“We became aware someone among us in this spiritual dark night of the soul was raising the standard of love on high. Someone unknown, like everyone else, tortured and bereft of name and social standing, went to a horrible death for the sake of someone not even related to him. Thousands of prisoners were convinced the true world continued to exist and that our torturers would not be able to destroy it.
To say that Father Kolbe died for one of us or for that person’s family is too great a simplification. His death was the salvation of thousands. That’s how we felt about it. That was a shock full of optimism, regenerating and giving strength; we were stunned by his act, which became a mighty explosion of light in the dark camp.”
Jerzy Bielecki, prisoner at Auschwitz, as quoted in A Man for Others, 1982
"Behind the concrete, the visible events, behind all objective, logical considerations, we find the irrational element: the struggle against the demon, against the servants of the Antichrist. Everywhere and always demonic powers lurk in the dark, waiting for the moment when man is weak. Man is free, to be sure, but without the true God he is defenseless against the principle of evil."
The White Rose, Fourth Leaflet, Munich, 1942
"Kolbe looked directly and intently into the eyes of those entering the cell. Those eyes of his were always strangely penetrating. The SS men couldn’t stand his glance, and used to yell at him, Schau auf die erde, nicht auf uns! Kolbe was a psychic trauma, a shock for the SS men who had to bear his look, a look that hungered not for bread, but to liberate them from evil."
Bruno Borgowiec, prisoner at Auschwitz
"The foolish ask nothing better than not to have to understand anything,
and they even used to get together and try not to understand, because
the last thing of which a person is capable is to be malicious and
foolish all by themselves. Without understanding, they form
spontaneously into herds, not according to any particular affinities but
in obedience to the petty ideology. They would far
rather kill than have to think."
George Bernanos, Under the Sun of Satan
“The mob believes everything it is told, provided only that it be repeated over and over. Provided too that its passions, hatreds, fears are catered to. The grosser, the bigger, the cruder the lie, the more readily is it believed and followed. The mob has no memory; needless to pretend to any truth: the mob is radically incapable of perceiving it: the mob can never comprehend that its own interests are what is at stake.”
Alexandre Koyré, Réflexions sur le Mensonge
"A light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."
John 1:5
“The most deadly poison of our times is indifference. The Cross is the school of love. It is easy to get drunk with hate. Hate is not creative, only love is creative. These sufferings will not cause us to crumble but will help us, more and more, to become stronger.
No one in the world can change Truth. What we can do and and should do is to seek truth and to serve it when we have found it. The real conflict is the inner conflict. Beyond armies of occupation and the catacombs of extermination camps, there are two irreconcilable enemies in the depth of every soul: good and evil, sin and love. And what use are the victories on the battlefield if we are ourselves are defeated in our innermost personal selves?”
Maximilian Kolbe, executed at Auschwitz, August 14, 1941
Risk re-entered the consciousness of the markets today as Israel released a missile strike on Beirut.
And so all the usual things happened.
Stocks declined.
VIX rose.
Gold and silver rallied.
The Dollar moved sideways.
It was a small move, although striking in an urban area is a step towards a wider war.
They say that truth is the first victim in war.
The US media are servile to the 'deep state.' No astute observer of the day can doubt this.
It is also hard to watch some of the nations of Europe lining up their populations for a loss of life and economic decline.
And for what?
FOMC tomorrow.
Have a pleasant evening.
