WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:05.839 The Wall Street Journal released what is hopefully going to 2 00:00:05.879 --> 00:00:09.279 go down is the most important story about the Biden administration, 3 00:00:10.759 --> 00:00:16.039 which is this long, thirty eight hundred word, deeply sourced, 4 00:00:16.280 --> 00:00:25.399 deeply detailed story about Joe Biden's deteriorating mental health. The 5 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:28.559 deterioration of his mental health that took place over the 6 00:00:28.600 --> 00:00:35.880 course of his entire term in office, and I would 7 00:00:35.880 --> 00:00:42.240 guess started during the campaign season, or was going on 8 00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:46.119 during the campaign season before he was even sworn in. 9 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:52.960 One of the excerpts from the story that I read 10 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:57.600 was this, if the president was having an off day, 11 00:00:58.280 --> 00:01:01.359 meetings could be scrapped altogether. On one such occasion, in 12 00:01:01.399 --> 00:01:05.000 the spring of twenty twenty one, a national security official 13 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:09.840 explained to another AID why a meeting needed to be rescheduled. Quote, 14 00:01:10.519 --> 00:01:13.920 he has good days and bad days, and today was 15 00:01:13.959 --> 00:01:16.439 a bad day. So we're going to address this tomorrow. 16 00:01:16.519 --> 00:01:19.519 The former AID recalled the official, saying, spring of twenty 17 00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:21.959 twenty one. He was only sworn in in January of 18 00:01:21.959 --> 00:01:30.280 twenty twenty one, so within a month or two we 19 00:01:30.280 --> 00:01:33.680 were at the well, you know, old Grandpa, he has 20 00:01:33.719 --> 00:01:37.760 good days and he has bad days. We kind of 21 00:01:38.079 --> 00:01:42.480 need to understand fully the enormity of what we're talking 22 00:01:42.519 --> 00:01:44.680 about here, and to do that, we have to kind 23 00:01:44.719 --> 00:01:49.400 of understand sort of the theoretical structure of the executive 24 00:01:49.400 --> 00:02:01.359 branch of government. Theoretical but also very practical. So what 25 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:04.879 is the structure of the executive branch. It's sort of 26 00:02:04.879 --> 00:02:08.120 the unitary theory of the executive branch. Some people talk 27 00:02:08.120 --> 00:02:13.639 about it as the whole structure of the executive branch 28 00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:21.599 is premised around the fact that the law enforcement power, 29 00:02:22.240 --> 00:02:25.039 the executive power of the federal government of the United 30 00:02:25.080 --> 00:02:31.960 States of America is only vested in one man, one 31 00:02:32.479 --> 00:02:38.520 single human being. Read Article two of the Constitution. The 32 00:02:38.599 --> 00:02:44.000 executive power is vested in the president. That's it. He's 33 00:02:44.039 --> 00:02:51.159 the only one. Everyone else in the executive branch is 34 00:02:51.240 --> 00:03:02.280 exercising his delegated power. Now, Congress can create the executive 35 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:08.919 agencies that the president runs through his appointees. Congress through 36 00:03:08.960 --> 00:03:12.680 the Senate, has a vetting process for the president's appointees, 37 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:18.400 but once they're there, the president runs the show. He 38 00:03:18.439 --> 00:03:20.639 has to run the show, obviously within the parameters of 39 00:03:20.680 --> 00:03:25.039 the law as set by Congress, but he runs it. 40 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:30.560 If you look at the org chart of every single 41 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:39.319 executive branch, department, every the whole alphabet soup of federal agencies, 42 00:03:39.360 --> 00:03:46.520 the EPA, the FDA, the SBA, the Department of Health 43 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:48.800 and Human Services, Department of Homeland Security, the Partament of 44 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:52.599 the Defense, Department of the Secretary of State, every single 45 00:03:52.639 --> 00:03:58.280 branch and division of the federal government. The org chart 46 00:03:58.879 --> 00:04:04.599 for all of them has at the very tippy top 47 00:04:05.319 --> 00:04:14.080 ultimately the President. The FBI. This FBI official is under 48 00:04:14.120 --> 00:04:16.120 the authority of this FBI officials is under the authority 49 00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:18.199 this person is under the authority of this deputy director 50 00:04:18.199 --> 00:04:19.920 of the FBI, is under the authority of the Director 51 00:04:19.959 --> 00:04:22.120 of the FBI, who's under the authority of the Secretary 52 00:04:22.600 --> 00:04:26.920 excuse me, of the Attorney General, who is under the President. 