Democrats of the past put up statues of Confederates in order to perpetuate an unhistorical myth about the Dem traitors and war criminals who tried to rip this nation apart in order to preserve slavery. Democrats of the present are removing Confederate statues for the same reason; namely, in order to spread a certain unhistorical narrative. They are erasing and rewriting their own history.

Firstly, all Confederates made it their avowed and express purpose permanently to split the United States of America because of the slavery debate, and a country that celebrates traitors is setting itself up for failure. You can’t show children monuments to traitors and then be taken aback if those children grow up with negative views on America and positive views of those who would undermine her. But the Confederate leaders — most of whom were Democrats — were also not the noble men of generosity and integrity that Democrat propaganda and Dem-erected statues have made them out to be. And yes, statues glorify the subjects; we remember Brutus and Benedict Arnold quite well without monuments, and it is as wrong to erect statues to Civil War traitors as to the traitor Arnold.

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Robert E. Lee called black Union soldiers “property,” praised Nathan Bedford Forrest, and oversaw the mass rounding up and enslavement or killing of free black men, women, and children in multiple states. “Stonewall” Jackson loved to preach religion and humanity, yet he willingly fought for the side of those who committed mass war crimes and boasted about them. Nathan Bedford Forrest bragged about killing surrendering black and white troops at Fort Pillow and later founded the KKK. Former Democrat Secretary of War and Confederate President Jefferson Davis mandated the enslavement or execution of black Union soldiers and the execution of white Union officers who commanded black troops. The Confederate Congress then passed that mandate into law as the Retaliatory Act. You can read more here. These people were not heroes or stainless idealists. They were racist, treacherous, murderous ideologues willing to commit any crime or use any means to attain their own goals.

But the Democrat revisionism of history — which U.S. Grant first noted and warned about within a couple decades of the Civil War’s end — included not only demonizing Lincoln, Grant, and other Unionists, nor simply in publishing books and pamphlets with an alternative historical narrative, but in erecting numerous statues across the former Confederate states to the Democrat traitors of America’s bloodiest conflict.

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Generations of young Americans saw impressive, gigantic, noble-looking statues of Davis and Jackson and Lee and immediately thought how admirable must be the subjects, because such heroic statues have an inherently glorifying effect. But now Democrats have realized they can politically and economically enslave black people through adjusting their rhetoric, taking down their own statues, and pretending that they loathe the racist Dems of the past.

The reality is that the Democrat Party from Andrew Jackson to the present has been racist, anti-Constitutional, anti-American, elitist, ruthless, corrupt, and rhetorically clever. They have left an endless trail of corpses and ruined towns and states in their wake, and yet they still shape the historical and political narrative. Democrats also know that Republicans are reactionaries, meaning lefties have only to take down a statue of Stonewall Jackson for Republicans to start bewailing it as a tragedy, thus confirming in ignorant voters’ minds the idea that Republicans are racist and Democrats are the party of anti-racism.

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The Democrats put up the Confederate memorials as an architectural propaganda ploy. They now remove the memorials as an even more effective propaganda ploy. And Republicans are still falling for the bait, over a century and a half after the Civil War ended.

Today is the anniversary of the death of one of the greatest Irish Gaelic leaders against English tyranny in centuries of struggle: “Red Hugh” O’Donnell.

Hugh was the O’Donnell King of Tyrconnell, or modern Donegal, in late 16th century Ireland. When he wed the daughter of the O’Neill Earl of Tyrone, he linked together the traditional enemies the O’Neills and O’Donnells, and had the opportunity to present a more united and formidable opposition to English rule than many other clan leaders before him. He bridged some of the internecine warfare in Ireland and forged an independence coalition that rocked the foundations of English rule in Ireland.

And the English understood what a threat he was, too. When he was still very young, Hugh was kidnapped and imprisoned in the English stronghold of Dublin Castle (see the tower in which he was held below). After a failed attempt, he managed to develop and execute a daring escape with two O’Neills as his companions, although one of the other young men sadly died soon after in the wretched weather. Free at last, Hugh could take up his role as a warlord, and he proved himself a formidable foe indeed against English tyranny.

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The O’Donnells and O’Neills won multiple victories against the English, including at Clontibret and in the Curlew Mountains. Unfortunately, once again the internal Irish clan disagreements began to dim the outlook, as some Gaelic families betrayed their own people on behalf of the English. Following a defeat in 1601, Hugh realized he needed more troops, and that he might have to look outside Ireland. So he went to Catholic Spain, another traditional enemy of Protestant England’s.

But while awaiting promised military forces, Hugh suddenly died on Aug. 30 of 1602. The high likelihood is that he was assassinated by poison through the agency of an Irishman paid off by the English. If he had lived, he might have driven the English out of Ireland, but the treacherous tyrants eliminated him first.

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Hugh O’Donnell did not succeed in freeing Ireland entirely of the English, but he did deal multiple blows to the foreign despots and his heroism and daring continued to inspire Irish freedom fighters for centuries after his death. His legacy is one of courage, intrepidity, patriotism, resourcefulness, and love for liberty.

“For, though I speak it to you, I think the king is but a man, as I am.” —Shakespeare’s Henry V

August 25

1530 - Ivan the Terrible, first tsar of Russia, is born.

1609 - “Italian astronomer and philosopher Galilei Galileo showed Venetian merchants his new invention, a telescope.”

1718 - “Louisiana governor Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne of Bienville founded New Orleans on the west bank of the Mississippi…named …in honor of Duke Philip II of Orléans who then reigned over France as Regent.”

1930 - “James Bond” actor Sean Connery is born.

1944 - WWII: The Nazis surrender and Paris is liberated by the Allies, to the joy of Parisians. Nazi Gen. Dietrich von Choltitz surrendered, against the orders of Hitler, who told him to destroy Paris completely.

August 26

1071 - The Seljuq Turks defeat the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert.

1303 - “Alauddin Khilji of the Khilji Dynasty attacked and captured Chittorgarh” in India.

1346 - The Battle of Creçy is a decisivevictory for King Edward III of England and his son, the Black Prince, against the King of France during the Hundred Years’ War.

1723 - Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, Dutch father of microbiology, dies.

1789 - The radical “Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen” is approved by the French Revolution’s National Assembly.

1910 - Mother Teresa, Albanian saint, founder of the Missionaries of Charity, and Nobel Prize winner, is born.

1914 - WWI: The Battle of Tannenberg begins, ultimately will be a German victory over the Russians.

1942 - The Nazi-controlled Vichy regime in France rounds up 6,000 Jews.

1974 - American aviator Charles Lindbergh, “the first aviator to complete a solo transatlantic flight,” dies.

