Traditions: The Chapel Veil

 From Catholic 365:

The chapel veil is also called a mantilla, and is worn by Catholic women to honor the Lord as truly present in the Eucharist. This is a very old tradition and is also a symbol of imitation of Mary, the Mother of God. The wearing of the Mantilla is an act of veiling a woman's physical beauty, so that the beauty of God may be glorified instead. It is also a way of emulating Mary, our mother, who is the archetype of purity and humility.  Moreover, the mantilla, or chapel veil, signifies the role of women as a life-bearing vessel.  The chalice holding the blood of Christ is veiled until the Preparation of the Gifts, and the tabernacle is veiled between Masses. Both of these vessels hold the Eucharist – the very life of Christ. (Read more.)

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La Reine Margot and the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre

A first hand account from a notorious lady, who nevertheless saved the life of her husband Henri de Navarre, the future Henri IV. Henri IV, through his second marriage to Marie de' Medici, was the father of Queen Henrietta Maria.

Five or six days afterwards, those who were engaged in this plot, considering that it was incomplete whilst the King my husband and the Prince de Conde remained alive, as their design was not only to dispose of the Huguenots, but of the Princes of the blood likewise; and knowing that no attempt could be made on my husband whilst I continued to be his wife, devised a scheme which they suggested to the Queen my mother for divorcing me from him. Accordingly, one holiday, when I waited upon her to chapel, she charged me to declare to her, upon my oath, whether I believed my husband to be like other men. "Because," said she, "if he is not, I can easily procure you a divorce from him." I begged her to believe that I was not sufficiently competent to answer such a question, and could only reply, as the Roman lady did to her husband, when he chid her for not informing him of his stinking breath, that, never having approached any other man near enough to know a difference, she thought all men had been alike in that respect. "But," said I, "Madame, since you have put the question to me, I can only declare I am content to remain as I am;" and this I said because I suspected the design of separating me from my husband was in order to work some mischief against him....(Read more.)

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Make All of America Muslim?

 From Tierney's Real News:

Most people are not aware that Hillary Clinton brought Huma Abedin and the Muslim Brotherhood into the White House in the 1990s and then shortly thereafter 9/11 happened.

THIS IS HOW THEY SCHEMED TO MAKE ALL OF AMERICA MUSLIM.

I posted an article on my old blog website and on social media in March 2018. It was about Hillary Clinton, her “new” aide Huma Abedin and a threat made by one of their associates, Sharifa Alkhateeb, the then head of the North American Council for Muslim Women, in 1989, to “MAKE ALL OF AMERICA MUSLIM.” (Read more.)

The DSA wants to transform America. From The Enterprise:

 On July 16, 2026, the World Bank approved a $1.5 billion loan to modernize South Africa's electricity, freight rail, water, and sanitation systems. It is the fourth rescue of this kind since 2022, which means the first three left the wreck standing. The conditions attached to the money are a list of the ordinary rules Pretoria spent a generation discarding. The government is to build a competitive wholesale electricity market, open transmission to private investment, allow private rail operators to compete for freight, grant the first private concession at a port terminal, and let private firms provide water. Those conditions are the sound of a creditor describing a machine that no longer runs.

Maintenance, competition, professional management, and independent oversight keep a grid from becoming a patronage office. Conservatives who treat institutions as machines have been saying so while Democrats in American cities treat the same institutions as prizes for the faithful. The African National Congress is the party that removed those disciplines. It is also the party now borrowing to put them back. The wrecking crew is sending the invoice abroad.

The claim is not that apartheid was just. In 1994 the ANC inherited an industrial economy that was unjustly distributed and technically sophisticated. The duty that came with that inheritance was to universalize access without destroying the competence that kept the lights on and the ore moving to the sea. The party did the opposite. It converted technical administration into political allocation. In thirty years it consumed capital that had taken generations to assemble. Democrats who now talk the same way about American agencies, as if competence were a colonial residue, are watching a finished experiment and applauding the method. (Read more.)

