Remembrances for March – 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

March 3^rd

M. E. Bradford, one of the South’s best defenders in the latter half of the 20^th hundredyear:

https://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/review/remembering-mel-bradford/

https://theimaginativeconservative.org/author/m-e-bradford

March 7^th

Jean-Baptiste de Bienville

‘Canadian naval officer Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, served as three-time governor of the French colony of Louisiana intermittently from 1702 to 1743. Bienville and his older brother, Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville, traveled on an expedition that arrived in Louisiana in 1699. Together they explored the lower Mississippi River valley and established a permanent French settlement in Louisiana, Fort Maurepas. Bienville proved particularly talented, though not always successful, as a negotiator with local Native Americans. In 1718, he chose the site where New Orleans, named for the French Duc d’Orléans, was built.’

https://64parishes.org/entry/jean-baptiste-le-moyne-sieur-de-bienville-2

March 13^th

Elizabeth Madox Roberts, a gem of a writer from Kentucky:

http://emrsociety.com/Biography

March 19^th

Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle

‘French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, is perhaps best known for giving the region and ultimately the state its name: Louisiana. In 1682, while searching for a water route to the Gulf of Mexico, La Salle—accompanied by a small group of European and Native American explorers—arrived at the point where the Mississippi River empties into the Gulf of Mexico. There, he planted a post and claimed the river and its basin for France, naming the territory La Louisiane in honor of King Louis XIV. In so doing, La Salle helped set the stage for the next eighty years of French rule in the new colony.’

https://64parishes.org/entry/rene-robert-cavelier-sieur-de-la-salle

March 20^th

Lewis Grizzard, one of the many good comedians Southern culture has produced:

https://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/blog/its-a-trick-general-theres-two-of-them/

https://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/topics/lewis-grizzard/

March 25^th

Philip Ludwell III.  ‘He was born in 1716 in Virginia. After completing his education at the College of William & Mary and marrying, he sailed to London in 1738 in order to be received into the Orthodox Church. One of the largest landowners in the colonies, he remained true to the ancient Christian faith till the end of his days and earned the esteem of his peers, including many of the Founding Fathers of the future United States of America.’  Interestingly, he reposed on the Feast Day of the Holy Annunciation.

https://www.ludwell.org/

https://southernorthodox.org/philip-ludwell-iii/

https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2023/03/25/100884-the-annunciation-of-our-most-holy-lady-the-theotokos-and-ever-vi

March 27^th

General Richard Gano, a good example of the kind of Christian soldier who fought for Dixie in the War with the Yanks:

https://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/gods-general/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9813/richard-montgomery-gano/photo

March 28^th

Margaret Junkin Preston, sister-in-law to Stonewall Jackson and a great poetess and novelist:

https://civilwar.vt.edu/margaret-junkin-preston-poetess-of-the-south/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Junkin_Preston#Bibliography

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7737366/margaret-preston/photo

March 28^th

Earl Scruggs.  ‘Earl Scruggs, once compared to violinist Niccolo Paganini, not only pioneered the three-finger banjo but played it to standards of taste and technique unmatched by thousands of disciples over seven decades. He was an important figure in the birth of the bluegrass genre, and also brought his artistry to the fields of country, folk, and rock, to college campuses, and to television and the movies.’

https://www.bluegrasshall.org/inductees/earl-scruggs/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJOIqmlI65Y

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/87507819/earl-eugene-scruggs

Also, to celebrate some of the saints of March from the South’s Christian inheritance of various lands, follow these links on over if you’d like:

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

https://confiterijournal.blogspot.com/2020/03/happy-feast-for-saints-of-march.html

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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: ‘Holy Empresses’

 

Holy Adelaide,

Powerful ruler

Of many Western lands,

In the vicissitudes

Of your life – two times

Of buffeting

Followed by two times

Of calm and blessing –

Are reflected the history

Of all the West:

The cruelties of pagan

Rome’s idolatry,

The rise of Orthodoxy,

The fall away from Grace.

The latter continues apace;

Will we see another

Peaceful Christian age?

 . . .

The rest is at https://www.newenglishreview.org/articles/holy-empresses/.

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To read accounts of the lives of St Adelaide and St Theophano, go on over to these web pages:

https://www.bartleby.com/lit-hub/lives-of-the-saints/volume-xii-december/st-alice-or-adelaide-empress

https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2024/12/16/103558-saint-theophan-the-wonderworker-wife-of-emperor-leo-the-wise

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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: ‘October 26th Offers Essential Lessons for Dixie’

 

October 26^th is a day of contrasts.  On one hand, it is the day the Patriot Act went into effect in 2001, an event that greatly aided in the establishment of a total panopticon system in the 50 States:

Not only did the USA Patriot Act normalize the government’s mass surveillance powers, but it also dramatically expanded the government’s authority to spy on its own citizens without much of any oversight. Thus, a byproduct of this post 9/11-age in which we live, whether you’re walking through a store, driving your car, checking email, or talking to friends and family on the phone, you can be sure that some government agency is listening in and tracking your behavior. This doesn’t even begin to touch on the corporate trackers that monitor your purchases, web browsing, Facebook posts and other activities taking place in the cyber sphere. We have all become data collected in government files.

