The Battle of Vienna 1683
September 12th marks the anniversary of the Battle of Vienna, in 1683, when the army of the Holy Roman Empire, particularly with the help of the intrepid Polish army under the command of their king, Jan Sobieski, overcame superior odds to crush the onslaught of the advancing Ottoman Turks at the very gates of the ancient city, the ‘gateway to Europe’. I heard that the Polish cavalry put ‘wings’ on its men, whose mighty ruffling sound put the fear of God into the Turkish army. That, and God was thankfully on their side.
History would have been very different had the Muslims conquered Vienna in the 17th century, and Europe would likely look a lot like northern Africa does today, at least in a cultural sense, and I don’t mean that as a compliment on the capacity of Islam to build what we think of as ‘culture’. There is a lot of immigration to Europe; to Egypt and Libya? Not that much.
One need not imagine much that the terrorists on 9-11 had that very date in mind, to strike at the very heart of the ‘Crusaders’. Although I wonder how many Polish descendants in New York on that fateful September day. Then again, terrorists don’t tend to discriminate all that much.
As it was, Europe provided a bulwark against the seemingly inexorable advance of the ‘Crescent’, at least until recently. What the Muslims could not do by warfare, seems now being accomplished by immigration and the sheer laws of demography. Europeans are not having children; Muslims are. as mentioned above, the immigration is almost all one way. There is also a dynamism and cohesion to Islam sadly lacking in most forms of European Christianity, moribund almost to the last denomination. There are pockets, one can see, of Catholic resurgence, as well as areas of Eastern Christianity making inroads. One may hope, but the road ahead will be difficult and long.
There is a story that after that September day, the bakers invent the ‘croissant’, an image of the Islamic crescent, that one could smother in butter or chocolate or, better, both, and eat in commemoration of the victory. Not very ecumenical, one might think, but the story may not be true. And croissants are delicious. So enjoy, and bring to your mind days of Catholic glory, honour and virility, which may yet be again.
Carney’s Amoral Majority
After five defections – euphemistically described as ‘crossing the floor’ – and three by-elections, Mark Carney and his Liberals how have their coveted majority. One wonders what bowls of pottage were offered in back-room deals. In the archaic monarchical system that is the Dominion of Canada, this majority allows the newly-minted Prime Minister to rule[…]Continue reading→
Saint Kateri , Canada’s Protectress
This was the title given to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, by Pope Benedict XVI, when he canonized her on October 28th, 2012, along with six others, in Saint Peter’ Square (she had been beatified by Pope John Paul II back in 1980). With Saint Joseph as our protector, along with the Canadian martyrs, we seem to[…]Continue reading→
Remembering Father Alphonse de Valk
(Today marks the sixth anniversary of the death of Father Alphonse de Valk, C.S.B., a faithful, courageous and indefatigable Basilian priest, pro-life-and-family apostle, and the founder of Catholic Insight magazine. Here is what we wrote those on his entering into eternity five years ago, as we continue to remember him in our prayers and thoughts)[…]Continue reading→
A Tale of Two Benedicts
A grace-filled Holy Week to all our readers! As we await and prepare for the Resurrection about to dawn upon us, we might keep in mind two Benedicts: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, requiescat in pace, elected on this day in 2005; and today’s commemoration of the mystic pilgrim, Benedict Joseph Labre, who died on this[…]Continue reading→
My Name is Bernadette
April 16th is a propitious day, for besides the anniversary of Father de Valk’s death, who founded Catholic Insight in its print form decades ago, and the commemoration of the ‘two Benedicts’, mentioned in accompanying posts, today we also recall Saint Bernadette Soubirous, the young visionary to whom the Virgin Mary appeared numerous times at[…]Continue reading→
Saint Lydwina of Schiedam and Suffering Joyfully
Saint Lydwina of Schiedam (1380 – 1433) was one of the countless and glorious ‘victim souls’ in the history of the Church, those whose lives are filled with suffering, often of an unimaginable intensity, but who suffer joyfully. She was a fifteen-year old Dutch girl, out skating one day, when she fell and broke one[…]Continue reading→
The Glorious Martyrdoms of Martin and Maximus
As we enter into Eastertide, we recall on this 13th of April Pope Saint Martin I (+655), one of the noblest, if most tragic, of the successors of Saint Peter. Born in Umbria, Italy, he was of noble lineage, with great intelligence combined with charity and love of the poor and the Church. While still[…]Continue reading→
Canonizing Sister Faustina and Divine Mercy
HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER MASS IN ST PETER’S SQUARE FOR THE CANONIZATION OF SR MARY FAUSTINA KOWALSKA Sunday, 30 April 2000 1. “Confitemini Domino quoniam bonus, quoniam in saeculum misericordia eius”; “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever” (Ps 118: 1). So the Church sings on the Octave of[…]Continue reading→
Divine Mercy Sunday – An Echo of Every Mass
Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe’… ‘My Lord and my God!’ (Jn. 20:18)). Today is Divine Mercy Sunday, and as we celebrate the end of the Easter Octave, we contemplate the wounded side of our Saviour, the Church’s source of life. On Good Friday in the[…]Continue reading→
Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów
We celebrate Saint Stanislaus today (+ April 11, 1079), in light of this Easter Octave, a bishop and martyr who accepted the episcopacy only at the direct order of Pope Alexander II. He proved a wise and courageous leader of his flock, put to death by his own king, Boleslaus, for rebuking the monarch’s ‘immoral[…]Continue reading→