The Narthex

My cousin John M. Frier, Jr. (1931-2016) was a 1953 graduate of the United States Naval Academy. He and his wife Shirley, who died this past August, had four daughters and eight grandchildren. John and Shirley were devout Catholics. From 1960, they made their home in Los Altos, California. After…

My grandson started attending Regents School of Charlottesville [Virginia], a classical Christian school, for his seventh grade. The other day I saw one of the books he was reading: Antigone by the Greek playwright Sophocles. I am a proud grandpa. Seeing this brought back fine memories. When I was in…

My recent attendance at a rodeo led me to consider the rodeo experience of a relative who was called “America’s Greatest Horsewoman.” For four days in November, the 14th through the 17th, the sold-out, 4,800-seat Amarillo (Texas) Civic Center hosted the 29th annual World Championship Ranch Rodeo of the Working…

From October 19, 2020, to April 14, 2021, this blog featured my essay -- split into a 35-part series -- on the recognition of holiness in laypeople (Part I is linked below). At the end of Part V, I made three recommendations that would aid "all of us -- bishops,…

General Lafayette made a second visit to Jefferson at Monticello. He arrived from Fredericksburg on August 15, 1825. On August 20 he visited Charlottesville and was feted again over dinner at the University which had opened the previous March. He left the next day for Montpelier.[1] Lafayette was…

There is little record of the conversations that occurred at Monticello for the next nine days, November 6-14, 1824, either between Lafayette and Jefferson, or with the other temporary or permanent residents who included Madison, the Wright sisters (more about them below), Thomas Jefferson Randolph, Levasseur, George Washington Lafayette, Jane…

With Lafayette, Jefferson, and Madison in a single carriage, the large entourage -- the Committee of Arrangements, cavalry, and “a numerous body of citizens” -- left Monticello at 10 a.m. on Friday, November 5, 1824, for Charlottesville, about five miles distant. The population of Albemarle County (which did not include…

The principal source for what occurred on Lafayette's November 1824 visit to Jefferson is the November 10 issue of Charlottesville’s Central Gazette, later credited to Charles Downing.[1] While it has not survived, it was reprinted in whole or in part in papers of Richmond, Alexandria, Lynchburg and Fredericksburg. READ FULL BLOG POST

I now turn to Lafayette’s extended stay with Thomas Jefferson at his home in Monticello. In November 1824, Lafayette spent ten full days with Jefferson and visiting the University of Virginia and Charlottesville (where yours truly now lives), and four days with James and Dolley Madison in their home at…

A young Frenchman, Julien Icher, founder of the Lafayette Trail, has been working with the American Friends of Lafayette to erect historical markers at each of Lafayette’s stops.[1] Also during this bicentennial, there will be a number of reenactments. For example, one woman planned reenactments of his visit…

The waving of a 24-star flag, red-white-blue bunting, banners, and fireworks throughout the country to celebrate Revolutionary War hero General Lafayette during his up-close and in-person visit in 1824-25 contrasts sharply with the anxiety and unease many Americans today feel when they see Old Glory flying.[1] For me…

The District of Columbia and other jurisdictions have passed laws to re-name Columbus Day Indigenous Peoples’ Day or Native Americans Day. In 2021, President Biden proclaimed Indigenous Peoples’ Day to be celebrated on the same day as Columbus Day. (Given my surname, you might suppose that I favor this development.…

In Part 1, linked below, I looked at the Catholic Church’s criteria for just war and just conduct of war. Here I turn to the loss of civilian lives and physical destruction, and address the issue of Israel’s conduct of the war. Hamas alleges a large number of deaths among…

The number of killed, injured, and displaced people among two million Gazans has been large and is growing. I hope my words here will contribute to a conversation on assessing the morality of Israel’s actions. The social teaching of the Catholic Church appeals to human reason, not only to the…

Jerome R. Daly was the most decorated helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War. After retiring from the Army in 1982, he became a Catholic priest. Vietnam was a war in which combat helicopters played a pre-eminent role. According to a 2018 report by Gary Roush of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots…