John Lewis Christmas Advert 2016 - Buster The Boxer

A Message from The Queen Following the Earthquakes in New Zealand

Prince Philip and I were shocked to hear news of the severe earthquakes that struck on Monday. I send my condolences to the families of those who were killed and to the people whose homes and businesses have been affected.

Our thoughts are with you at this time.

ELIZABETH R.

Pat Buchanan: A Trump Doctrine — ‘America First’

By Patrick J. Buchanan

However Donald Trump came upon the foreign policy views he espoused, they were as crucial to his election as his views on trade and the border.

Yet those views are hemlock to the GOP foreign policy elite and the liberal Democratic interventionists of the Acela Corridor.

Trump promised an “America First” foreign policy rooted in the national interest, not in nostalgia. The neocons insist that every Cold War and post-Cold War commitment be maintained, in perpetuity.

Remembrance Sunday from the Cenotaph in London, 2016

Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance 2016

Huw Edwards presents coverage of the annual event from the Royal Albert Hall in the presence of the Queen and other members of the royal family.

Martin Shaw , Michael Ball and Alfie Boe, Laura Mvula, Birdy and Alexander Armstrong perform alongside the Royal Air Force Squadronaires and the Band of HM Royal Marines.

Together they pay tribute to the victims of conflict, from the First World War to the present day, in a festival that also includes the traditional two-minute silence as thousands of poppy petals fall from the venue's ceiling.

It is a moving example of the great British genius for ceremony.

Veterans Day, Armistice Day, Remembrance Day

Father Rutler: A Time for Choosing

Today a long-forgotten crucifix will be placed once again in the Basilica of Saint Peter in Rome. It will hang in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel near Bernini’s great tabernacle. Bernini himself would have admired the work of the anonymous artist, for its mediaeval style anticipated the spirit of the more exuberant baroque.
 
The crucifix was carved seven hundred years ago and was the object of devotion in the original Constantinian basilica built in the fourth century. The torso and legs are seven feet long and are in one piece made from the trunk of a walnut tree. It was placed in the new basilica in 1626 and survived many vicissitudes, including the Sack of Rome when the invaders used the old basilica as a horse stable and mockingly vested the corpus in one of their uniforms.
 
Gradually, it was forgotten after it was removed to make room for Michelangelo’sPietà and ended up in a remote and virtually unreachable chapel. High technology has restored it, as it suffered discoloration and termite damage. The sort of stereo microscopes used in microsurgery identified the many layers of paint and varnish before they were meticulously removed.
 
The outstretched arms are six-and-a-half-feet wide. Even if the Lord had not been nailed to the cross, his arms would be open to all who approach him, as they were when he ascended into glory. “Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
 
Our nation is weary, and the ennui is especially taxing and belabored by a long election campaign. Events have forced us to examine the condition of our culture, and how much we have ignored Christ’s call to come to him. The degradation of our institutions, reflected tellingly even in the way people dress and speak, is palpable and has taken its toll on our schools and governments and even our churches. This is a time, rarely matched in our national annals, for choosing between conversion and tragedy. To choose the tragic path is to mock our Lord, and our demoralized culture is already well on its way to masquerading Christ Crucified in comic vestments.
 
Two hundred and twenty-five years ago, to this very week, Bishop John Carroll penned a prayer for the new nation. As the first bishop in the United States, cousin of a signer of the Declaration of Independence and an esteemed friend of many Founding Fathers, he stood on a terrain high enough to survey the looming dangers and salutary prospects of the day, as he prayed for a government “encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality.” Our perspective is the same today, only with more souls both at risk and offered benevolent promise.