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‘Mr Molière: A Brief History’

 From Jemahl Evans at Seventeenth-Century Lady:

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (1622-1673) more commonly known as Molière, is a titan of world literature. The French Shakespeare, his influence on the development of early modern theatre, and his acerbic observations on the human condition in his work have fascinated and enthralled audiences for centuries. So great was his lasting influence on French literature that in 2025 Melvyn Bragg would restate the claim that French: ‘…is the language of Molière.’

Jean Baptiste was born into a well-to-do Parisian family in 1622. Christened ‘Le Nez’ (The Nose) by a maid, it remained a family nickname for the rest of his life. His father purchased the rank of Valet de chambre ordinaire et tapissier du Roi (Upholsterer to the King) in 1631 when the boy was just six. The title provided a steady income and conferred respectability on the upwardly mobile clan. After the death of his mother in 1632, Jean Baptiste was educated at the elite Collège de Clermont run by the Jesuit order (now the Lycée Louis-le-Grand). It is here that the young Parisian got his first taste of the theatre and actors. The Church would never forgive him.

The profession was not held in high regard in Seventeenth-Century France. Actors were publicly shamed as sinners, ran the risk of excommunication, and were forbidden from burial in consecrated ground. It was not the career path for a scion of a respectable bourgeoisie Parisian family. A decree by Louis XIII in 1641 stating that actors were ‘not to be considered worthy of blame nor prejudicial to their reputation’ did little to improve matters, even as the public flocked to theatrical performances. After completing his education, Jean Baptiste initially succeeded his father as Upholsterer to the King and started training as a lawyer. However, at the age of 21, he abandoned a respectable career for a life on the stage. His father and wider family were predictably appalled by the decision. (Read more.)

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Louis XVI and Tuberculosis

Louis-Auguste, Duc de Berry, the future Louis XVI, was born on August 23, 1754. August 25, the feast of St. Louis of France, was his name-day, and kept with special festivity after he became king in 1774. He was given the same exact baptismal name as his sainted ancestor. A few years ago on Catherine Delors' blog many interesting points were brought up in the comment box about the childhood traumas of Louis-Auguste and how those later affected his reactions to the events of the Revolution.

Louis contracted tuberculosis when he was six by being made to sit at the bedside of his dying older brother, the Duc de Bourgogne. It was a traumatic experience in many ways for a small boy, especially since he himself became quite ill. Louis-Auguste was generally regarded as unhealthy and not likely to live to adulthood. Several members of the French royal family, including Louis' parents and brother, had already died of consumption. Louis managed to survive with the proper care. Nevertheless, tuberculosis is a disease which can remain inactive for many years but can later recur. It can have many side effects, including depression.

Provence and Berry

The tuberculosis would come back to haunt him, infecting his baby daughter Sophie and his oldest son. I think seeing Louis-Joseph die just as he had watched his older brother die long ago revived a lot of the childhood trauma. Death from tuberculosis is not pretty to watch. I am of the opinion that since the death of his oldest son, which coincided with the beginning of the Revolution in 1789, Louis XVI was suffering from clinical depression. In the past, he had acted with much more energy and decision. This is one of the reasons Marie-Antoinette had to become more involved in the political arena during the Revolution.

I think Louis struggled with "melancholy" at various times throughout his life, perhaps due to the childhood infection with tuberculosis. Louis was a man accustomed to strenuous exercise, especially hunting and riding, not to mention his labors as a locksmith. It is my belief that he needed the fresh air and the exertion for both his mental and physical health. With the regimen of exercise and his strictly adhered to routine he was able to keep melancholy from overwhelming him. He was deprived of much of his riding after October 1789 and it had a devastating effect upon his health and state of mind. Losing two of his children, his authority, his home, seeing his people and family suffer, and being deprived of the exercise and fresh air vital to his health, left him in a very bad condition.

