holy Ghost spoke to him then, echoed through his nous,

“Many have been your evil works,

For which you suffer here tonight.

Yet you are not left bereft of hope.

If you would atone for lies and wickedness,

Make your abode atop the pillar

I will show you on Monument Avenue.”

Jeremy jerked awake, shuddering with fear,

But comforted by the promise he had heard.

He hastened to Richmond in the night,

Saw flames of fire hovering above the statue

Of a pagan goddess that had replaced Jeb Stuart’s.

He searched the grounds; he found a ladder,

He knew not how (or perhaps he did),

And some tools to boot.  With them he climbed

And broke the statue loose, sent it crashing to the ground.

The earth made no reply; the animals paused to look, then left.

From branches, bushes, and flowers he fashioned a Cross

And secured it high upon the pillar, upon its very crown.

With the Cross of Christ beside him, now his sole support,

He began his daunting journey of repentance.

Standing upon his feet, day and night,

 . . .

The rest is at https://www.dissidentmama.net/prophet-jeremy-the-pillar-dweller/.

--

Holy Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!

Anathema to the Union!

Offsite Post: ‘Whither St. Andrew’s Day in Dixie?’

 

November 30^th is the Feast Day of St. Andrew the Holy Apostle, the celebration of his martyrdom on his famous X-shaped cross.  This is a major festival in Patras, Greece, the city in which he was martyred:

Patras, Greece, home to the cross upon which the First-Called Apostle St. Andrew was crucified, festively celebrated its patron saint yesterday and today.

 

The feast began last night with Great Vespers at the Church of St. Andrew. The service was presided over by Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Chalkida, with the concelebration of another eight hierarchs of the Greek Church, including the local hierarch Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Patras, reports the Orthodoxia News Agency.

 

The church was filled with Orthodox faithful from Patras and throughout Greece who came to venerate St. Andrew’s Cross and the portion of his relics housed at the cathedral.

 

The All-Night Vigil was celebrated later that evening.

 

This morning, a number of hierarchs again gathered for the celebration of Orthros and the Divine Liturgy in honor of St. Andrew. Orthros was presided over by Metropolitan Theoklitos of Ierissos, Mt. Athos, and Ardameri. The Liturgy was then led by Metroplitan Hierotheos (Vlachos) of Nafpaktos and Agios Vlasios.

 

Hundreds of Orthodox faithful again filled the church.

 

Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Messinia delivered homily sermon, in which, among other things, he referred to the personality and contribution of the Apostle Andrew, who resisted the idols promoted by his era, to spread the Gospel of Christ. In particular, His Eminence spoke about the present times and the trap of false idols that are presented, and about the dangers arising from the false family models that are advanced today. “We haven’t realized the negative consequences. When we do, it may be too late to reverse any possibility of change,” he said.  . . .

With this in mind, the South needs to ask herself why she does not also celebrate this day with fervor?  After all, St. Andrew’s Cross adorns the Southern flag, and under that banner, during the War, Dixie experienced some of the greatest moments of her history.

If we want Dixie to be a Christian land in the widest, broadest, deepest sense possible, we have to give attention to the calendar, sanctifying time once again, and to public celebrations of holy days – the 12 Great Feasts, saints’ days, etc.  Christianity was never meant to be a religion for isolated individuals, and Southerners should do everything we can to avoid that trap which is even now sapping strength from the Church.  We will either live the Christian Faith together or watch it fall apart before our eyes.

 . . .

The rest is at https://identitydixie.com/2023/12/05/whither-st-andrews-day-in-dixie/.

--

Holy Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!

Anathema to the Union!

Guest Post: ‘Prophecy Of A Theban Princess: A Review of FOR A RADICAL LIFE by Daria Dugina’

 

By Perrin Lovett

https://perrinlovett.me/

 

Last fall, I had the privilege of reviewing Eschatological Optimism by the late Daria Dugina (1992-2022), a book I learned of thanks to a very good friend. Earlier this year, I was reminded by another great and lovely friend that a second posthumous Dugina book was forthcoming in English from PRAV. One simply cannot have enough literarily in-tune friends in this life. Nor can one get enough of Russia’s brilliant and ever-rising star of intellect and steely determination.

Dugina, Daria, For A Radical Life: Meditations By Daria Platonova Dugina, Tucson: PRAV, 2024.

It’s a shorter work, only 70 pages. Yet each and every sentence in it, every word lifts the spirit, touches the heart, and engages the mind. It is a compact gem, expertly translated, compiled, and edited by Jafe Arnold and John Stachelski. I strongly recommend it to anyone interested in life, death, philosophy, and the eternal battle between Divine good and lowly evil. I also suggest the book would make a fine gift for, say, a college student or a young adult. Or for anyone.

