Bookworm Room

Conservatives deal with facts and reach conclusions; liberals have conclusions and sell them as facts.

History, Holidays & Observances on December 8

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A look at some of the history and holidays on December 8

Holidays & Observances on December 8

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is held on this day to celebrate the belief in the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary — i.e., that from the moment of her birth, Mary, the chosen of God to bear Jesus, was herself born without sin. “The feast was first solemnized as a Holy Day of Obligation [in] . . . 1708 under the Papal Bull Commissi Nobis Divinitus by Pope Clement XI and is often celebrated with Mass, parades, fireworks, processions, ethnic foods, and cultural festivities in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary and is generally considered a Family Day, especially in many majority Catholic countries.”

Major Events on December 8

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History, Holidays & Observances on December 6

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A look at some of the history and holidays on December 6

Holidays & Observances on December 6

Feast of St Nicholas – Yes, Virginia, there is a St. Nickolaus . . . and his feast day is today. The Santa Claus we associate with Christmas is a melding of the legends of St. Nickolaus and Odin as filtered through the Dutch. The actual St. Nickolaus was a 4th century Bishop of Myra famous for his gift giving:

After his parents died, Nicholas is said to have distributed their wealth to the poor. In his most famous exploit, which is first attested in Michael the Archimandrite’s Life of Saint Nicholas, Nicholas heard of a devout man who once had been wealthy, but had lost all his money due to the “plotting and envy of Satan.” The man had three daughters, but could not afford a proper dowry for them. This meant that they would remain unmarried and probably, in absence of any other possible employment, be forced to become prostitutes. Hearing of the girls’ plight, Nicholas decided to help them, but, being too modest to help the family in public (or to save them the humiliation of accepting charity), he went to the house under the cover of night and threw a purse filled with gold coins through the window opening into the house. He did the same thing the next two nights, giving the man a total of three bags of gold, one for each of his three daughters.

According to Michael the Archimandrite’s version, on the third night, the father of the three girls stayed up and caught Saint Nicholas in the act of the charity. The father fell on his knees, thanking him. Nicholas ordered him not to tell anyone about the gift. The scene of Nicholas’s secret gift-giving is one of the most popular scenes in Christian devotional art, appearing in icons and frescoes from across Europe. Although depictions vary depending on time and place, Nicholas is often shown wearing a cowl while the daughters are typically shown in bed, dressed in their nightclothes. . . .

The Feast Day of St. Nicholas is celebrated widely throughout all of Europe as a St. Nickolaus Day celebration that begins with a worship service. Then there are the giving of gifts, parades and other local traditions. [Read more…]

History, Holidays & Observances on December 2

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A look at some of the history and holidays on December 2

Holidays & Observances on December 2

The Feast of St. Bibiana, a virgin martyr of the early Roman Church.  Legend has it that According to this legend, Bibiana was the daughter of a former prefect, Flavianus, who was banished by Julian the Apostate. Dafrosa, the wife of Flavianus, and his two daughters, Demetria and Bibiana, were also persecuted by Julian. Dafrosa and Demetria died a natural death and were buried by Bibiana in their own house; but Bibiana was scourged to death. Two days after her death a priest named John buried Bibiana near her mother and sister in her home, the house. A church in Rome, Santa Bibiana, was built over the house in the 3rd century and exists to this day.

 

Major Events on December 2

1763 – Dedication of the Touro Synagogue, in Newport, Rhode Island.

The Touro Synagogue was, by a matter of weeks, the first synagogue in colonial America (the second being at the home of the largest Jewish population in the colonies, Charleston, SC).   Colonial America, and then early America, were among the few places that welcomed Jews with open arms.  No one made that more plain then George Washington who, on his 1790 tour of the colonies to lobby for the passage of the Bill of Rights, exchanged letters with the congregation of the Touro Synagogue.  After receiving a laudatory letter on August 17, 1790 from the synagogue’s warden, Moses Seixas, Washington responded with a now famous full throated embrace of religious tolerance:

Gentlemen:

While I received with much satisfaction your address replete with expressions of esteem, I rejoice in the opportunity of assuring you that I shall always retain grateful remembrance of the cordial welcome I experienced on my visit to Newport from all classes of citizens.

The reflection on the days of difficulty and danger which are past is rendered the more sweet from a consciousness that they are succeeded by days of uncommon prosperity and security.

If we have wisdom to make the best use of the advantages with which we are now favored, we cannot fail, under the just administration of a good government, to become a great and happy people.

The citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy—a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship.

It is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights, for, happily, the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.

It would be inconsistent with the frankness of my character not to avow that I am pleased with your favorable opinion of my administration and fervent wishes for my felicity.

May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants—while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid.

May the father of all mercies scatter light, and not darkness, upon our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in His own due time and way everlastingly happy.

G. Washington

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The new world order has Karl Marx rolling in his grave

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Karl Marx heralded a new world order made up of a brotherhood of man. He would be shocked and dismayed to see which brotherhood sits atop this new world.

Karl MarxI spent time on the phone today with a British friend who voted for Brexit and who is heartbroken and angry about the way in which Parliament has worked assiduously to undercut the will of the people. I pointed to Daniel Hannan’s article promising the MPs are beclowning themselves and that Brexit will happen, but she doesn’t believe it.

My friend’s anger goes far beyond the fact that Britain is still anchored to the EU. What infuriates her is that Parliament has proven that she no longer lives in a representative democracy. She can go to her polling place and cast a vote, but once her MP walks across the threshold of the Parliament building, his first allegiance is to the EU’s and Britain’s bureaucracies. In other words, voters have no say in their own governance. [Read more…]

Political quotas

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The hell with democracy.  In post-Blairite England, the Labour government is now demanding that gays be represented in parliament in numbers proportionate to their numbers amongst the general public:

Controversial Government backed plans for a massive increase in the number of gay MPs are being opposed by Commons Speaker Michael Martin, it was revealed last night.

Ministers are likely to support a demand by gay-rights campaigners for a target of electing 39 openly gay MPs – nearly four times the present number.

The target is based on an official estimate that six per cent of Britain is gay and is part of a Parliamentary shake-up by Commons Leader Harriet Harman to make MPs ‘more representative’.

My feeling is that if the British want to use their democratic rights to elect only gay people to Parliament — fine.  What I find appalling is that the government is essentially taking away that democratic right by demanding that only certain demographics can fill parliamentary seats.

You can bet your bottom dollar that, at the rate England is going, the next step will be that government will announce that Parliament must be filled with X number of transgendered MPs, X number of Muslims MPs, X number of Catholic MPs, X number of vegetarian MPs, X number of Anglican MPs (you remember that faith in England, don’t you?), etc..  After that, it’s an easy step for the government to announce that, because voters are being obstreperous about sticking to those legislative guidelines, thereby depriving gays, Muslims, Catholics, vegetarians, etc., of their designated proportional rights, the government will take over the task of finding appropriate representatives from the designated groups to fill parliamentary seats.

And just like that, the noble experiment of democracy, one that traces its roots back hundreds of years in England, will be gone.