If we consider the courage with which Louis XVI faced the worst moments of crisis, including his death, then he is to be admired, especially in the light of everything else. The Queen is to be admired as well, for she could have slipped out of the country with her surviving children and left Louis to his doom (there were many plans for her escape) but she refused to budge from Louis' side. She would not leave him to face the disasters alone.

Happy Birthday to Louis XVI!

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Free Derek Chauvin!

 From Tierney's Real News:

Derek Chauvin’s attorney, Gregory Joseph, has filed a new motion seeking the dismissal of Chauvin’s state convictions, alleging that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office engaged in “illegal” and “fraudulent” conduct.

Joseph argues that a grand jury was never convened to review or indict Chauvin on the enhanced murder charges. Under Minnesota law, severe charges like first-degree murder typically require a grand jury indictment, though lower-level murder charges (like the second-degree unintentional murder Chauvin was convicted of) are frequently initiated via a prosecutor’s criminal complaint.

Joseph contends that the initial, lesser charges brought by Hennepin County were bypassed due to immense political and public pressure. He claims Governor Walz overstepped by transferring the case to AG Keith Ellison, who subsequently e-filed a second, “unfounded” complaint that included the elevated murder counts to satisfy public demand rather than following appropriate statutory boundaries.

“Because Hennepin County’s unlawful charges against Mr. Chauvin were not severe enough for the mob, Walz referred the case to Keith Ellison, who signed and e-filed a second unfounded complaint against Derek Chauvin that included the murder charge.”

Chauvin is currently serving a 22.5-year state sentence concurrently with a 21-year federal sentence for allegedly violating Floyd’s civil rights, with a projected release date in 2037. State prosecutors have not yet filed a formal response to these specific grand jury allegations. (Read more.)

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The Modesty Fallacy

 Worrying about female modesty has become an obsession among many Christians. Yes, there is more flesh exposed than there was in past times. But there is such cult-like behavior in many Catholic circles, including homeschooling groups, that has nothing to do with Church teaching nor with Sacred Scripture. I knew one group of young mothers where no one could wear cologne. Another group is saying you cannot take Catholic children to the beach because of what they might see. People make up their own rules that have nothing to do with tradition but with their own irks and quirks. They are the new Puritans. And as a historian I can tell you that standards of modesty among Catholics have changed and fluctuated a great deal for 2000+ years. I will  never forget the reaction of a devout lady when she was shown the original edition of my novel Trianon with the beautiful LeBrun portrait of Marie-Antoinette and her children on the cover. "She's wearing a low-cut dress!" was the exclamation. As for immodesty being connected to rape, Muslim women are raped even when they are covered from head to toe. And what about all the nuns raped by Communists? And I have lamented about all the young Catholic women making themselves deliberately unattractive in ugly, shapeless clothes as a badge of piety.

Lindsay T. has an interesting series of articles on her substack.

The virtue of modesty is defined in the Catechism as “a virtue of the heart” which “guides how one looks at others and behaves toward them in conformity with the dignity of persons”.^[7] How men and women dress is important, but judgement of one’s degree of modesty is not the responsibility of the on-looker. In fact, the on-looker should employ modesty in how he looks and behaves towards the other person.

Pope John Paul II, in his book Love and Responsibility, also places responsibility of chaste thoughts on the on-looker:

The virtue of chastity is underdeveloped in anyone who is slow to affirm the value of the person and allows the values of sex to reign supreme: these, once they take possession of the will distort one’s whole attitude to a person of the other sex. The essence of Chastity consists in quickness to affirm the value of the person in every situation.^[8]

If an onlooker is tempted to lust by a woman wearing yoga pants or spaghetti straps, I would suggest their attitude towards the other sex has been distorted; they have allowed “the values of sex to reign supreme.” The focus should be on affirming “the value of the person in every situation.”