In Arnold’s excellent Foreword, I learned of yet another Dugina book, now only available in Russian, Топи и выси моего сердца (Depths and Heights of My Heart), ACT, 2023. I recommend that one even without having read it—a feat I mean to accomplish once I achieve perhaps A2/B1 Russian proficiency. 

As for For A Radical Life, it is a radical and informative mental excursion presented in short, referenced paragraph form. The collected material draws from sources in Eschatological Optimism with which the reader may already be familiar, along with assorted media quotes and personal diary entries. As for the latter, the reader certainly has not previously considered the meanings of those elements. One such entry from 2019, on page 46, appears as the back cover quote: “Wherever there is death, there is truth.” These words, or any similar sentiment, from this particular author, while deeply meaningful, necessarily leave the reader pained and sorrowed. Arnold pointedly gets to the exact truth behind one horrible death in a sea of carnage: “Her life was cut short by a car bombing carried out as part of Ukrainian special operations initiated, armed, trained, and funded by the CIA.” For A Radical Life, at 4. He notes the wicked powers of the postmodern West have, by their murder, “opened a Pandora’s box.” We will briefly look inside it, ere the end of this review.

Dugina self-identifies as a warrior, an intellectual, steel, a proclaimer of “No!”, and the “Minister of Defense.” The reader will learn the context of these labels upon a full perusal. I was very happy to see this new book repeat a declaration I’ve praised before and what may be my favorite quote by anyone this century: “In the conditions of the modern world, any stubborn and desperate resistance to this world, any uncompromising struggle against liberalism, globalism, and Satanism, is heroism.” Id, at 22. 

Dugina was and is a hero, physically (and only physically) struck down by the liberalism, globalism, and satanism of the West. However, something else she wrote may poetically place their heinous deeds in proper perspective. In her diary, on September 2, 2021, she wrote, “I once said that I’m becoming and will become Antigone. Prophecy and recognition are coming to be. I am becoming Antigone.” Id, at 51 (emphasis mine). And in a way, she may have well become like that precise character of Sophocles. 

Antigone’s death in her eponymous tragic play is brought about by her reluctant if unrelenting uncle Creon, King of Thebes, a harsh punishment for her defiance of his order not to mourn or tend her deceased brother, Polynices. Though Creon does eventually relent and abate his judgment, it is already too late. The heroine is dead. Her death prompts the death of Haemon, Creon’s son and Antigone’s fiancé. Haemon’s death begets the death of his mother, Queen Eurydice. By tormenting Antigone to her death, the king inadvertently brings down his own ruling house. 

Creon is a somewhat inconsistent character in general, within and without Antigone, and his placement into my analogy is maybe an equal contrariety. Being a tragic figure himself, he is far more sympathetic than the rulers of the postmodern West. However, if we transpose Dugina’s diary entry upon the play, then, as she becomes Antigone, the West becomes and represents Creon. Extending the imagined interchange, it is conceivable that, in conjunction with so many other crimes, the West may have sealed its fate by murdering Daria Dugina. When NATO and the USA are catastrophically defeated in Ukraine and elsewhere, their losses may be traceable, at least symbolically, back to her car bomb murder. 

The final lines of Antigone belong to the choregos herald*: “Wise conduct hath command of happiness before all else, and piety to Heaven must be preserved. High boastings of the proud bring sorrow to the height to punish pride. A lesson men shall learn when they are old.” Creon was a victim of allegiance to his own “rules-based” order. Nearly driven mad with remorse, nonetheless, he did learn his sad lesson. Yet his understanding came at the exorbitant cost of his posterity, his lineage destroyed with unyielding irony. Unlike Creon, the rulers of the faux West are evil rather than tragic. We may hold little hope that they learn anything from the consequences of their misdeeds and their inevitable defeat. But they will be defeated. 

Any one of you may participate in the pending triumph over this current iteration of the devil’s transient empire of lies and death. One simple way is to join with the wit, charm, wisdom, sorrow, joy, and iron defiance of Daria Dugina. Read her Meditations and live your own radical life.

*The symbolism keeps flowing. On February 26, 2024, in Moscow, Princess Vittoria Alliata di Villafranca noted of Daria Dugina: “It was only when, confronting the Empire of Chaos, Daria raised her name Platonova like a flag to affirm that being a woman today means choosing between two opposite archetypes, that finally the enemy noticed her.” Again, may their attention to her detail destroy them! Of course, the raised name of “Platonova,” of the “new Plato,” is essentially self-explanatory with even a little understanding of the philosophy of Daria Dugina. In the foregoing context concerning Antigone, it is most interesting to also know that the old Plato was upon a time himself counted among the Athenian choregoi. There comes a time when too many coincidences begin to look like prescient ordination. Regardless of the allegorical, raise your flag, sound your chorus, and be a radical!

Deo vindice!

--

Holy Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!

Anathema to the Union!