53 00:04:30.360 --> 00:04:33.920 This FDA flunky is under the direction of this person 54 00:04:33.959 --> 00:04:37.000 at the FDA, who's under the direction of the director 55 00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:39.160 of the FDA, who's under the director of the Secretary 56 00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:46.480 of Health Human Services, who is under the President. The 57 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:50.759 thousands and thousands and thousands of federal employees all ultimately 58 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:54.240 answer to him. They are all all ultimately supposed to 59 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:58.279 enact his will within the parameters of the laws that 60 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:01.639 have been set and written by Congress. But he executes 61 00:05:01.959 --> 00:05:11.720 the law. The various US attorneys who prosecute federal crimes, 62 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:19.639 who civilly enforce federal law, they can all be fired 63 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:22.040 or replaced with a snap of the fingers by the 64 00:05:22.040 --> 00:05:32.759 President of the United States. So the president controls the 65 00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:45.680 entire executive branch. His will controls. So you're telling me 66 00:05:47.160 --> 00:05:54.519 that this essential lynchpin for the whole system was under 67 00:05:54.560 --> 00:06:05.319 the control of someone who was senile. It's got to 68 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:07.319 be one of the greatest scandals in the history of 69 00:06:07.360 --> 00:06:11.279 the United States of America. And we've known about it. 70 00:06:11.319 --> 00:06:16.240 I mean, look, I would do a see I told 71 00:06:16.279 --> 00:06:20.240 you so, except the whole country saw it. The whole 72 00:06:20.279 --> 00:06:24.360 country saw it last June, this past June during the debate. 73 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:29.720 This was not a well man But we Republicans were 74 00:06:29.720 --> 00:06:33.120 pointing it out as early as the twenty twenty campaign. 75 00:06:35.639 --> 00:06:39.319 We were pointing it out after the Afghanistan withdrawal where 76 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:42.319 Biden had this press conference where he seemed completely disconnected 77 00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:46.959 from reality, and we were told that we were lunatics, 78 00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:51.439 we were radicals. We were doing deep you know, cheap fakes, 79 00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:54.759 you know, selectively editing stuff to make him look older 80 00:06:54.759 --> 00:06:59.439 than he was. And it wasn't until George Clooney, of 81 00:06:59.480 --> 00:07:03.079 all people, said the President's not there, that anyone was 82 00:07:03.120 --> 00:07:09.839 willing to admit it, And even after that, astonishingly and 83 00:07:10.120 --> 00:07:16.279 clearly because some kind of deal had been hatched, even 84 00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:20.240 when we pitched Biden out as the Democrat nominee for 85 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:27.879 the twenty twenty four election, they didn't insist that Biden 86 00:07:28.399 --> 00:07:35.959 resigned the office. At the time, that was why I 87 00:07:36.040 --> 00:07:38.720 thought it was that. That was at the time why 88 00:07:38.759 --> 00:07:42.480 I thought Biden wouldn't jump out of the race. I thought, well, 89 00:07:43.519 --> 00:07:45.000 I don't think Biden's going to jump out of the 90 00:07:45.079 --> 00:07:47.199 race because I don't think he's willingly going to resign 91 00:07:47.240 --> 00:07:50.040 the presidency. And it would be insane, I said at 92 00:07:50.040 --> 00:07:53.839 the time, it would be insane for him to jump 93 00:07:53.879 --> 00:07:56.720 out of the race because he's not mentally fit enough 94 00:07:56.720 --> 00:08:00.319 to continue but stay on as president, because allegedly he's 95 00:08:00.600 --> 00:08:03.079 allegedly he could thread the needle of being mentally fit 96 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:06.560 enough to be president but not run for president, mentally 97 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:09.720 and physically fit enough to be president but not run 98 00:08:09.759 --> 00:08:13.120 for president. As if being president isn't a harder task 99 00:08:13.240 --> 00:08:22.439 than campaigning, an infinitely harder, more serious, more difficult task 100 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:30.959 