2021 - Amidst Joe Biden’s catastrophic Afghanistan withdrawal, 13 U.S. service members and some 200 Afghanis are killed in a terrorist attack in Kabul.

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August 27

479 BC - The Battle of Plataea “was the final clash of the second Persian invasion of Greece with the victory of the allied Greek forces putting a final end to the Persian empire’s expansion.” The Battle of Mycale, also a Greek victory, occurred the same day.

663 - The Battle of Baekgang in Korea is a victory for the Silla and Tang Chinese allies over the Baekje restoration and Yamato Japanese forces.

1782 - Revolutionary War officer and ardent abolitionist John Laurens is killed. Read more.

1883 - The island volcano Krakatoa erupts and triggers tsunamis that kill 36,000 people in Java and Sumatra.

1975 - Haile Selassie I, former emperor of Ethiopia, dies.

1979 - British Lord Louis Mountbatten, cousin of the Queen, is assassinated along with two kids by IRA terrorists.

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August 28

1189 - The Siege of Acre begins during the Third Crusade under Richard the Lionheart.

1609 - English explorer Henry Hudson sails into the Delaware’s Bay.

1774 - Elizabeth Ann Seton, later the first native-born American saint, is born.

1963 - Civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. delivers the famous “I Have a Dream” Speech. King plagiarized part of the speech from Archibald Carey Jr., but his delivery undoubtedly electrified the country.

August 29

1526 - The Ottomans conquer Hungary at the Battle of Mohács.

1842 - The Treaty of Nanjing ends the First Opium War between China and Britain.

1915 - Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman, star of iconic movie “Casablanca,” is born. She died the same day in 1982.

August 30

1363 - The Battle of Lake Poyang beginsbetween the Ming (victors) and Han Chinese, one of history’s biggest naval battles.

1602 - “Red Hugh” O’Donnell, a great Irish military leader against English tyranny, dies—likely assassinated. Read my full piece.

1862 - US Civil War: The Second Battle of Bull Run ends with a Confederate victory.

1914 - WWI: The Battle of Tannenberg ends with Germans’ crushing defeat of the Russians.

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August 31

12 AD - Crazy and infamously cruel Roman emperor Caligula is born.

1422 - English King Henry V, famous for his victory over the French at the Battle of Agincourt, dies.

1897 - Oscar-winning US actor Fredric March is born.

Did I miss any important events? Let me know in the comments.

Today is the feast of St. Augustine of Hippo (d.430), a North African bishop, theologian, and orator who was one of the most influential intellectuals of Western civilization.

He is famous for many memorable quotations, most especially “you made us for yourself, oh Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in thee.” But today I want to highlight a highly useful piece of life advice applicable to anyone in any age or state of life: “Conquer yourself and the world lies at your feet.”

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There was a member of the Revolutionary generation who was close to George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, who was a war hero, who offered to sacrifice his inheritance to free slaves, and who was willing to abandon his property in the south altogether if necessary to abolish slavery. This was John Laurens, a Patriot who practiced what he preached and died fighting for liberty.

Laurens died on this day (Aug.27) in 1782, his life tragically cut short during a skirmish with the British at Combahee River. But he had influenced two of the greatest Founding Fathers. In a letter to his father in 1778, Laurens noted that he had convinced Washington to offer slaves who served in the army emancipation if a feasible plan could make it possible; this, indeed, occurred, though on a smaller scale than Laurens had hoped. And Hamilton grew more anti-slavery after having been friends with Laurens.

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While writing to his father in 1778, Laurens actually offered to forgo his inheritance if his father would be willing to free some of their slaves and make them soldiers:

I wish I had any foundation to ask for an extraordinary addition to those favors which I have already received from you I would sollicit you to cede me a number of your able bodied men Slaves, instead of leaving me a fortune—I would bring about a twofold good, first I would advance those who are unjustly deprived of the Rights of Mankind to a State which would be a proper Gradation between abject Slavery and perfect Liberty—and besides I would reinforce the Defenders of Liberty with a number of gallant Soldiers.

Many of the Founders railed against slavery, but only Washington actually freed his own slaves, and only Laurens was willing to sacrifice all his future material prosperity to live up to the principle of liberty. Too many slaveowners felt they were dependent upon slave labor for their personal prosperity, and so no matter how much they ranted about liberty, they weren’t willing to extend it to their own slaves.

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Laurens complained to Hamilton not long before his untimely death that “the black project” could not make headway facing South Carolina’s “triple-headed monster that shed the baneful influence of Avarice, prejudice, and pusillanimity in all our Assemblies.” As for Laurens himself, he was determined to stand on principle, even if he stood alone. He strongly declared:

I think we Americans at least in the Southern Colonies, mean not contend with a good Grace, for Liberty, until we shall have enfranchised our Slaves. How can we whose Jealousy has been alarm’d more at the Name of Oppression sometimes than at the Reality, reconcile to our spirited Assertions of the Rights of Mankind, the galling abject Slavery of our negroes…If as some pretend, but I am persuaded more thro’ intrested, than from Conviction, the Culture of the Ground with us cannot be carried on without African Slaves, Let us fly it as a hateful Country, and say ubi Libertas ibi Patria [where Liberty is there is my Country]

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Washington, the “father of our country,” reflected after Laurens’ death that “he had not a fault that I ever could discover, unless intrepidity bordering upon rashness, could come under that denomination; & to this he was excited by the purest motives.” Indeed, Laurens was truly exceptional for acting always not from his own personal interest, but from the purest motives.

Award-winning stage and screen actor Tim Curry has passed away at the age of 80.

Whether as William Shakespeare, as the Pirate King, as Cardinal Richelieu, as Long John Silver, as Coeur de Noir, or as Dr. Yevgeni Petrov, Tim Curry made every role he played unique. While I am not a fan of his most famous movies, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Clue, I have seen Curry play a wide range of roles in movies, TV shows, and stage shows that were unforgettable and of high artistic caliber. He didn’t just put on a costume, he brought each character to life.

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Rest in peace, Tim Curry.

The US Department of Justice announced on August 25, “United States Attorney Scott E. Bradford announced in a press conference today that, over the past three years, federal charges have been brought against more than 100 defendants for trafficking fentanyl in downtown Portland. Those arrests included seizures of more than 40 guns… over 80% were illegal aliens from Honduras and Mexico unlawfully residing in Oregon.”

The amount of fentanyl seized was enough to kill 50 million people or the population of Oregon 11 times over, according to the DOJ.

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In 2025, 38,084 people died of fentanyl overdoses in America, per the CDC. This is a national crisis, and illegal immigration is driving it.