On the other hand, there are also remembered on that day two saints who were victorious against enemies who seemed unbeatable, St. Nestor (+305) and St. Alfred the Great (+899).  St. Nestor is mentioned in the life of the martyr St. Demetrios the Myrrh-Gusher, who is celebrated on the 26^th.  The following is an account of the life of St. Nestor himself, who is celebrated more fully the following day:

The holy Martyr Nestor was very young in age, handsome in appearance, and he was known to the holy Great Martyr Demetrios (October 26), for he had instructed Nestor in the faith.

 

The Emperor was visiting Thessaloniki, and he built a high platform in the midst of the city so that a gigantic barbarian named Lyaios could wrestle there and be seen by everyone. Beneath the platform many spears and other sharp weapons were placed pointing upward. When Lyaios defeated his opponents, he threw them down onto the spears and they died. Many Christians were forced to fight Lyaios, and were killed. When Nestor saw how Emperor Maximian rejoiced over the victories of his champion, he disdained his pride. Seeing the miracles of Saint Demetrios, however, he took courage and went to the prison where the holy Martyr was confined, and fell at his feet.

 

“Pray for me, O Servant of God Demetrios,” he said, “that by your prayers, God may help me to beat Lyaios, and put an end to him who brings reproach upon the Christians.”

 

The Saint, after sealing Nestor with the Sign of the Cross, told him that he would prevail over Lyaios, and then suffer for Christ. Nestor mounted the platform without fear and exclaimed: “Help me, O God of Demetrios.” After he defeated Lyaios, he hurled him down onto the spears, where he gave up his wretched soul.

 

Maximian became enraged and ordered that both Nestor and Demetrios should be put to death. Saint Demetrios was stabbed with spears, and Saint Nestor was beheaded. Thus, by his example Saint Nestor teaches us that in every human challenge we must say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do to me.” (Psalm 117/118:6, Hebrews 13:6).

Fr. Andrew Phillips tells the story of St. Alfred’s remarkable victory over the Danes:

 . . .

The rest is at https://identitydixie.com/2023/10/30/october-26th-offers-essential-lessons-for-dixie/.

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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: ‘Will Jeff Landry Repeat the Mistake of Charles de Gaulle?’

 

AG Jeff Landry made his final appeal to Louisiana’s voters on Oct. 12th in the campaign for governor (which he subsequently won on Oct. 14^th).  In short, it could be summed up as ‘Louisiana ought to be great.’  In his own words:

 

I am ready to lead us forward towards a brighter and more prosperous future; but as I said from day one: I am not running for Governor — we are. So this Saturday, I ask you to participate, not for me but for yourself, your family, and your future with this land. Vote for us. Vote for Louisiana, and make our greatest known. 

We fully supported Mr. Landry for governor, believing that he has the right mix of experience and temperament, the right view of State sovereignty vis-à-vis the federal government, etc., to bring some beneficial changes to Louisiana.  However, his words in this last appeal of his leave us concerned, for we have seen nearly this same kind of campaign unfold amongst our cousins in France under Charles de Gaulle.

Now, General de Gaulle was an extraordinarily gifted leader.  He nearly single-handedly kept the nation of France alive at times during WWII.  After the end of the war, France lay prostrate, exhausted and dispirited.  And again de Gaulle raised her up.  He entered politics with the aim of making France a renowned country once again, politically stable, economically prosperous, and a prominent player in world politics.  And he achieved a measure of success in those things – influential in Africa, rejecting complete subordination to NATO, protecting French interests in a European commonwealth – as well as giving France a new constitution that stabilized her political life and a reinvigorated economy.

But once de Gaulle retired from politics, most of his achievements unraveled quite rapidly.  Socialism/Leftism became the dominant ideology in the succeeding decades, remaining so today, with all its caustic attendants – open borders, hatred of the native culture, an oppressively large government, etc.

When political leaders fail to raise the eyes of their peoples above the horizon of the earth, they doom them to precisely the kind of materialistic nihilism that France has fallen into.  Politics is not an end in itself.  Politics, like everything else, is a waysign, pointing us to the ultimate reality, to God.  When we turn our eyes from Him, exchanging the infinite, uncreated God for some limited, created thing as the ultimate good, we bring trouble upon ourselves.

Gen. de Gaulle had a wonderful opportunity, given his many talents, to rouse his people to true greatness, that is, to Christian holiness.  But he failed to do so, and France has suffered much because of his failure.  AG Landry, if he is not careful, is poised to repeat the mistake of de Gaulle.  His final appeal is bereft of any mention of God, Christ, Church, etc.; it is concerned only with a worldly kind of greatness.  But worldly greatness satisfies people for only a short time; then the spiritual hunger for something deeper awakens, and if it does not find Christ, people will try to satisfy it in all kinds of ways, many of them harmful – cults, drugs, crime, alcohol, suicide, overeating, endless social media use, etc.

Louisiana is already experiencing many of these.  Less crime, more economic opportunity, and better education will help to a degree, but not for long.  Louisianans desperately need to be reacquainted with the exhilarating quest for holiness, and, once again, it is a French kinsman who provides a helpful illustration for us, St. Martin of Tours (+397 A.D.), the Patron Saint of France.  Even a brief look at his life will show us the kinds of meaningful encounters that await those who seek after God sincerely and using the right means (prayer, fasting, the Divine Liturgy, etc.):

 . . .

The rest is at https://www.reckonin.com/walt-garlington/will-jeff-landry-repeat-the-mistake-of-charles-de-gaulle.

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

Anathema to the Union!