The culture around Franciscan University, though it professes to teach and encourage a Catholic sexual ethic, has proven repeatedly that it does not affirm “the value of the person in every situation” when it comes to cases of harassment and assault. In fact, it has repeatedly favored the perpetrator—which is most often male—and has scapegoated alleged victims—who are most often female. The questions that female students have received upon reporting harassment or assault prove the strength of the prevailing group theory: It can’t be the man’s fault. There must be something the girl did to incite, invite, or welcome that behavior.

[....]

As a Catholic woman and mother, it concerns and affects me when, at the local Catholic high school, a teacher who is also a Franciscan graduate tells a classroom that “rape culture” is a product of feminism (See Krason: “The sexual harassment frenzy… is the latest poison from the Sexual Revolution”) and many men’s lives have been ruined by false accusations. This group theory that women are responsible for men’s purity is a part of their cultural evangelism. The University’s sexual assault misinformation spreads with conviction. As long as this group theory can subsist—that women are responsible for male virtue—then the friars can sidestep accountability. A University that has protected abusers (who are overwhelmingly male) and mishandled (overwhelmingly female) students’ reports of harassment and assault will be seen as not only blameless, but as a conservative institution battling the woke, feminist agenda of “rape culture” (I hope that sounds as crazy to you as it does to me). (Read more.)

NOTE: Yes, there is a jab at Trump for something coarse he said years ago. He was saying how rich and powerful men are often able to get away with grotesque behavior towards women. He was not advocating the bad behavior, which is obvious when one hears the entire conversation.

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The Death of Richard III

From Medievalists:

On 22 August 1485 Richard III, the last Plantagenet king of England was killed at the Battle of Bosworth. Exactly how and who carried out the killing remains shrouded in mystery. Having seen his battle line collapsing under the French flank attack, Richard charged Henry Tudor and his bodyguard. He immediately killed William Brandon, Henry’s standard bearer. The standard crashed to the ground only to be picked up, according to Welsh tradition, by Rhys ap Maredudd (Rhys Fawr).

Henry must have been close, because we are told by Vergil that next in Richard’s path was the 6 foot 8 inch John Cheyney. with great force drove him to the ground. Vergil tells us that at this moment ‘Henry abode the brunt longer than ever his owne soldiers wold have wenyd, who wer now almost owt of hope of victory.’ Holinshed says that Richard was no more than a sword point away from Henry, and Michael Drayton in his poem says they were ‘scarce a lance length’ apart. Victory was now within Richard’s grasp. (Read more.)

 More on Richard III: HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

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Manipulated Polls

 From The Enterprise:

A $20 bill that a bank teller miscounts is still a $20 bill. A $20 bill printed in a basement is something else. Median Strategies appears to have done the second thing to two elections in one week, inventing the voters, the interviews, the methodology, and the results, then posting the product under a corporate-sounding name the day before Wisconsin Democrats chose a nominee for governor. Calling the stunt a "social experiment" after it was exposed does not convert attempted election fraud into political science.

On August 10, one day before Wisconsin's Democratic gubernatorial primary, an anonymous shop calling itself Median Strategies published a supposed survey putting Francesca Hong at 46.3% and David Crowley at 22.6%. The release came with a sample, field dates, a methodology statement, and a name that sounded like one you might already have heard of. Someone reading it on a phone the night before the primary would have seen the ordinary furniture of a real poll and had no reason, from the face of the document, to treat it as fiction. The poll did not exist.

Crowley won the August 11 primary 39.8% to Hong's 39.3%, a margin of 3,796 votes. Median had overstated Hong's advantage by more than 24 points. That gap is not a polling miss, because no voters were interviewed and no sample was ever in the field.

Median did not confess when the returns came in. On August 12, it behaved like a legitimate firm that had simply gotten Wisconsin wrong "by quite a margin," the kind of rueful note a real shop posts after a blowup, the kind of note that keeps the brand intact for whatever it planned to publish next. The next release arrived the following day. (Read more.)

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