But a new study showing how far ahead homeschooling students are, regardless of socioeconomic background, in reading and math scores highlights the real issue at stake. Woke educators hate homeschooling because it proves that it is possible to educate children well with very little money and a lack of certifications.

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This week we celebrated Mary, Jesus’s Mother, as Queen of Heaven and Earth. In the Jewish kingdom, a king’s mother was His queen, and just so Jesus—Who always honored His Mother on earth—now wishes us to honor her as queen. All tribute paid and prayers said to the saints and Mary are pleasing to Jesus, Who always taught His followers to pray for each other.

Our Lady of Knock (Aug. 21): in Ireland, in 1879, a vision of Our Lady, St. Joseph, and St. John the Apostle appeared shining with light in the air by a church in Knock. Mary was crowned and praying, Joseph faced Mary wearing white robes, and John was robed as a bishop preaching from an open book, beside an altar with a lamb, cross, and adoring angels. Miraculous healings occurred there after the vision. Also celebrated this week (Aug. 22) were the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Mary’s Queenship. Read more.

St. Batholomew the Apostle (Aug. 24) is the Nathaniel from the Gospels (Batholomew means “son of Tholomai”) who wondered that a prophet should come from Nazareth, but was called by Jesus an “Israelite...in whom there is no guile” (Jn. 1:47). Nathaniel testified (Jn. 1:49), “Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel.” Tradition says he preached in India and Greater Armenia, where he was martyred by being flayed, which is why he is often depicted holding his own skin.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux (Aug. 20), “born of noble Burgundian parents, was a monk of the Cistercian Order, a branch of the Benedictine Order. He became Abbot of the famous monastery of Clairvaux, which he himself had founded. The writings, sermons, and letters of this great Doctor rendered invaluable services to the Church. He also preached the second crusade, and died at Clairvaux in 1153.”

St. Thaddeus (Aug. 21, Byzantine) “was one of the Seventy, not the same as the Jude Thaddeus who was one of the Twelve. He went to Edessa in Syria and preached the Gospel, there and throughout Syria and Phoenicia, and fell asleep in the Lord in Beirut [Ecpubs].” St. Titus (Aug. 25, Byzantine), “Bishop of Crete, was one of the most faithful disciples of St. Paul. The Apostle wrote to Titus a letter included in Holy Scripture. He died in 101.” St. Irenaeus of Lyons (Aug. 23, Byzantine), a Doctor and Father of the Church, was a disciple of St. John the Apostle’s disciple; he was a great theologian who fought the heresy of Gnosticism (martyred in 202).

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Pope St. Pius X (Aug. 21) was born and raised poor but eventually became a bishop and then pope in 1903. He was famous for eschewing luxuries or worldly honors (as well as pernicious modern philosophies) even as pope, and his will said, “I was born poor, I have lived in poverty, and I wish to die poor.” He is most famous, however, for lowering the age at which children can receive Holy Communion. His papal motto was “To renew all things in Christ.” Ecpubs says, “He renewed the prayer of Christians and the chant of the western Church, and urged young children to approach the Lord’s table.”

King St. Louis IX (Aug. 25), from Catholicsaints.info: “Son of King Louis VIII and [the holy] Blanche of Castile. King of France and Count of Artois at age eleven; his mother ruled as regent until he reached 22, and then he reigned for 44 years. Louis made numerous judicial and legislative reforms, promoted Christianity in France, established religious foundations, aided mendicant orders, propagated synodal decrees of the Church, built leper hospitals, and collected relics. Married Marguerite of Provence at age 19, and was the father of eleven children. Supported Pope Innocent IV in war against Emperor Frederick II of Germany. Trinitarian tertiary. Led two Crusades and died on one.” Louis was also friendly with Sts. Bonaventure and Thomas Aquinas.

St. Louis’s Sainte-Chapelle

Samuel the Prophet (Aug. 20) is one of the most famous Old Testament sages, whose reply to God as a young boy is a good model for the rest of us to adopt; “Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth” (1 Sam./1 Kings 3:10):

“Fifteenth and last of the Judges of Israel, he lived approximately eleven hundred years before Christ. Born in the tribe of Levi, son of Elkanah and Hannah, he was promised to the Lord by his till-then barren mother. At the age of twelve, Samuel had his first revelation from the Lord God. Samuel preached repentance to the children of Israel, and led the people to victory over the Philistines. Asked by the people to give them a king, he warned them that God was the only true king of Israel, but they insisted. It was Samuel who anointed Saul son of Kish as the first King of Israel, and David son of Jesse as its second and greatest ruler. He died in Ramah and was buried there.”

St. Rose of Lima (Aug. 23) was born 1586 in Lima, Peru, and grew up to be very beautiful. She turned her back on the world, however, to become a Dominican tertiary. She practiced severe penances and prayed almost constantly. Her holiness and charity made her greatly beloved in Lima. St. Genesius (Aug. 25) was an actor in Ancient Rome who mocked Christianity, before having a miraculous conversion while performing on stage, which led to his martyrdom (he is the patron saint of actors). St. Éoghan of Ardstraw (Aug. 23) was a 6th century Irish monastic who trained other saints, bishops, and priests. He founded monasteries and was a bishop. St. Philip Benizi (Aug. 22/23) was a cardinal and preacher who helped briefly reunite the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, worked to bring peace to Italy, and assisted in founding the Servite Third Order.

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St. Abraham of Smolensk (Aug. 21) was born to a wealthy Russian family, but chose to become a monk and Biblical scholar. He was falsely accused by those jealous of his holiness and powerful preaching, but was eventually cleared of all charges. St. Joseph Calasanz (Aug. 25) was a well-educated Spanish priest who started free schools and the Clerks Regular of Religious Schools (Piarists); sadly, later in life, misunderstandings led to the suppression of his congregation. Bl. Miroslav Bulesic(Aug. 24) was a young Croatian priest and critic of Communism who survived WWII but was martyred by Communists.

“The holy martyr Bassa [Aug. 21] was the wife of a pagan priest, secretly Christian. She brought up her sons in the Faith as well. Her husband handed her over to the torturers with her sons. They were beheaded in the persecution of Maximian. (3rd century) [Ecpubs].” St. Jeanne Francesde Chantel (Aug. 21) was a “wife, mother, nun, and founder of a religious community.” Bl. Victoire Rasoamanarivo(Aug. 21) was born in 1848 to a prominent family in Madagascar. She was married young and stayed true to her Catholic faith despite pressure to become Protestant. “She spent six or seven hours daily in prayer and performed works of charity for the poor and abandoned, for prisoners, and for lepers.”