than campaigning. But the Democrats somehow, Well, maybe they didn't 101 00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:33.679 get away with it because Kamala Harris lost that the 102 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:36.159 Democrats sort of thought they could get away with and 103 00:08:36.200 --> 00:08:41.679 the press never castigated them for Hey, why are we 104 00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:47.919 letting this man continue to be president if we don't 105 00:08:47.960 --> 00:08:55.799 think he's mentally fit enough to run for president? Because 106 00:08:55.840 --> 00:08:58.000 that raises all kinds of questions. In addition to running 107 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:00.840 all as part of running all the different branches of 108 00:09:00.840 --> 00:09:03.039 the federal government, he's also the commander in chief of 109 00:09:03.080 --> 00:09:09.759 the military. If our commander in chief, the guy who 110 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:15.360 makes the ultimate decisions, is senile. What happens if a 111 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:19.639 foreign enemy attacks us? What's gonna happen. Who's gonna be 112 00:09:19.679 --> 00:09:24.000 calling the shots? Actually? Who is calling the shots for anything? 113 00:09:24.279 --> 00:09:28.120 Right now? Actually? If this is a man who has 114 00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:32.559 good days and has bad days, who you can't schedule 115 00:09:32.600 --> 00:09:34.960 meetings because you're not sure, if he's waking up on 116 00:09:35.080 --> 00:09:41.039 the totally forgetful side of bed, how can we function? 117 00:09:42.840 --> 00:09:48.600 It is upending the entire constitutional order. The entire constitutional 118 00:09:48.720 --> 00:09:53.840 order is premised around this man directing the operations of 119 00:09:53.919 --> 00:09:57.559 the executive branch of government of enforcing the law. He 120 00:09:57.720 --> 00:09:59.799 was clearly unfit to do that. He may have been 121 00:09:59.840 --> 00:10:01.960 un fit to do it from day one, he was 122 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:09.840 certainly unfit to do it by year four. I think 123 00:10:09.879 --> 00:10:18.679 this reflects disastrously badly on several people. First, the press. Okay, 124 00:10:18.759 --> 00:10:20.759 so now the media is going to open up their 125 00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:23.879 notebooks and tell us about how senile Joe Biden was 126 00:10:23.919 --> 00:10:26.759 the whole time, now that there's no political repercussions for 127 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:29.600 it whatsoever. They let us in on a few things 128 00:10:30.240 --> 00:10:32.399 in June of twenty twenty four when they were saying, Okay, 129 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:33.879 we got to get Biden out of here, we gotta 130 00:10:33.879 --> 00:10:35.840 get Biden out so we could switch out Kamala Harris. 131 00:10:35.960 --> 00:10:39.639 But now that there's absolutely no political ramifications, Biden's gone, 132 00:10:39.799 --> 00:10:42.360 Harris lost, Trump's in, we might as well just, you know, 133 00:10:42.440 --> 00:10:44.759 get a story that generates a lot of clicks. Now, 134 00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:48.279 all of a sudden, the media, these supporting guardians of 135 00:10:48.320 --> 00:10:51.320 democracy that you know, democracy dies in darkness. As the 136 00:10:51.399 --> 00:10:55.240 Washington Post tells us, these guardians of democracy didn't tell 137 00:10:55.320 --> 00:11:00.000 us that the executive branch of government was being headed 138 00:11:01.399 --> 00:11:03.840 by a senile person, which leads us to ask, well, 139 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:07.360 who is actually running the country. The people elected Joe Biden, 140 00:11:07.559 --> 00:11:11.440 who is actually running the country people whom they didn't elect. 141 00:11:14.960 --> 00:11:21.000 I think it reflects terribly on the media. I think 142 00:11:21.039 --> 00:11:27.799 it also reflects terribly on Kamala Harris and Biden's cabinet. 143 00:11:30.919 --> 00:11:38.279 It's not like the constitution doesn't foresee this problem. We 144 00:11:38.480 --> 00:11:43.960 have the twenty fifth Amendment. Twenty fifth Amendment came about 145 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:47.600 in part after the example of President Woodrow Wilson, where 146 00:11:47.639 --> 00:11:50.519 by the end Woodrow Wilson's wife was basically running the country. 147 00:11:50.519 --> 00:11:57.120 It was as a completely horrible situation where Wilson was 148 00:11:57.159 --> 00:12:00.120 completely incapacitated and his wife was the one issuing order. 