Free Republic

King Charles IX of France, under the sway of his mother, Catherine de Medici, orders the assassination of Huguenot Protestant leaders in Paris, setting off an orgy of killing that results in the massacre of tens of thousands of Huguenots all across France. Two days earlier, Catherine had ordered the murder of Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, a Huguenot leader whom she felt was leading her son into war with Spain. However, Coligny was only wounded, and Charles promised to investigate the assassination in order to placate the angry Huguenots. Catherine then convinced the young king that the Huguenots were on...

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf has achieved fame and notoriety in America based on his effort to build a mosque at a Ground Zero site that sustained damage from the attack. If we take him at his word, that his intention is build bridges not to aggravate tensions, then his rise illustrates the Peter Principle. The 1969 bestselling book The Peter Principle contends that people get promoted at work until they finally are assigned a job they cannot grow into, resulting in competent people eventually becoming incompetent as they rise, ironically, to a position of failure. Readily available data suggests this...

August 24, 2006 Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle Psalm: Thursday 35 Reading 1Rv 21:9b-14 The angel spoke to me, saying,“Come here.I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”He took me in spirit to a great, high mountainand showed me the holy city Jerusalemcoming down out of heaven from God.It gleamed with the splendor of God.Its radiance was like that of a precious stone,like jasper, clear as crystal.It had a massive, high wall,with twelve gates where twelve angels were stationedand on which names were inscribed,the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.There were three gates...

August 24, 2005Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle Psalm: Wednesday 37 Reading IRev 21:9b-14 The angel spoke to me, saying,"Come here.I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."He took me in spirit to a great, high mountainand showed me the holy city Jerusalemcoming down out of heaven from God.It gleamed with the splendor of God.Its radiance was like that of a precious stone,like jasper, clear as crystal.It had a massive, high wall,with twelve gates where twelve angels were stationedand on which names were inscribed,the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.There were three gates facing...

August 24, 2004 Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle Psalm: Tuesday 37 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading IRev 21:9b-14 The angel spoke to me, saying, "Come here. I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." He took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. It gleamed with the splendor of God. Its radiance was like that of a precious stone, like jasper, clear as crystal. It had a massive, high wall, with twelve gates where twelve angels were stationed and on...