St. Zacchaeus (Aug. 20) was a despised publican when Jesus came to town, and Zacchaeus climbed a tree to see Christ. Having promised to restore his ill-gotten gains four-fold, Zacchaeus received the assurance of forgiveness from Jesus (see Luke 19). You can see the tree Zacchaeus climbed below, as it still stands in Jericho. St. Andrew Stratelates and soldiers (Aug. 19) were Roman warriors tortured and martyred in the third century. Sarah the Matriarch (Aug. 19), Old Testament wife of Abraham, gave birth to Isaac in her old age through the power of God.

Also this week were St. John Eudes (Aug. 19), a French priest, preacher, writer, and founder of religious orders; St. Jordan of Pisa (Aug. 19), a zealous Italian Dominican preacher; St. Tydfil (Aug. 23), a Welsh princess and martyr; St. Ebbe the Elder(Aug. 25), a Northumbrian princess and peacemaker who became an abbess; the Martyrs of Nagasaki (Aug. 19), a group of missionaries and lay Japanese martyred in 1622; and Bl. Teofilius Matulionis (Aug. 20), a Lithuanian archbishop imprisoned, persecuted, and exiled by the Soviets.

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You can also read about Sebald, Pope Sixtus III, and Gregorio Martos Muñoz(Aug. 19); and Oswine of Deira, Philibert of Jumièges, Maria de Mattias, and Heliodorus of Persia and companions(Aug. 20); Wladyslaw Findysz (Aug. 21); Symphorian of Autun and John Kemble(Aug. 22); Lupo of Novi and Apollinaris of Rheims (Aug. 23); Emily de Vialar, Jarogniew Wojciechowski, Patrick the Elder, and Ptolemy of Nepi (Aug. 24); and Menas, Thomas of Hereford, Tomás Díaz y Díaz, and Miguel Carvalho (Aug. 25).

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Have a blessed week!

As Jesus is the last and greatest king of the line of David, so like other Davidic kings, His mother is His queen. And since Christ rules eternally in heaven, by a special grace, Mary — though a creature, not divine — is also the eternal queen.

Who is closer to Christ than His mother, to whom can we more readily turn as an advocate for us than to her? As she did so long ago at the wedding in Cana (John 2), so Mary now intercedes for us.

Pope Pius XII, referring to Mary’s queenship and being mediatrix of all graces (as a channel through which all Christ’s graces come to earth, just as Christ Himself came through her to earth), wrote, “For from her union with Christ she attains a radiant eminence transcending that of any other creature; from her union with Christ she receives the royal right to dispose of the treasures of the Divine Redeemer’s Kingdom; from her union with Christ finally is derived the inexhaustible efficacy of her maternal intercession before the Son and His Father.”

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August 22 is the anniversary of the 1922 assassination of the Irish revolutionary leader who secured Britain’s agreement to an Irish Free State. Sadly, he fell victim to short-sighted comrades who wanted total independence immediately or nothing. Michael Collins was controversial but brilliant, and willing to sacrifice his own life for the benefit of Ireland.

He also understood that while governments enslave peoples, passions and vices can enslave individuals. And if you want to defeat tyranny at the national or international level, you have to begin with having control of yourself.

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“We have to learn that freedom imposes responsibilities.” —Michael Collins

August 18

1227 - Terrorizing Mongol conqueror and emperor Genghis Khan dies. Responsible for the death of possibly millions.

1774 - Famous American explorer Meriwether Lewis, of the Lewis and Clark expedition, is born.

1838 - The U.S. South Seas Exploring Expedition sets out. It would chart 1,500 miles of the Antarctic coast.

1940 - WWII: The “Hardest Day” occurs during the Battle of Britain as the Nazis attack England.

August 19

14 AD - Caesar Augustus, brilliant but ruthless first emperor of Rome (and thus founder of the Roman Empire), dies.

1662 - French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal dies.

1871 - Orville Wright, co-inventor of the airplane, is born in Ohio.

1942 - WWII, Operation Jubilee into Nazi-occupied France: the Allied “raid on Dieppe was a disaster. Over half of the force was killed, wounded, or captured.”

1977 - Iconic comedian Groucho Marx, of the Marx Brothers, dies.

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August 20

480 BC - Possible date of the Battle of Thermopylae between 300 Greek Spartans and thousands of Persians. “Ultimately the Persians took control of the pass, but the heroic defeat of Leonidas would assume legendary proportions for later generations of Greeks, and within a year the Persian invasion would be repulsed.”

1794 - “[250Years] The Battle of Fallen Timbers, was the last major battle of the Northwest Indian War, still against the British and Indians, August 20, 1794. Gen. Anthony Wayne’s Legion and Gen. Charles Scott’s Kentucky Militia were victorious over the British militia and Indians.” Read my full piece.

1823 - Pope Pius VII, reformer and kidnap victim of Napoleon’s, dies.

1864 - The Second Battle of Deep Bottom ends during the U.S. Civil War with a stalemate.

1905 - The “Tongmenghui (Chinese Revolutionary Alliance) was established at a gathering in Akasaka, Tokyo” to bring down China’s Qing Dynasty.

1940 - A Spanish Communist assassinates exiled Leon Trotsky, likely on orders from Trotsky’s rival, Soviet dictator Stalin.

1968 - Soviets invade Czechoslovakia to put down the “Prague Spring.”

2017 - American comedian Jerry Lewis dies.

August 21

1541 - A Habsburg army suffers a bloody defeat at Buda, Hungary, leaving the Ottoman Turks victorious and in control of central Hungary for the next 150 years.

1754 - Banastre “The Butcher” Tarleton, infamously brutal British officer and war criminal during the American Revolution, is born.

1772 - Gustav III completes his coup, ending the Swedish ‘Age of Liberty’ and installing himself as “enlightened despot.”

1959 - Hawaii becomes the 50th state.

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August 22

1485 - The Battle of Bosworth Field ends the Wars of the Roses in England. Lancastrian claimant to the throne Henry Tudor’s troops defeated and killed Yorkist King Richard III. Richard’s crown was found on the field and placed on the head of Henry, who would go on to found the Tudor Dynasty after marrying Elizabeth of York.

1642 - The English Civil War begins between the Royalists and the Parliamentarian Roundheads.

1703 - Edirne Incident: insurrection that deposed Ottoman Sultan Mustafa II.

1838 - Howard B. Cushing, a soldier during the American Civil War and the Indian Wars, is born.

1862 - French composer Claude Debussy is born.

1922 - Irish revolutionary leader Michael Collins, who extracted major concessions from the British, is ambushed and assassinated by the Anti-Treaty IRA. Tens of thousands of mourners came to pay their respects to Collins’ body.

August 23

1305 - Scottish military hero William Wallace, “Braveheart,” is heinously and brutally executed in London.

1754 - King Louis XVI of France is born. Read more here.

1775 - British King George III, enraged by the Battles of Lexington and Concord and having ignored the Continental Congress’s Olive Branch Petition, declares the American colonies in “open rebellion.”

1912 - American actor and dancer Gene Kelly is born.

1942 - The Italian Cavalleria Savoia execute the last cavalry charge in history, against the Soviets.

1943 - WWII: The Battle of Kursk, “the largest tank battle in history,” ends with Nazi defeat.

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August 24

410 - The Visigoths sack Rome, marking the beginning of the end for the Western Roman Empire. “The palaces of the aristocracy were looted, Romans who resisted were killed and women raped by the Visigoths or by slaves who took the opportunity to revenge themselves on their masters.”

1516 - The Ottomans defeat the Mamelukes at the Battle of Marj Dabiq.

1929 - Yasser Arafat, the vicious, genocidal, lustful, bloodthirsty, Jew-hating Islamic father of modern terrorism, and the inventor of the so-called “Palestinian people,” is born.

1957 - British actor and writer Stephen Fry is born.

2014 - British actor and director Richard Attenborough dies.

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Did I miss any important events? Let me know in the comments.

This article originally appeared on PJ Media.

On Aug. 20, 1794, “Mad Anthony” Wayne proved he was still the hero of the American Revolution and capable of ending a threat from hostile native tribes that had confounded many another American officer in the nascent days of our Republic.

When George Washington became the first president of the United States, he and his small cabinet and administration not only had to set the precedent for numerous vital federal actions but also deal with hostility from the British and from some native tribes. While Washington made an effort to establish peace with as many native chiefs as he could, American pioneer expansion and wilderness taming necessarily sparked conflicts.

In March 1792, Congress approved the reorganization of the U.S. Army as the Legion of the United States, according to The Army Historical Foundation. President Washington and Secretary of War Henry Knox turned to an old comrade of the Revolution to lead the Legion: Anthony Wayne. Adopting some of the methods that Baron von Steuben had used to train the colonial Army, Wayne drilled and trained and instructed his recruits, determined to avoid fighting native warriors with as little success as previous officers and raw recruits had experienced.

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During this time, Wayne experienced the personal tragedy of his wife’s death. And during the opening scouting period of the Legion’s foray into the wilderness, they came upon the skeletons of the men whom native warriors had massacred from Arthur St. Clair’s troops in 1791. It was a sobering reminder of what awaited them if they could not hold their ground.

Shawnee Chief Blue Jacket planned to ambush Wayne and the Legion troops in a place where a tornado had knocked down trees in the area where Toledo is now. Fallen Timbers was more favorable for defenders than for attackers, who wouldn’t have a clear firing line. But The Army Historical Foundation noted that Wayne’s scouts were good enough that the ambush plan didn’t work.

On the morning of 20 August, the Legion approached Falling Timbers. Wayne divided his infantry into two wings, the right commanded by BG James Wilkinson, the other by COL John Hamtramck. A brigade of mounted Kentuckians guarded the open left flank, while the Legion’s cavalry secured the right along the Maumee. Scott’s remaining forces formed a reserve.

The vanguard of the Legion came under fire around 0900. After some initial confusion, Wilkinson regained control of the situation. Wayne then rode forward, his eyes flashing. He correctly determined the strength of the enemy and their positions, and quickly saw that mounted troops would be largely ineffective on the battlefield. Under fire and in intense pain from gout, he immediately ordered his infantry to charge with bayonets to flush the Indians out of their positions, where they could be cut down by musket fire. Unused to a well disciplined enemy, the Indians, who expected to be the ones charging, broke and ran towards Fort Miamis. The Indians fled so fast that mounted troops on the flanks had difficulty catching them. Nonetheless, dragoons from the Legion charged headlong at the log barriers like jockeys at a steeplechase, cutting down the Indian warriors with their sabers. The dragoons’ charge completed the rout.

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The Battle of Fallen Timbers lasted for less than an hour, and fewer than 40 of Wayne’s men died. Wayne followed up his advantage by destroying crops in the area and the British would not let the fleeing natives into their fort. Only a few months later, the British were agreeing to withdraw from the area and the natives were agreeing to let Americans settle in Ohio. Anthony Wayne and his troops had won the war.

Despite Donald Trump swearing that the terrorist group which took over Syria is now moderate and civilized and committed to religious freedom, the group has continued to massacre and persecute religious and ethnic minorities. And the latest news is that Syrian regime soldiers are marching while chanting genocidal slogans against Jews. Trump needs to restore the terrorist group’s designation as such.

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Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick posted on X August 18, “The Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau just released its analysis showing more than 24,000 noncitizens illegally voted in the 2020 election. Not just registered but literally illegally voted. And that is just the beginning. More than 32 million more voters’ records will be analyzed in the coming weeks, and these records will likely show tens of thousands of additional illegal voters. The American people deserve transparency. We are making sure the facts are out for everyone to see.”

Think of how many consequences there were to Joe Biden’s supposed victory — how many wars began, how many people lost jobs and scholarships and lives to vaccine mandates and economic crises, how many babies were aborted, how many children castrated for trans ideology, how many judges and bureaucrats appointed, how many people censored or arrested unfairly, how many illegal aliens welcomed in?

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Elections have consequences, and stolen elections have catastrophic consequences.

“I leave this rule for others when I’m dead, Be always sure you’re right — THEN GO AHEAD!” —Davy Crockett

August 10

612 BC - Estimated date of the fall of Nineveh, then the world’s largest city and capital of the Assyrian Empire.

30 BC - Egyptian queen Cleopatra commits suicide following the defeat of her lover Marc Antony, to escape being a captive of Octavian (Caesar Augustus).

1776 - King George III of Britain finds out that the American colonies declared independence.

August 11

3114 BC - Reported date of the start of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar.

1357 - King Joao I of Portugal is born, “who preserved his country’s independence from Castile and initiated Portugal’s overseas expansion. He was the founder of the Aviz” dynasty.

1919 - Scottish-American industrialist Andrew Carnegie dies.

1988 - Islamic terrorist group Al-Qaeda is formed by Osama bin Laden.

August 12

1121 - Georgian forces conquer Muslim troops at the Battle of Didgori.

1827 - English poet William Blake dies.

1881 - Legendary director and producer Cecil B. DeMille is born.

1908 - Henry Ford’s first Model T automobile is built.

1930 - Evil Nazi collaborator, billionaire, and Marxist globalist George Soros is born.

1982 - American actor Henry Fonda dies.

August 13

1521 - Hernán Cortés’s Spanish forces capture Aztec capital Tenochtitlán.

1860 - Iconic Wild West markswoman Annie Oakley is born.

1899 - Brilliant British director Alfred Hitchcock is born.

1910 - Influential British nurse Florence Nightingale dies.

1937 - The Battle of Shanghai begins, as the Japanese launch a war with China that will snowball into WWII.

1946 - English science fiction writer HG Wells dies.

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August 14

1040 - King Duncan I of Scotland is killedwhile fighting the forces of his cousin Macbeth, who then takes the throne; inspiration for Shakespeare’s play.

1480 - Muslim Ottomans, having conquered the Italian city of Otranto, martyr 800 Christians as part of a slaughter of some 12,000 inhabitants.

1765 - The Patriot organization that would become the Revolution-launching Sons of Liberty is formed. Read more.

1862 - Abraham Lincoln meets with a coalition of black Americans to determine if freed slaves should relocate to a colony outside the US. Lincoln’s meetings with black Americans were always cordial, and marked a significant historical moment when black leaders became welcome at the White House.

1914 - WWI: British Expeditionary Force arrives in Le Havre, France.

1945 - V-J Day: the day the Japanese surrender to the Allies was announced, ending WWII. Millions of soldiers and civilians had been killed by Japan in the course of the war, but peace was finally within reach. Read more.

August 15

1057 - King Macbeth of Scotland is killed by Malcolm Canmore, son of the king whom Macbeth had previously killed.

1461 - The Empire of Trebizond, offshoot of the Romano-Byzantine Empire, falls to the Ottomans.

1620 - The Mayflower and the Speedwell set sail from England with passengers (most famously the people we now call Pilgrims) looking for a new life in America.

1769 - Future military leader and dictatorial French emperor Napoleon is born.

1776 - Americans arrive in Spanish-controlled New Orleans to request gunpowder and launch a partnership that will last throughout the Revolution. Read more.

1863 - The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between Japanese samurai and British forces.

1939 - The film “Wizard of Oz” premieres.

1998 - The terrorist Omagh bombing in Ireland, “the single deadliest atrocity in the history of the Troubles,” kills 29 people.

August 16

1501 - Michelangelo receives a contract to sculpt the magnificent statue David.

1777 - Battle of Bennington: American Revolutionaries win a key victory.

1780 - Battle of Camden: British Banastre “the Butcher” Tarleton beats American Revolutionaries.

1888 - Guerilla commander TE Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia, is born.

1948 - Baseball icon Babe Ruth dies.

1956 - Actor Bela Lugosi, most famous for portraying Dracula, dies.

1977 - Elvis Presley, “King of Rock and Roll,” dies.

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August 17

1786 - Davy Crockett is born. He “was a legendary American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier, and politician. Nicknamed the ‘King of the Wild Frontier,’ he is most well-known for the ‘tall tales’ told about his exploits, his real-life opposition to the [bad] treatment of Native American Indians, and his involvement in the Texas Revolution.” Died heroically while defending the Alamo from Mexican troops.

1786 - King Frederick “the Great” of Prussia dies.

1850 - José de San Martín, revolutionary leader in South America, dies.

1920 - Iconic Irish actress Maureen O’Hara is born.

1983 - American lyricist Ira Gershwin dies.

1987 - Former Nazi leader Rudolf Hess is found strangled to death in prison.

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Did I miss any important events? Let me know in the comments.

“For behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.” —Mary, Luke 1:48

Aug. 15 was the feast of Mary’s Assumption or Dormition and St. Isidore Bakanja, and you can read my previous articles for more details. The Assumption or Dormition of Mary commemorates when Jesus’s Mother “fell asleep” or died and then was by a special grace taken up body and soul into Heaven by her Divine Son. Isidore Bakanja was from the Congo, converted to Christianity by Trappist missionaries. He was zealous to evangelize, carried his Rosary about with him, and wore a scapular around his neck as part of his devotion to Mary. He was violently beaten and abused for this by atheist Belgian colonizers. One atheist in particular wounded Isidore so horribly that it led to his death, after six months of suffering. Isidore died having forgiven his murderer and with his Rosary and scapular on him.

St. Maximilian Kolbe (Aug. 14) is perhaps the most famous martyr of World War II, a Polish Franciscan priest martyred in Auschwitz. He founded the evangelization movement under the patronage of Jesus’s Mother Mary, the Milita Immaculatae, and successfully reached many through his writings and work in Poland and Japan. He was arrested in Feb. 1941 by the Nazis, charged with aiding Jews and the Polish Underground, and ended up in Auschwitz concentration camp. There, “prisoner 16670” did awful and humiliating work, which never killed his charity and priestly zeal, a fact that brought harsh beatings on him from camp guards. In July, a prisoner escaped, and 10 others were to be killed in revenge; one man, Franciszek Gajowniczek, cried out, “My wife! My children!” Kolbe immediately volunteered to take the man’s place and was killed by lethal injection after weeks of starvation and ministering to his fellow victims. Gajowniczek survived the war to spread the story of Kolbe’s heroism and to attend Kolbe’s beatification.

St. Helena (Aug. 18) was the mother of Constantine, the famous Roman emperor who legalized Christianity after his miraculous victory under the standard of the Cross. Helena worked for good her whole life, but she is most famous for leading an expedition to find the True Cross on which Jesus was killed. Finding several crosses on the site, Helena and her companions identified Jesus’s cross by placing a sick woman on each; upon touching the wood of Jesus’s cross, the woman was miraculously healed. St. Daig MacCairaill (Aug. 18) was a bishop, founder of a monastery, and “one of the Three Master Craftsm[e]n of Ireland.”

St. Zacchaeus (Aug. 20) was a despised publican, a dishonest tax collector, when Jesus came to his town. Zacchaeus, being short, climbed a tree to see Jesus, Who stopped and told the publican that He would stay in his house. People murmured at Jesus so honoring a sinner, but Zacchaeus swore, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have wronged any man of any thing, I restore him fourfold.” (Lk. 19:8) Jesus replied, “This day is salvation come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham.” After Jesus’s death and Resurrection, tradition says Zacchaeus spread the Gospel.

St. Tarcisius (Aug. 15) was a young acolyte “or perhaps a deacon at Rome. He was accosted and beaten to death on the Appian Way by a mob while carrying the Eucharist to some Christians in prison.” Tarcisius died defending the Eucharist. St. Stephen of Hungary (Aug. 16) converted from paganism to Christianity as a child. King of the Hungarian Magyars, he married Bl. Gisela of Ungarn, Emperor St. Henry II’s sister, and fathered St. Emeric. Stephen united the Magyars into one nation. He was an evangelizer who also founded monasteries. St. Roch (Aug. 16), a deeply pious child who grew to be a Franciscan pilgrim, miraculous healer, and a patron saint of dogs who died in unjust imprisonment. Below is a photo I took of his relic in Lisboa.

Sarah the Matriarch (Aug. 19) was the wife of Abraham and the mother of Isaac in her old age. Barren until elderly, Sarah laughed when she heard the Lord tell Abraham she would have a child, and so named her miraculous son Isaac, which means “laughter.” Abraham, Isaac, and Isaac’s son Jacob are the three great founding patriarchs of the Jewish people. We also celebrated the Old Testament Prophet Micah (Aug. 14) this week.

St. Hyacinth (Aug. 17) was Polish, “originally a canon of the Cathedral of Cracow. Having gone to Rome, he became acquainted with St. Dominic and was admitted into the Order of Friars Preachers by the holy Founder himself. He labored for the establishment of the Order in Poland and died in 1257.” He famously saved a large crucifix and a statue of Mary during an attack on the monastery. Hyacinth preached through Poland, Pomerania, Lithuania, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Scotland, Russia, Turkey, and Greece.

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If you enjoy cappuccino, thank Bl. Mark of Aviano (Aug. 13), a Capuchin friar. As a teenager, he set off to preach Christianity and possibly become a martyr in Crete (where Muslim Turks were invading), but was convinced to return home. He became a Capuchin friar and then priest in 1655 in Italy, and after some time living a cloistered life he became a missionary preacher. While preaching at a Paduan monastery, his prayers resulted in the miraculous healing of a bed-ridden religious sister, and Mark soon became famous as a miracle-worker. He became an advisor to the Austrian Emperor and then papal legate for Pope Bl. Innocent XI, whose feast is also this week (Aug. 11). As a spiritual father for the troops liberating Vienna from the Ottoman Turks, Mark was present when the Ottomans fled in such haste they left loads of their bitter coffee behind. The Capuchin Mark mixed the coffee with milk to make it taste better, and the drink was named cappuccino after him.

St. Joachim (Aug. 16, Latin Mass calendar) was the father of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the grandfather of Jesus Christ. Tradition says that he and his wife St. Anne were already old when God blessed them with a daughter, her birth foretold to them in a vision.

Sts. Hippolytus and Cassian (Aug.13): “Hippolytus, guardian of St. Lawrence, was converted and baptized by the Saint. He was tied by the legs to wild horses in 260. St. Cassian, a schoolmaster at Imola, was pierced to death by his pagan pupils, armed with styluses in 320. He is the patron of stenographers.” Bl. Gertrude of Altenberg (Aug. 13) was a nun and the daughter of two other saints—Louis of Thuringia and Elizabeth of Hungary. Sts. Simplician of Milan and Alipius of Tagaste(Aug. 15) were bishops and friends of St. Augustine.

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Bl. Jakob Gapp (Aug. 13) was an Austrian priest and anti-Nazi preacher kidnapped and eventually executed by the Nazis. St. Eusebius of Rome (Aug. 14) was a 4th century physician and priest who fought the Arian heresy and died in prison. St. Agapitus the Martyr (Aug. 18) was a third century Roman youth. Bl. Noël-Hilaire Le Conte (Aug. 17) was a priest and one of the Martyrs of the Hulks of Rochefort during the French Revolution. St. Serena (Aug. 16) was the Christian wife of the cruel, pagan Roman Emperor Diocletian.

Also commemorated were Bl. Thomas, Maria, and Jacob Gengoro (Aug. 16), martyrs in 17th century Japan; St. John Eudes (Aug. 19), a French priest, preacher, writer, and founder of religious orders; the 802 Martyrs of Otranto(Aug. 14), killed by Ottoman Muslims in the 1400s; Bl. David Roldan-Lara and other martyrs of the Mexican Revolution (Aug. 15); St. Jeroen van Noordwijk (Aug. 17), a Scottish noble and missionary to the Netherlands martyred by Vikings; St. Jordan of Pisa(Aug. 19), a zealous Italian Dominican preacher; St. Mamas (Aug. 17), a Roman martyr who tamed the lions meant to kill him; St. Beatrice da Silva Meneses (Aug. 17), Portuguese founder of the Congregation of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and Bl. Teofilius Matulionis (Aug. 20), a Lithuanian archbishop imprisoned, persecuted, and exiled by the Soviets.

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Other saints from this week include Maximus the Confessor, John Berchmans, and Queen Radegunde (Aug. 13), Stanislaw Kostka (Aug. 15); Enrique Garcia Beltran(Aug. 16); Pope Eusebius, Nicolò Politi, Clare of Montefalco, and Michaël Kurobyoie (Aug. 17); Macarius the Wonder-Worker and Florus and Laurus(Aug. 18); Sebald, Pope Sixtus III, Martyrs of Nagasaki, Gregorio Martos Muñoz, andAndrew Stratelates and soldiers (Aug. 19); and Oswine of Deira, Philibert of Jumièges, Maria de Mattias, and Heliodorus of Persia and companions (Aug. 20).

Have a blessed week!

There are so many inspiring, beautiful stories about the great heroes of American history which are scarcely ever told. One happens on them accidentally—buried in a thick, out-of-print biography, in small print on a museum sign, casually and fleetingly mentioned in an obscure educational video. America cannot return to greatness in the future if we do not truly understand the greatness of our past. That is why I am writing an article series to tell a few of these little-known but moving or illustrative “untold stories” of American greatness. Previous articles in this series include the fatherly letter and psalm that carried Jimmy Stewart through WWII; Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, poet and abolitionist; George Patton, Olympic athlete; tales of military heroism for Armed Forces Day; and Col. Greene, Patriot commander and hero.

Today’s story is about an event that occurred exactly 250 years ago, on August 15, 1776. Virginia militiamen arrived in New Orleans, which during the second half of the 18th century was under Spanish control, in order to request badly needed gunpowder from the Spaniards. As inspiring as the Declaration of Independence was, and as brave as Patriot soldiers were, they could not fight a war without anything to put in their firearms.