149 00:12:02.120 --> 00:12:07.399 One wonders if Jill Biden wasn't doing possibly something similar 150 00:12:10.039 --> 00:12:15.279 for certain things. Anyway, who's issuing this pardon of Hunter Biden. 151 00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:22.600 By the way, we have the provision of the twenty 152 00:12:22.600 --> 00:12:27.279 fifth Amendment if the vice president and a majority of 153 00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:37.679 the president's cabinet concludes so the president can be removed 154 00:12:37.720 --> 00:12:46.000 from office. Harris never did that, and presumably she didn't 155 00:12:46.039 --> 00:12:48.240 even do that in June of twenty twenty four, when 156 00:12:48.279 --> 00:12:53.279 it was inescapably obvious to the entire nation what was 157 00:12:53.320 --> 00:12:57.639 going on, clearly because of some kind of deal that 158 00:12:57.720 --> 00:13:00.240 was hatched, some kind of political deal I think, and 159 00:13:00.320 --> 00:13:03.840 made it clear to them I'll drop out of the race, 160 00:13:04.679 --> 00:13:09.759 but I want my presidential library. I want that fully funded. 161 00:13:10.440 --> 00:13:14.080 I'm not gonna step down as president, and if you 162 00:13:14.200 --> 00:13:17.600 cross me, I will sink you in this election. I'm 163 00:13:17.639 --> 00:13:20.600 sure some kind of threat, some kind of something happened 164 00:13:22.240 --> 00:13:31.360 like that, so clearly, I mean, there's no other explanation. 165 00:13:31.559 --> 00:13:34.399 There's no other explanation why I am politically ambitious person 166 00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:37.399 like Kamala Harris didn't do that other than the raw 167 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:44.639 political calculus that I'd be politically disadvantaged if I pulled 168 00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:47.080 a twenty fifth amendment and removed Biden from office, even 169 00:13:47.080 --> 00:13:52.679 though that's clearly what she should have done, at least 170 00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:55.039 in June of twenty twenty four. But really she should 171 00:13:55.039 --> 00:13:57.879 have done it as soon as she realized the man 172 00:13:57.960 --> 00:14:03.399 was senile and not fit for his job, because it's 173 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:10.039 like an imminent threat to the whole constitutional order. When 174 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:12.799 we return, we'll dig more into this, which I think 175 00:14:12.919 --> 00:14:15.799 has to be the story of the entire Biden presidency. 176 00:14:15.840 --> 00:14:20.559 Next on the John Growardy Show, the revelations that Joe 177 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:26.039 Biden was likely senile all along, I think could put 178 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:33.480 the cap on the Biden legacy history is written by 179 00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:38.960 liberals largely, which is why JFK gets lionized so much. 180 00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:42.080 I don't know that he was that great of a president, JFK, 181 00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:46.039 but he's certainly, you know, he captured the imagination of 182 00:14:46.120 --> 00:14:50.879 a lot of the baby boomer and older historians who 183 00:14:50.919 --> 00:14:53.200 are writing about it, you know, Doris Kern's Good Wins 184 00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:55.240 of the world, who you know, will always you know, 185 00:14:56.320 --> 00:15:00.840 put down Camelot as this magical time, the Kennedys as 186 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:05.679 this magical beloved American family, when they're seemingly the worst family, 187 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:11.519 the most dysfunctional family anyone's ever seen. So to a 188 00:15:11.559 --> 00:15:14.519 certain extent, will historians be a little kinder to Joe 189 00:15:14.559 --> 00:15:17.279 Biden than he deserves? Probably, but I don't know by 190 00:15:17.279 --> 00:15:24.639 how much. This Wall Street journal piece again, this huge 191 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:30.799 thirty five hundred word thing about people. Now the journalists 192 00:15:30.840 --> 00:15:33.000 are now opening up their notebooks now that there's no chance, 193 00:15:33.559 --> 00:15:36.840 now that you know, the political risk of Trump winning 194 00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:40.559 has already happened, they figured there's no political repercussions anymore, 195 00:15:40.600 --> 00:15:42.120 so they might as well just tell the truth about 196 00:15:42.200 --> 00:15:46.320 Joe Biden. Of course, this would have been valuable information 197 00:15:46.440 --> 00:15:48.519 to have had at any point over the four years 198 00:15:48.519 --> 00:15:51.759 of the Biden administration. But now they're letting us