What A Tragedy

 

You may have forgotten, but yesterday was the anniversary of a most terrible tragedy, the fall of Constantinople on May 29, 1453, and with it the end of the Christian Eastern Roman Empire. From that time on until now, the splendid capitol of  Eastern Christendom, the second Rome, has been occupied by Moslems.

Accounts vary, but it's said that the last Emperor, Constantine XI, fell in action against the Turks who swarmed into the city on that fateful day. The same Turks who went on to desecrate churches and enslave, rape and kill the city's people in a deadly three day orgy of destruction and looting. 

Constantine had appealed to the West for help and none came, European Christendom was too busy fighting itself and this, I believe, is utterly shameful. We should have launched a Crusade and rallied to the defense of our Eastern brothers and if we had, not only would Constantinople have remained Christian, so too might much of the Middle East. It didn't because we failed to rise to the challenge and look how that mistake's cost us, quite literally, in welfare payments, to say nothing of terrorist savagery.

So now, thanks to our 15th century failure, Islam, which is an existential threat to the civilization of the West and the Faith that undergirds it, sits on top of what was the Eastern Roman Empire, facing us across the Mediterranean and beyond. We may thank God we had the resolve to throw them off at Malta and cast them down at Lepanto.

we need this back

Does that resolve exist today? Not in the governing structures of the rainbow-hued utopias of the EU and UK, they're going full-tilt import Islamic savage invader. You may recall Chesterton wrote a book about it, the Flying Inn, so prescient. Here in the US? Maybe not so pressing an issue until you visit Plano, Texas, of all places, or the equally unlikely Michigan. 

Regardless, surely it's time we took Constantinople back and restored Hagia Sophia to its former glory. C'mon, it's not as though we couldn't do it, and let's free the North of England while we're at it. Sorry, make that the UK.

Deus Vult,

LSP

STORMY

 

You know what it's like. Sometimes invoices get lost and, dammit, your fair share of the Carbon Tax doesn't get paid. Totally understandable, but look what happens, a ferocious storm rolls in from the North as our Old Enemy, the Weather, changes. That's your cue to get on the front porch and dare the Weather to do its worst as lightning cracks and rain sheets down. Not unlike Ahab or King Lear, when you think about it. 

So there you are, wondering if this small slice of rural heaven, much less the Compound itself, will withstand and live through the deluge, arklike, when news comes in that a sham stasi show trial in New York has delivered a guilty verdict against President Trump. Huh, let's see how that brazen skulduggery plays out in the polls.

Note Upper Lip Stud

In related news, yesterday marked the anniversary of the fall of Constantinople in 1453, when Moslem Janissaries poured over the Theodosian walls. What a hideous moment for Christendom, what a triumph for the moon worshiping death cult. Emperor Constantine XI addressed the soldiery before he died in the fighting:

Most noble leaders, illustrious tribunes, generals, most courageous fellow soldiers and all loyal honest citizens! You know well that the hour has come: the enemy of our faith wishes to oppress us even more closely by sea and land with all his engines and skill to attack us with the entire strength of this siege force, as a snake about to spew its venom; he is in a hurry to devour us, like a savage lion. For this reason I am imploring you to fight like men with brave souls, as you have done from the beginning up to this day, against the enemy of our faith. I hand over to you my glorious, famous, respected, noble city, the shining Queen of Cities, our homeland. You know well, my brothers, that we have four obligations in common, which force us to prefer death over survival: first our faith and piety; second our homeland; third, the emperor anointed by the Lord, and fourth; our relatives and friends.

 

You can read the whole speech here as you work towards retaking the second Rome. After all, we need the Bosphorus.

Stormy,

LSP

Hagia Sophia Goes Mosque - Does The West Give a Damn?

Hagia Sophia, Holy Wisdom Cathedral in Istanbul, Justinian's remarkable church and the onetime center of Eastern Christianity has been turned back into a mosque by Turkey's President Sultan, Erdogan.

Built in the 6th century by Emperor Justinian, Hagia Sophia was the principal church of the Eastern Roman Empire and perhaps its greatest monument, rising above the Bosphorus. It remained intact, a Christian Cathedral  until May 1453, when Constantinople was finally seized after a 57 day seige by Ottoman Turks led by Sultan Mehmet II.

The night before the city's fall to the Moslems, Hagia Sophia was full:

Meanwhile the great church of Saint Sophia was crowded. Thousands of people were moving towards the church. Inside, Orthodox and Catholic priests were holding mass. People were singing hymns, others were openly crying, others were asking each other for forgiveness. Those who were not serving on the ramparts also went to the church, among them was seen, for a brief moment, the Emperor. People confessed and took communion. Then those who were going to fight rode or walked back to the ramparts.

The next day tragically saw the collapse of Constantinople's defense and Mehmet's victory. Moslem soldiers entered the city and its great Cathedral, killing, raping and enslaving:

The great doors of Saint Sophia were forced open, and crowds of angry soldiers came in and fell upon the unfortunate worshippers. Pillaging and killing in the holy place went on for hours. Similar was the fate of worshippers in most churches in the city. Everything that could be taken from the splendid buildings was taken by the new masters of the Imperial capital. Icons were destroyed, precious manuscripts were lost forever. Thousands of civilians were enslaved, soldiers fought over young boys and young women. Death and enslavement did not distinguish among social classes. Nobles and peasants were treated with equal ruthlessness.

St. Sophia became a mosque after the Moslem conquest, only to become a museum in 1936. It's now a mosque again, thanks to the Sultanic aspirations of Erdogan. And as it was in 1453 so it is now, does anyone in the West give a damn, or am I an army of one?

At least Russia's Patriarch, Metropolitan Kirill has stepped up to the plate:

“A threat to Hagia Sophia is a threat to the entire Christian civilization and, therefore, to our spirituality and history. To this day Hagia Sophia remains a great Christian shrine for every Russian Orthodox believer.”

Kirill continues:

“One should take into account that Russia is a country with the majority of population professing Orthodoxy, and so, what may happen to Hagia Sophia will inflict great pain on the Russian people.”

Christians, wake up and defend the Faith. It's well beyond time.

Non Draco,

LSP