The American colonists had for decades depended heavily on Great Britain for any products that needed to come from overseas. When the Revolution began and the British trade froze, the Patriots realized they were dangerously short of many necessities, including gunpowder, which they could not produce in sufficient quantities and which was absolutely necessary for fighting the British. So Virginia Patriots headed to New Orleans to ask the Spanish for supplies, especially a large quantity of gunpowder. Two of Spain’s Louisiana governors, Luis de Unzaga y Amezaga and Bernardo Vicente Apolinar de Gálvez y Madrid, would save the Patriots from having to give up the fight for independence almost as soon as it began.

The site Unveiling Memories claims that in one letter Unzaga wrote to George Washington under the title “General de los Estados Unidos Americanos” or General of the United States of America, the Spaniard assured Washington of every effort in his power to support the American cause (the Library of Congress preserves their correspondence). Perhaps Unzaga had a personal philosophical attraction to the American cry of liberty, since he had repealed abusive slavery laws and expanded land possession opportunities for people from multiple social positions. The Spanish crown moved Unzaga to Venezuela before he could really put his plans into operation regarding the Americans, but Unzaga’s successor in Louisiana, de Gálvez, proved to be—if possible—even more zealous in supporting and furthering the American quest for independence.

Related: Untold Stories: The First U.S. Independence Day

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In fact, de Gálvez was so important in his financial, trade, and military assistance to American Patriots that Pensacola, Fla., still has a Galvez Day and the Texas town of Galveston is named for him.

The Northern Virginia Sun ran a series of pieces for America’s bicentennial in 1976, 50 years ago, that included information about the gunpowder mission in August 1776. Below is a passage taken from a 1976 article, which referenced another column titled “500 pounds of gunpowder,” and which honored Virginia officers for their mission to the Spanish (formatting errors are from the original):

On May 12, 1776, the Virginia Committee of Safety dispatched two officers, Captain George Gibson and Lieutenant Linn, to New Orleans to seek new supplies of gunpowder essential to the colony’s defense. The two Virginians, assuming the guise of traders, journeyed down the Ohio and Mississippi from Fort Pitt to New Orleans. With the invaluable assistance of Oliver [P]ollock, a New Orleans’‘ businessman, they were successful in persuading the Spanish Governor, Luis de Unzaga y Amezaga, to make the secret sale of gunpowder to Virginia. Linn took three-fourths of the gunpowder- up the river, getting it to Forts Pitt and Wheeling just in time to save those outposts from the British and their Indian allies. To mask the effort and to convince the British that Spain was not violating its neutrality, Captain Gibson permitted himself to be arrested. He was then released quietly and sailed for Philadelphia with the remaining gunpowder and other needed supplies-- muskets, blankets and medicine:’ The gunpowder with which Clark first outfitted his men was part of the twelve thousand pounds of gunpowder (!) obtained by Gibson and Linn from the Spanish King’s Stores in New Orleans. Later, as Clark continued his military successes in the west, he .continued to depend on the secret aid of Spain.

We modern Americans sometimes forget that France was not the only European nation to aid us in defeating Great Britain, that Spain was so financially helpful we named our currency the “dollar” with the Spanish word.

Untold Stories: Caesar Rodney’s Midnight Ride Brought U.S. Independence

And here’s where de Gálvez came in, as I mentioned earlier, to carry on the Spanish alliance with the American Patriots and to take an active role in the fighting himself. The Northern Virginia Sun explained:

Bernardo de Galvez... for whom Galveston, Texas, is named ...provided not only the needed military supplies, but the finances and credit needed to fund., [sic] the Commissary Department and pay the troops. de Galvez provided large sums from his “very secret service money” and loaned even more from the Spanish Treasury, and has been credited with enabling the Americans to retain control of the territory north of the Ohio. He even allowed the Americans to fly the Spanish flag on supply ships to protect them from shelling by English shore batteries. And, when Spain entered the war on the side of the Americans on June 21, 1779, it was Galvez, with Oliver Pollock riding at his side, who captured Baton Rouge, Natchez, Mobile and Pensacola from the British.

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In this semiquincentennial year of America’s existence, as we honor the Americans who coordinated vitally important alliances, we must likewise pay tribute to the allies who made the Revolution’s ultimate victory possible.

Today, August 15, is the feast day of the dormition (falling asleep) of the Blessed Virgin and her miraculous assumption, body and soul, into Heaven by a special grace of her Son. It is also the feast of Isidore Bakanja, a Congolese martyr with a great devotion to Mary.

Both Mary and Isidore believed so strongly in Christ that they were not afraid of death, seeing it as the doorway to anther life. Mary did not die a martyr, but she suffered acutely in seeing her Son persecuted, maligned, and crucified, in surviving many years after Christ returned to Heaven, and in witnessing the first persecutions of the early Christians. A sword pierced her soul (Luke 2:35) with anguish as she stood beneath her Son’s cross. Sometimes she is called a “white martyr,” meaning that she died to herself and experienced in a unique way the passion of her Son. When she “fell asleep” and went to Heaven at last, she was ready and willing to go, eager to be reunited with Christ.

Isidore Bakanja suffered extreme physical torture. Converted in 1906 by Trappist missionaries and devoted to the Marian/Biblical prayer of the rosary, he became a target of his Belgian employers who were atheists and hated the missionaries for being advocates of native rights. Finally, one agent ripped the scapular (symbolizing devotion to Mary by sharing in religious orders’ penances) off Isidore’s neck and beat him brutally. Chained to one spot and tortured, Isidore finally managed to escape and arrived at an inspector’s home covered in open wounds. Before he died, Isidore forgave his murderer and died clasping his rosary and scapular. He was glad to pass through the doorway of death, to leave the sin and pain of this world, to be united with Mary and Jesus.

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All Christians can profit by the courage and self-sacrifice that Mary and Isidore displayed. Like them, we must learn to believe fervently that Jesus “destroyed death, and hath brought to light life and incorruption by the gospel” (2 Tim.1:10). As Mary was assumed body and soul into Heaven, so will every holy man and woman be on the last day.

On August 14, 1945, imperial Japan surrendered to the Allies and the Second World War was over.

While the official surrender ceremony you see pictured above on the USS Missouri did not occur until September, the most important step was taken, and Americans could rejoice that the fighting would end without a devastating land invasion of Japan, which was projected to have cost up to a million American lives.

On every island that the Americans took, the Japanese had provided countless examples of their fanatical dedication to fighting to the last man, woman, and child, and numerous Japanese officials were outraged at the emperor’s decision to surrender even after two atom bombs. Furthermore, Imperial Japan had massacred up to 10 million people during WWII, including civilian slaughters in China, Thailand, Korea, and other Asian nations.

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But as of mid-August 1945, the nightmare was at last coming to an end. America had defeated one of the most genocidal regimes of the 20th century.