know, 199 00:15:51.759 --> 00:15:53.480 Oh yeah, we knew he was senile the whole time. 200 00:15:54.360 --> 00:15:59.360 We totally knew. And I think this is going to 201 00:15:59.399 --> 00:16:06.799 be maybe the first line of his legacy. I mean, 202 00:16:06.879 --> 00:16:09.799 he had to step out of his reelection bid because 203 00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:15.720 of this. Consistently this was an issue. I mean, the 204 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:20.120 fact is, it's kind of shameful. It's shameful that Biden 205 00:16:20.519 --> 00:16:23.480 didn't recognize at some point that he didn't have what 206 00:16:23.559 --> 00:16:27.840 it took to keep being president. He should have realized 207 00:16:27.879 --> 00:16:30.600 he didn't have the stuff to try to run for 208 00:16:30.679 --> 00:16:35.120 president again. He was only forced out of running for president. 209 00:16:35.440 --> 00:16:38.080 I think his family should be completely ashamed of him 210 00:16:38.480 --> 00:16:41.360 of this, and I think this is going to dominate 211 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:47.799 Biden's legacy as an ineffective president who was unfit for office. 212 00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:50.039 When we return, I want to talk about some new 213 00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:53.000 Catholic saints that are being canonized by Pope Francis in 214 00:16:53.039 --> 00:16:55.399 a little bit about Christmas. Next on the John Girardi Show, 215 00:16:57.159 --> 00:16:59.360 I'm going to go a little off the beaten path 216 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:04.519 today for those of us who are Catholics and a 217 00:17:04.599 --> 00:17:10.920 lot of other Christian traditions Lutherans and Episcopalians, etc. Are 218 00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:14.480 going through Advent right now, so it's kind of the 219 00:17:14.519 --> 00:17:20.440 season of time prior to Christmas where it's a bit 220 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:23.519 more of a penitential season before the sort of joyful 221 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:29.440 season of Christmas. And one of the recurring themes in 222 00:17:29.559 --> 00:17:34.119 Catholic prayer life during Advent is the idea of light 223 00:17:34.599 --> 00:17:40.440 shining in darkness. This can be seen in the first 224 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:48.400 chapter of the Gospel of John, the Beautiful. The beautiful 225 00:17:48.440 --> 00:17:52.079 opening chapter of the Gospel of John, which is this 226 00:17:52.359 --> 00:17:58.680 incredible almost philosophical reflection upon the person of Jesus Christ 227 00:17:58.920 --> 00:18:03.759 and the second person of the Trinity, God assuming human 228 00:18:03.839 --> 00:18:10.480 nature without losing his divinity, This divine person assuming human nature, 229 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:17.960 and the concept of the second person of the Trinity 230 00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:22.680 as the Word of God, Jesus Christ as the expression 231 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:28.279 the expression of the Father in a sense, and it 232 00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:35.720 also views this is viewed as light. The opening chapter 233 00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:37.839 of the Gospel of John here is I'm pulling it 234 00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:43.920 up talking about first First, it's talking about John the 235 00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:46.720 Baptist and says of him, he was not the light. 236 00:18:46.759 --> 00:18:49.400 John the Baptist was not the light, but came to 237 00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:53.440 bear witness to the light who is Jesus, the true 238 00:18:53.519 --> 00:19:00.440 light that enlightens every man, was coming into the world. 239 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:05.519 And it's not a coincidence also that, you know, the 240 00:19:05.519 --> 00:19:14.279 liturgical celebration of Christmas happens very close to the longest 241 00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:21.200 night of the year. The winter solstice is December twenty first. 242 00:19:21.400 --> 00:19:24.839 It's the shortest day and the longest night of the year. 243 00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:28.640 And so after that point and Jesus, you know, we 244 00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:31.720 commemorate Jesus' birthday on the twenty fifth of December. From 245 00:19:31.799 --> 00:19:38.839 that point onward, light grows. So from the absolute darkest 246 00:19:39.079 --> 00:19:43.680 point of the year, light begins to grow. And there 247 00:19:43.680 --> 00:19:46.279 are all kinds of beautiful traditions within the Catholic Church 248 00:19:46.319 --> 00:19:51.839 about in Advent, especially about being in the dark but 249 00:19:51.960 --> 00:19:56.000 commemorating the light. On Saturdays in Advent, it was traditional 250 00:19:56.079 --> 00:19:59.920 to have Mass very early in the morning by candle light. 251 00:20:01.480 --> 00:20:04.599 The mass sort of commemorating the role of the blessed 252 00:20:04.680 --> 00:20:08.519 Virgin Mary. It was called the Roraate Mass, is the 253 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:10.480 name of from one of the Latin prayers of it. 254 00:20:10.759 --> 00:20:13.440 And so the Mass would be held very early in 255 00:20:13.480 --> 00:20:19.440 the morning in the dark, only illumined by candles. The 256 00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:25.119 Feast of Saint Lucy Saint Lucy was an early Roman martyr, 257 00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:33.880 a virgin martyr whose death. Her name Lucy comes from 258 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:37.359 the Latin word light, and her feast day is on 259 00:20:37.480 --> 00:20:42.559 December thirteenth, which was I think before the Gregorian before 260 00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:46.599 the Gregorian calendar was adopted, December thirteenth was actually the 261 00:20:46.680 --> 00:20:50.559 longest night of the year. So her feast day was 262 00:20:50.920 --> 00:20:55.920 this little light of hope and the witness, particularly of 263 00:20:56.880 --> 00:21:02.880 the saints and of the martyrs, who gave their lives 264 00:21:03.119 --> 00:21:06.440 in testimony to the light, in testimony to the Word, 265 00:21:06.519 --> 00:21:11.680 in testimony to the truth. Like Saint Lucy, are these 266 00:21:11.720 --> 00:21:17.720 little shining lights in the midst of darkness that have 267 00:21:17.799 --> 00:21:22.359 always inspired Christians throughout the two millennia of our history. 268 00:21:22.359 --> 00:21:24.519 Pope Benedict talked about this a lot that may be 269 00:21:24.640 --> 00:21:33.240 one of the greatest proofs of Christianity. Not a deductive proof, 270 00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:39.359 but perhaps an inductive proof, comes from the example of 271 00:21:39.400 --> 00:21:42.440 the lives of the saints, the way that holy men 272 00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:44.720 and women throughout the course of the two thousand year 273 00:21:44.759 --> 00:21:52.720 history of Christianity led lives of such extraordinary power and virtue, 274 00:21:53.079 --> 00:21:55.599 from people who were very great to people who were 275 00:21:55.720 --> 00:22:00.000 very small. To see the incredible transformation in their life 276 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:07.599 lives that the Gospel affected. Pope Francis on the eighteenth 277 00:22:09.759 --> 00:22:14.880 announced the canonization of a group of women who will 278 00:22:14.920 --> 00:22:19.319 become who will be honored as saints within the Catholic Church, 279 00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:26.559 the Martyrs of Compaigny. This was a group of women 280 00:22:26.880 --> 00:22:33.240 who were martyred on July seventeenth, seventeen ninety four, at 281 00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:37.519 the height the zenith of the insanity of the French Revolution, 282 00:22:39.240 --> 00:22:41.400 and Pope Francis announcing that they're going to be canonized 283 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:43.200 makes me want to talk about them because the story 284 00:22:43.279 --> 00:22:49.119 their story is kind of amazing, profoundly inspiring, and I 285 00:22:49.119 --> 00:22:52.240 think very fitting to talk about an advent when we're 286 00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:58.799 talking about a light shining in the darkness. So the 287 00:22:58.799 --> 00:23:06.279 French Revolution got kicks started by terrible economic conditions in France. 288 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:10.480 France was the most populous in some ways sort of 289 00:23:10.519 --> 00:23:15.680 the dominant country in Europe at the time in the 290 00:23:15.720 --> 00:23:22.519 late eighteenth century, but France was heavily in debt, the 291 00:23:22.640 --> 00:23:29.920 terrible financial situation, had a couple of terrible harvests, and 292 00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:35.400 basically the financial situation was such that people were running 293 00:23:35.640 --> 00:23:41.880 short on bread, not a good thing, and the French 294 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:47.119 sort of system of how taxation would work. The sort 295 00:23:47.160 --> 00:23:50.440 of system of privilege where being part of the nobility 296 00:23:50.519 --> 00:23:56.599 meant you weren't taxed specifically, was becoming more and more 297 00:23:56.599 --> 00:24:02.960 onerous and more and more unsustainable within the economy. And 298 00:24:03.039 --> 00:24:08.400 so you had basically anyone with an old traditional title, 299 00:24:09.519 --> 00:24:15.599 an old traditional landholdings was not really subject to taxation, 300 00:24:15.759 --> 00:24:19.519 and if they became barely subject to taxation, they pitched 301 00:24:19.519 --> 00:24:25.839 a fit. The so called ancient regime, the old regime, 302 00:24:25.960 --> 00:24:29.759 the old Guard came to be the subject of deep 303 00:24:30.359 --> 00:24:36.599 hatred and bitter resentment, in some cases quite legitimately on 304 00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:39.839 the part of the French people, or at least some 305 00:24:39.960 --> 00:24:44.680 of the French people. Combined with that was also a 306 00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:54.039 lot of Enlightenment thinkers who were rejecting Christianity wholesale and 307 00:24:54.359 --> 00:24:59.720 started to view Catholicism as part and parcel of the 308 00:24:59.759 --> 00:25:03.319 on sen regime, the part and parcel of this older 309 00:25:04.160 --> 00:25:12.720 political taxation system that they thought oppressed the common people 310 00:25:13.400 --> 00:25:17.960 at the expense of the elites and the wealthy. Louis 311 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:21.279 the sixteenth, who was actually the king who was deposed 312 00:25:21.279 --> 00:25:25.160 and executed by the French Revolution, was actually far not 313 00:25:25.400 --> 00:25:30.759 nearly as bad as prior French kings had been. Louis 314 00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:35.759 the fifteenth was actually far worse and far more kind 315 00:25:35.799 --> 00:25:44.960 of dissolute and dissolute and sort of totally separated from 316 00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.759 the people and morally corrupt, et cetera. Louis the sixteenth 317 00:25:49.799 --> 00:25:55.880 than Marie Antoinette actually had a fairly a fairly vanilla marriage, 318 00:25:56.079 --> 00:25:59.160 where you know, Louis the fifteenth had like an official 319 00:25:59.240 --> 00:26:03.640 place in court for his official court mistress, like she 320 00:26:03.720 --> 00:26:07.200 was designated as the official mistress, and he rotated through 321 00:26:07.240 --> 00:26:11.200 a couple and when lou the sixteenth married Marie Antoinette, 322 00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:13.559 Marie Antoinette was actually a pretty good Catholic. She was, 323 00:26:13.640 --> 00:26:19.400 you know, a princess from Austria, and she basically said, nope, 324 00:26:19.440 --> 00:26:21.720 we're not going to have an official office for an 325 00:26:21.720 --> 00:26:25.440 official king's mistress. Nope, that's not happening. And most of 326 00:26:25.440 --> 00:26:28.720 the evidence indicates that actually she and Louis the sixteenth 327 00:26:28.759 --> 00:26:33.440 were pretty faithful to each other, but actually genuinely faithful 328 00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:35.400 to each other. A lot of the literature about Marie 329 00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:41.599 Antoinette being sort of a loose living gal was sort 330 00:26:41.640 --> 00:26:45.400 of propaganda by people who despised her position in court 331 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:48.720 for various kinds of political reasons. She was always under 332 00:26:48.720 --> 00:26:51.880 suspicion because she was Austrian and there's kind of a 333 00:26:51.920 --> 00:26:55.240 lot of geopolitical rivalries between France and Austria, which her 334 00:26:55.279 --> 00:26:59.160 marriage to Louis was supposed to bridge that gap, but 335 00:26:59.599 --> 00:27:06.559 was not really successful at doing that anyway. The revolt 336 00:27:06.559 --> 00:27:11.839 over taxation, over the lack of taxation by the nobility, 337 00:27:12.680 --> 00:27:18.319 led to various kinds of political instability. It led to 338 00:27:19.160 --> 00:27:25.119 the lawyers and journalists sort of making themselves sort of 339 00:27:25.119 --> 00:27:30.480 the self appointed representatives of the people, developing the estates general. 340 00:27:30.960 --> 00:27:36.400 And then at a certain point, the rejection of the 341 00:27:36.480 --> 00:27:42.039 nobility brought along with it a rejection of Catholicism, and 342 00:27:42.039 --> 00:27:45.640 anyone who stood in the way of this revolution who 343 00:27:45.720 --> 00:27:50.599 clung in any way, shape or form to the authority, 344 00:27:51.279 --> 00:27:55.839 the authority figures of the old regime was deemed to 345 00:27:55.839 --> 00:27:58.400 be an enemy of the state, and the French Revolution 346 00:27:58.559 --> 00:28:01.799 was The French Revolution was completely different from the American Revolution. 347 00:28:02.160 --> 00:28:06.240 The American Revolution was basically, we want to retain the 348 00:28:06.240 --> 00:28:09.720 traditional privileges that we think normal Englishmen are supposed to have. 349 00:28:10.400 --> 00:28:14.680 We feel like we've been denied this as colonists. We're 350 00:28:14.680 --> 00:28:18.000 not changing our whole culture. We're not changing our whole religion, 351 00:28:18.039 --> 00:28:20.079 We're not changing our whole way of thinking. We just 352 00:28:20.480 --> 00:28:23.599 you're taxing us unfairly, and we don't want to be 353 00:28:23.680 --> 00:28:26.720 taxed unfairly. We want to, you know, if you're not 354 00:28:26.759 --> 00:28:28.880 going to treat us fairly, we want to be self 355 00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:31.960 governing and re establish more or less the same kinds 356 00:28:31.960 --> 00:28:35.319 of systems that we had before the revolution. You know, 357 00:28:35.720 --> 00:28:43.000 colonial legislatures turned into state legislatures. That was not the 358 00:28:43.000 --> 00:28:46.680 French Revolution. The French Revolution was a complete upheaval and 359 00:28:46.759 --> 00:28:51.119 overturning of all of the norms of society within France, 360 00:28:52.359 --> 00:28:58.039 a complete rejection of Catholicism, going to the cathedral of 361 00:28:58.039 --> 00:29:01.680 Notre Dame and putting up an eye a statue to 362 00:29:01.839 --> 00:29:09.640 the Goddess Liberty, changing the calendar to eliminate Sunday, basically 363 00:29:09.759 --> 00:29:13.680 changing the seven day week, eliminating it so that Sunday 364 00:29:13.720 --> 00:29:19.599 was eliminated, having the state seize control of all churchholdings. 365 00:29:23.680 --> 00:29:27.400 The revolution got to such a point that anyone who 366 00:29:27.480 --> 00:29:34.519 supported the old way was subject to death, and the 367 00:29:34.599 --> 00:29:39.519 guillotine became the symbol of the revolution, where thousands and 368 00:29:39.559 --> 00:29:44.200 thousands of people were executed for their attachment to the 369 00:29:44.200 --> 00:29:49.400 old regime, including many many people for their attachment to Catholicism. 370 00:29:51.119 --> 00:29:54.079 This brings us to the nuns of Compagni, which was 371 00:29:54.119 --> 00:29:58.839 a convent of Carmelite nuns. The Carmelite orders a community 372 00:29:58.839 --> 00:30:05.200 of Catholic monks, priests and nuns who they're named after 373 00:30:06.400 --> 00:30:10.480 Mount Carmel, which is mentioned in the Old Testament quite 374 00:30:10.519 --> 00:30:14.720 a bit, which is in the Holy Land, sort of 375 00:30:14.759 --> 00:30:19.559 taking their inspiration from the prophet Elijah, and they live 376 00:30:20.279 --> 00:30:26.680 lives of penance and prayer. Very often Carmelite nuns were 377 00:30:27.400 --> 00:30:29.839 they were a contemplative order that they weren't really doing 378 00:30:29.960 --> 00:30:32.759 much as far as like nursing or things like that. 379 00:30:32.799 --> 00:30:38.759 Their lives were focused almost exclusively on prayer. This community 380 00:30:38.799 --> 00:30:46.920 of nuns from Compagny, the sixteen sisters, ranging in age 381 00:30:46.960 --> 00:30:52.119 from nineteen to seventy nine, were arrested by the French 382 00:30:52.119 --> 00:30:56.359 revolutionary authorities because they refused to give up trying to 383 00:30:56.400 --> 00:30:58.839 live their way of life even after their monastery. After 384 00:30:58.880 --> 00:31:05.240 their convent seized, they were charged with religious fanaticism. That 385 00:31:05.359 --> 00:31:14.599 was the charge for being fanatics and they were sentenced 386 00:31:14.640 --> 00:31:23.119 to death. So on July seventeenth, seventeen ninety four, these 387 00:31:23.200 --> 00:31:28.160 nuns were led to the guillotine in Paris, and each 388 00:31:28.200 --> 00:31:32.440 one of these nuns, they were chanting together the Latin 389 00:31:32.640 --> 00:31:36.599 hymn Veni Creator Spiritus, Come, Holy Spirit, Come, Holy Spirit, 390 00:31:37.400 --> 00:31:44.599 Fill the hearts of thy faithful, and all of the 391 00:31:44.680 --> 00:31:49.400 nuns kept singing. There was a play that I was 392 00:31:49.440 --> 00:31:54.160 made into an opera by Georges Bernanos, called The Dialogues 393 00:31:54.160 --> 00:32:02.960 of the Carmelites, which recounts their story. In that story, 394 00:32:03.000 --> 00:32:06.799 the mother superior, the sort of senior nun who's in charge, 395 00:32:07.079 --> 00:32:09.839 commanded that the youngest nun be the first in line 396 00:32:10.519 --> 00:32:13.480 so that she wouldn't lose heart, so that she would 397 00:32:13.519 --> 00:32:17.039 have all of her sisters with her when she died. 398 00:32:20.079 --> 00:32:25.400 And one by one, the singing of this chant nikreoto 399 00:32:25.640 --> 00:32:31.640 horse spirits. This chant got quieter and quieter as one 400 00:32:31.680 --> 00:32:37.119 by one, another sister's head was chopped off, until finally 401 00:32:37.160 --> 00:32:43.839